Chicago, IL – Joliet, IL, September 2, 2008

We are now in the river system. There is no need to worry too much about high winds and rough seas. It is very nice to be traveling flat, with no rolling or fighting waves.

Our first lock was 5 minutes into our day, at the start of the Chicago River. It only lowered us about 2 feet and, as locks go, was one of the easiest ever. Cruising through downtown Chicago was very nice. The view was beautiful, there were riverside walks on either side of us, tall buildings, small parks and restaurants. It was very clean and very scenic.

We went under many bridges and only needed one in Chicago to open for us. That was a 10’ Amtrack bridge. We were fortunate that we only waited about 5 minutes for it to open.

After the excitement of going through downtown Chicago, the trip became a little boring and definitely not beautiful any longer. We went through a very heavy industrial area then into a narrow canal area with nothing to see except trees lining each side.

After we had been underway a few hours we caught up with 2 other boats. Passport and Footloose were both Loopers and we had remembered seeing the boats in other places. We traveled together the rest of the day.

Soon we met our first tow, several barges pushed by a towboat. Shortly after that we entered an apparent loading and unloading zone for barges. They were 2-3 deep along he side of the river, with towboats interspersed.

At our second lock of the day we had to wait about ½ hour. There was a tow, five barges long by two wide just finishing locking up and we had to wait until he got going again. It took another ½ hour for us to get locked down.

There is a free dock in downtown Joliet where all of us tied up. We got there at 3:15 p.m.

2 locks today - total of 77

Chicago, IL – September 1, 2008

Even though we are at a slip in a protected harbor, we have really been rolling a lot. Especially today. One could almost imagine we were at a mooring, in heavy winds.

This morning we took our bikes and went back to Navy Pier. Beth wanted to ride the Ferris wheel and we hoped to get in line before the crowds arrived. The Ferris wheel is 150 feet tall. The ride is 7 minutes long and goes around once, slowly. The view was amazing. All the pictures here are those taken from the ride.

After walking around some and having lunch we got back on our bikes for some more sight seeing. We rode to Millennium Park, sat on a bench and people watched for awhile. After more riding we came back to the boat.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in preparation of leaving tomorrow morning. Darrell lowered the mast. He also spent some time looking at our charts planning the next few days. Beth defrosted the freezer and cleaned and straightened up the boat.
Starting tomorrow we will be on the river systems. Back to more locks with added excitement of tows.

Chicago, IL – August 31, 2008

This morning we took our bikes and rode to Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum. It was founded in 1930 and was America’s first Planetarium. There were a series of exhibits, including the Gemeni/Apollo missions to the moon, Big Bang Theory, History of Astronomy from the flat earth theories to modern day astrophysics and more. We saw the planetarium presentation of the summer sky, given by the resident astronomer. We also saw the movie “Cosmic Collisions” shown on a 360 degree overhead screen. We ate a surprisingly good lunch in the Planetarium Cafeteria and spent most of the day at the Planetarium.

We saw many groups of people driving segways. There are many places you can rent them and some places offer group tours on segways.

When we left the planetarium we biked around Chicago. We went several miles. We certainly got our exercise.

Chicago, IL – August 30, 2008

Late yesterday afternoon we walked to Navy Pier. Navy Pier was originally designed as a shipping and entertainment area. Construction started on the Municipal Pier in 1914 and it opened to the public in 1916. At the time it was the world’s longest pier, 3000 feet long. In its first 10 years the pier was successful in attracting both visitors and ships.

By the end of the 1920’s the Municipal Pier’s success started to decline. In 1927 the pier was renamed Navy Pier, in honor of World War I veterans. Navy Pier served as a naval training facility during the second World War.

In 1992 renovation of the Navy Pier began and was completed in 1994. Navy Pier is now a very successful recreational center next to Chicago’s downtown area. There are many attractions and 50 acres of parks and gardens. Among the attractions are a 148 ft high Ferris Wheel, a 44 ft high musical carousel with hand-painted animals, ice skating rink (in winter), the Children’s Museum, the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows, Shakespeare theater complex, Cirque Shanghai, miniature golf course, funhouse maze and many others.

We ate dinner outside at Be Bop Café. The food was delicious and they had a great 5 piece jazz band with an amazing sax player. We walked back to the boat under the stars. The nightlights of Chicago are very pretty.

There is a large ship tied up in the harbor. It is a 372 foot former Canadian icebreaker from Nova Scotia. It is now the home of the Columbia Yacht Club, originally founded in 1892.

Although we can see Navy Pier from our marina, it was quite a walk, so this morning we took our bikes. There is a wonderful walking path and bicycle/running lane right next to the marina and to the bridge over the Chicago River. At Navy Pier we took the free trolley and rode around seeing the city of Chicago. We got off and did some walking and shopping. We stopped at Ed Debevic’s for lunch. It had been recommended by a friend of ours. This restaurant is an upbeat 50’s diner known for home-style cooking and sassy service. The restaurant is decorated in the 50’s style and staff dresses outrageously. Darrell had a hamburger and Beth had 6-way Chili. That’s chili, cheddar cheese, macaroni, onions, kidney beans and sour cream. (The 3-way chili was chili, cheddar cheese and macaroni, there is also a 4-way and a 5-way). The food was good, but the experience is what you go for.

We went back to Navy Pier and walked around inside some of the buildings. We were entertained by 4 pirates fighting and dancing to see who got the Pirate Booty. It was very funny and very good. We walked to the Beer Garden and listened to an all girl band. They were pretty good. Back to our bikes and back to the boat.

It was a beautiful day.

Racine, WI – Chicago, IL, August 29, 2008

We left Racine at 6:45 a.m. We had a very nice, smooth run to Chicago. It was really appreciated after the last 2 trips on Lake Michigan. We had a following sea on our stern quarter. It was a relaxing day - “Otto” did all the work - It would have been hard to hand steer all day.

We saw the Chicago skyline several hours before we arrived in the harbor. It was similar to arriving in New York City. We passed Navy Pier. We also saw the 150 foot traditional four masted gaff topsail schooner, Windy, taking tourists out for a sail.

We were tied up at the Chicago Yacht Club dock by 2 p.m. and considered ourselves very lucky. There are few transient slips in downtown Chicago, most transient space offered is moorings. Chicago Yacht Club has 10 transient slips but do not take reservations. It is first come, first serve if you belong to a yacht club with reciprocity. Luckily we do and we got the last slip available.

This is a beautiful facility with a very nice restaurant. We look forward to dining there. The location is ideal, right on the waterfront, just south of Navy Pier.