Escape to Evanston

Highly Recommended **** It has been awhile since we did an escape room. We are not very good at it, and tonight, we proved it to ourselves and our friends Barry and Fern. They are getting ready to leave the area for their winter home in sunny Florida, and so tonight, before they made that escape, we invited them to come to Evanston for an hour session at “Lock Chicago”.

They picked us up and while our intent was to visit our old friend Sandy Chen at Koi in the downtown Evanston area, we were short of time, and being that we were close to one of my favorite spots, Stacked and Folded and as we had never eaten indoors, we went there. The inside dining room is perfect and once again, I truly enjoyed the grilled turkey/brie sandwich with avocado- DELISH and the homemade chips are “to die for”. They are located at 824 Noyes Street, phone 847-328-9100  www.stackedandfolded.com

Just a short ride west gets you to Green Bay Road, just south of Central Avenue where you will find what was a furniture store and is now housing a workout/boxing business and the escape house operated by Lock Chicago.

There are three “rooms” so you can come back and have a different experience each time. If you just have a family gathering, a few couples out for an evening of fun or perhaps a company looking to do some “team building”, the good folks at Lock Chicago will make your experience a memorable one.

Barry, Fern, Jane and I were raring to go. We are all well educated and many of us do word games and puzzles, so finding answers should have been a snap.

WE DID NOT MAKE IT!

But, we did have a lot of fun. There are lots of clues in the room which we entered without phones. We had one hour on the clock and three possible clues. The entire group must all agree to get a clue, or it will not come. The gamemaster explains each rule and then leaves us. They do watch on a monitor so they can be ready when help is needed.

We started off at a good clip and it looked as if this would be a beat the clock situation. However, we soon learned that our mission had many roadblocks. By the way, our room, the Matsuri, had us searching for the drum that would allow the celebration to proceed. Seems it was stolen. I will not divulge any information about the actual room but will tell you that we had to figure out “locks” and how to open them. Many were combinations and clues were everywhere leading to finding these combinations and three special wands that also were able to open another piece where we then found a key that would open another door, leading us to another room.

And then the fun began. The time on the clock was running down. All four of us were starting to feel the pinch and as we became frustrated, we started to laugh more, enjoying each remaining minute ( and then seconds) until we were let out and told just where we should have been looking. Not all the answers, so we might just return at another time and try it again. I think next time, we bring some teenagers. I am positive they will get us out.

To learn more about the rooms and the programs, visit www.lockedchicago.com

Prices start at about $32.95 per person. For info call 312-646-0051

You can also e-mail them at info@lockedchicago.com

FYI- you will sign a waiver before your experience. If you do not have one on file, you will not enter the room.

Masks are required to enter the building and during orientation. Once in the room with your group, masks can come off and thinking caps go on!                           Don’t look for our pictures- we did not                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               make it!

have a great time.

The address is 2510 Green Bay Road, Evanston.