Chicago - My Kind of Town

We made it to Chicago!   Lake Michigan done....now on to the rivers....


8/29 – 9/1   We thought we had picked the perfect day to cross Lake Michigan into Chicago.  Light winds, low waves.  All of that was true.  What we had not expected was fog.  Of course, it’s not that unusual to have early morning fog that burns off.  And when it cleared up in New Buffalo, we decided we were Chicago bound – along with three other Looper boats.  But a mile into the lake, the fog thickened and it never let up for the 50+ miles we crossed.  Thank goodness for radar – it kept us aware of the few other boats that were also out on the lake.

The moisture in the air did make all the spiderwebs that came with Lake Mich a little more interesting.

A little hitch-hiker joined us in the flybridge for quite a ways - just flew in and had a rest, in the middle of Lake Michigan.  Debi said he could stay unless he started pooping everywhere.

Sadly, we missed seeing the Chicago skyline from the lake.  Nor could we see the 15 foot high seawall at our marina, until we were about 15 seconds from contact with it.  Again, we saw it on the radar – and we snuck into the harbor and refuge.  During the late afternoon, the fog began to lift and a spectacular shoreline/skyline view began to come into focus – like a Polaroid photo fading in. 

Chicago was one of the highlights of the entire Loop.  As in:

• a 10 minute bike ride down to Soldiers Field to absorb some pre-season pre-game energy and observe tailgating, Chicago style
• lots of lakeshore biking – at least one trip out each of our four days
• several acts at the Chicago Jazz Festival 
• two stops at the Billy Goat Tavern – a classic

• a visit to the Atlas Gallery where our friend, Mike Cheney (see the last episode of Boat’s Notes for the Cheney visit with us in Holland MI) shows his amazing paintings 
• getting soaked to the bone while riding our bikes back to the boat in a typhoon
• way too much time at the Apple Store – hours of trying to get the right iPad with the right software to replace our defunct chart plotter

Did I mention the skyline views from our bow?Especially cool at night – they rivaled our Manhattan vistas last year, which coincidentally, were also over the Labor Day weekend.

Our guests in Chicago included my father, sister, and nephew, my old friend Ken Cunningham (brother of Lee), and our Atlanta friend, Nan Orrock.  All but Nan were able to join us for a beautiful shoreline cruise on Saturday afternoon.  The Chicago skyline from the water is one of the best in the world – and sharing it with family and old friends made it even better.  I’ve spent a lot of time in Chicago, a lot of time with my family, and a lot of time on this boat – and putting them all together made for a great day.

Nan joined us after the shoreline cruise, overlapped with our family and Ken - then, went with us to a fun event. Some fellow Loopers hosted a dinner for all past and present Loopers who happened to be in Chicago for the Labor Day weekend.   About 30 Loopers took them up on this invitation and we were all so glad we did.  The views from their 15^th floor condo on the lake were amazing – the two balconies on different sides allowed vistas in all four directions.   Then there was the Chicago pizza and Italian beef – and lots of Looper talk.

Finished the evening with Maneuvers and Bananagrams - Nan (well known Scrabble Queen) pretty much cleaned up on the latter. 

9/2  The night before, Mike and Linda Cheney returned for their second Sea Fever visit in three weeks.   We were joined at 6:30 in the morning by Nan’s son Danny and girlfriend Emily, as well as Melissa Cunningham (daughter of friends Lee and Terry) and her boyfriend Patrick.  Along with Nan, that meant we had 9 people ready for a 7 a.m. departure from the marina.  This was a record for most people on the boat during a cruise – and nearly a record for longest cruise.

    After a few slightly rough miles of lakeshore, we turned into the Chicago Harbor lock, which took us down a couple of feet to the Chicago River.  

The trip down the river through the heart of the city is an architectural feast for the eyes.  Nan recited Carl Sandberg's "Chicago" during this portion of the trip - perfect timing.   The intro...
          
          Hog Butcher for the World,
          Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
          Player with Railroads and the Nation's
               Freight Handler; 

              Stormy, husky, brawling,
          City of Big Shoulders

         


    

              

The landscape transitioned to suburban and exurban river scenes – and a fair amount of barge traffic to negotiate.   All but Melissa and Patrick (and Debi and I) got off at a park in Joliet. They must have had a clue what was coming – a 3 hour wait at the lock a mile farther downstream.  More about that in the next post.....


We are actually behind in our blogging...so we are now writing to you from the Mighty Mississippi. Will catch up...

Jim and Debi