When I started this we were just west of Joliet, Il, having started down the Illinois River yesterday. We are sitting with 8 other looper boats waiting for a lock to be available.
To review the past two weeks, we had an interesting stay in Racine. We walked about 4 miles just to buy one of their (famous?) Kringle pasteries (the walk justified the extra calories of course) used the pool and hot tuib and wandered around town a bit. It was an unusual downtown. There were plenty of stores but no financial district and no downtown hotels. We took a bus to the grocery store planning to take a taxi back so we put a lot of soda in our cart. However, when we asked the store to call us a cab, they said they had never seen one around town and we were unable to find one on the telephone-strange, a city twice the size of Portland and no taxi's! We wound up not buying any of the heavy items and taking the bus back to the marina where we consoled ourselves in the pool and hot tub.
From Racine, we went down to Waukegan, Il to another large (1000 slips!)marina. Our friends Eldon and Dianne flew in to meet us there and brought real Maine Lobsters for us all to enjoy for dinner. Quite a treat! The next day, the 4 of us took the train into Chicago to check out the marina situation. We toured Millenium Park and Navy Pier. The train ride was kind of fun traveling through a bunch of towns I'd heard of but had no idea where they were. It was another reminder that this trip is a real geography lesson.
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| Sun Cat on wall - Columbia Yacht Club in Background |
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| Chicago skyline and Navy Pier from water |
The next day (Friday 8/31) we had a nice trip down Lake Michigan to Chicago and tied up to the wall at Monroe Harbor rather than picking up the mooring we had reserved. The location was great as we were right near the downtown loop and Millenium Park and mid-way between Navy Pier and the Museum Campus which were both within walking distance. We were also within yards of Columbia Yacht Club and Chicago Yacht Club, both of which gave us reciprocal privileges to use their facilities. We also took the "Architectural Cruise. This is a boat trip through part of downtown Chicago where they describe the design features of a number of buildings that were new or innovative. It also gave us our first look at the low bridges on the Chicago River (gulp!).That evening we had a nice dinner at the Columbia Yacht club with both Eldon and Dianne and George and Marion from Time Out.
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| Monroe Harbor and Navy Pier from Ellen and Woody's |
On Saturday, Eldon and I visited the Chicago History Museum while Jean and Dianne did some shopping and that evening we attended a party for the Loopers and the home of Ellen and Woody Sutton overlooking the harbor and Soldier's Field. On Sunday, Eldon and I went to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. Wrigley is another real classic park like Fenway and Cubs fans are certainly enthusiastic. We rode to the game on the metro train and it was quite a sight to see thousands of fans arriving and departing in that manner. The Cubs won with a home run in the bottom of the eighth inning which made it even more exciting.
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| Our view of Wrigley Field |
Eldon and Dianne left Monday to fly home and Jean and I spent the day going to the Aquarium and Planetarium. Either one would have been a most of the day adventure. That evening we hosted a happy hour for the crews of Gypsy Time, Sweet Dreams and Lamb Chop. The next day we went to the Hancock Observatory for a great view of Chicago and the surrounding area from very high up. We could see much of the city and the lake shore all the way down to Gary Indiana. This may be as close as we get to seeing any of Indiana. We also went to a Farmer's Market and did a little shopping. That evening there was a Pot Luck Dinner which was attended by six to eight of the looper boats in Chicago.
On Wednesday, we spent the day at the Field Museum. It's mostly natural history, highlighted by Sue. Sue is the skeleton of a large dinosaur. Further in the museum there were may more skeletons of dinosaurs, some real and some replicated. There were also exhibits related to diamonds and other gems, mammals, polonesia and several Indian tribes. We spent all day there and barely scratched the surface.
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| Entrance to the aquarium |
The next day we went to the Museum of Science and Industry. The feature there was the German U-boat #505 which was captured intact by the US Navy in 1944. The submarine was moved to the museum because the Captain of the navy task force that accomplished the capture was from Chicago. The entire sub was inside the building and a very good video described the events leading up to its capture and why it was so important. There were also displays of trains, planes, antique cars, a coal mine and we also watched an interesting Imax movie on Katrina and the Louisiana bayous.
Friday was somewhat of a maintenance day as I changed the oil in the generator, finished my "bridge tickler" pole and lowered the radar dome and dinghy hoist. Most of this was necessary to make sure we could clear the 17 foot bridges in downtown Chicago. That evening we had dinner at the Columbia Yacht Club again with Bob and Sharon from Catch Me If You Can and Bob and Alice from Bali Motu. This was the end of our stay in Chicago. There was still a lot more to see and do but we'd been there a week and it was time to move on.
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| Starting down the Chicago River Note "bridge tickler" |
The next morning we were awakened early as the next lock (2 miles below us) had informed one of the boats that if we were there by 7:40 they would be ready for us. We got there around 8:30 and wound up waiting over 2 hours to lock through. It was during this wait that I started this update. We stopped after 15 miles with Bali Motu to take a break and enjoy the pool at the marina. We also remounted the radar dome and dinghy hoist.
The next morning I called the Dresden Lock (about 3 miles down) as was informed that if we were there in an hour to an hour and a half they would be ready for us. We got there in about an hour and waited another 30-45 minutes and then they took us through. The next lock turned out to be a longer wait, close to two hours. The delays are the result of the tows which can be up to 12 or even 15 barges. These have to be broken up to go through the locks and then reassembled afterwards. This process can easily take several hours and we've heard of boats having to wait over 5 hours to clear a lock. After another delay at Marsellais Lock, we stopped for the night at the free dock at Ottawa, Il. where we were joined by Drifters. As has often been the case, the locals were very friendly and helpful. Joe gave the ladies a ride to the grocery store and John Mobley, a previous looper gave all six of us a ride to the local Mexican restaurant which was good. Ottawa was the site of the first Lincoln/Douglas debate and was an interesting town to walk around.
As I finish this, we are going down the Illinois River about 120 miles from Chicago. We got off at 9 this morning but had a 2 hour wait at the Starving Rock Lock before we really got going. The Illinois has changed from heavy industry to mostly rural areas and has become quite scenic. It seems to get better and the number of tows seem to decrease the further south (really west) we go.
Still having a great time!
Steve and Jean
Aboard M/V Sun Cat
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