Illinois

Commissaries are basically your neighborhood grocery store, located on military installations worldwide. The commissary sells food and household items at prices that are often below other grocery stores. On average, you can cut nearly a third off your grocery bill compared to in-town prices.

No personal tours of Naval Station Great Lakes will be routinely given. The tour season for reunion groups will run from the beginning of April until the end of October annually. Tours outside of the tour season will be authorized on a case-by-case basis by the NSGL Commanding Officer.

Basic Training Exhibits – Weeks 1-8. Recruit Training or “boot camp” is approximately eight weeks long. The goal is to transform a civilian into a sailor with all of the skills necessary to perform in the fleet.

In the winter, the Great Lakes Region experiences long nights and cold days. The massive Lakes act like heat sinks that moderate the temperatures of the surrounding land, cooling the summers and warming the winters. The lakes also act like giant humidifiers, increasing the moisture content of the air.

Lake Superior is warmer than average, but still too cold to enter, with water temperatures still in the upper 30s and lower 40s. The southern end of Lake Michigan and Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron are really starting to warm up. It looks like the eastern part of Saginaw Bay may be warmed up to 68 degrees.

Discover the best beaches on the Great Lakes

• Lake Huron. Sauble Beach. Bruce Peninsula, Ontario.
• Lake Erie. Crystal Beach. Fort Erie, Ontario.
• Lake Ontario. Sugar Beach. Toronto, Ontario.
• Lake Michigan. Grand Haven State Park. Grand Haven, Michigan.
• Lake Superior. Pancake Bay Provincial Park. Batchawana Bay, Algoma County, Ontario.