Chicago 4

We planned better –up early and at the Children’s Museum at Navy Pier by opening at 10am—we were among the first in the museum and had a great time.  The hands on exhibits were very impressive and we seemed to be there before the crowd this time so a great time was had by all.  Katie, Leeton and Fitz had to ride the huge Ferris wheel and Holden and I liked the Carousel.  The Lighthouse ride went up and down (only) and Holden announce as he got off that it was NOT fun (Katie got a funny video of our brave boy).  Then we rode the Big Bus to get real Chicago Pizza— terrific-- and since we hadn’t quite worn out the kids yet we stopped by the huge Crown Fountain to play.

The river system at the Children's Museum

They loved the museum

Digging for dinosaur bones

Crown Fountain

Brave Leeton at the top of the Ferris wheel

Millennium Park 

Crown Fountain Spit

We all needed a nap

Chicago 3

Great Fireworks
 

Shedd Aquarium—now I know it is a holiday weekend, Saturday and the end of the summer for Chicagoans.  What started out as a half day experience turned into all day.  We stood in line for the right to buy a ticket for 2 ½ hours.  The aquarium was good—the extras (a Beluga Whale show and a Monsters of the Sea 4D movie) were worth the extra cost but we got to the boat around 5pm.  We almost lost a grandson to the delirium of needing a nap but all were troopers.  We had to buy ice cream on the way back and it served as a child’s happy hour.  We had promised the kids the Maggie Daley Children’s Park for the afternoon but they forgot and we have plenty of time to go there.  Tennessee had a good win against Bowling Green and because it had a weather delay we heard the end (via the computer).  We ended the evening with the fabulous Navy Pier Fireworks that we could see from the front of the boat.

2 hour line for the aquarium

There was another young man there with an orange shirt and Leeton went up and hugged him
thinking it was Fitz --he about died--it was a funny time. 

Big Fish

The whales put on a cool show

Chicago 2

Fitz and I did a little recon work for the kids coming to visit.  We toured by bike the Museum Campus, went to the Jewel Grocery Store and watched the little kids at the sailing camp here at the yacht club.  The night lights of the city are absolutely breathtaking but every Wed. and Saturday they have fireworks that are fabulous.  We are gonna like it here.  We moved to DuSable Marina Thursday morning and Kat and the Hatt along with Gimmetime arrived there from Hammond.  We all had dinner at the Park Café and went back to the  marina to await Katie and the kid’s arrival late that evening.  Early Friday we got up and walked over to the Chicago Art Institute and got on the Big Bus and took the 2 hour tour of Chicago.  We went by all the Loop, Steeterville, the Financial District and the Navy Pier.  We all took notes on the various places we want to come back to.  Leeton cannot wait to ride the Ferris Wheel with her Bitz and Momma at Navy Pier.  The Children’s Museum is out there as well—it is free on Sunday so we are headed there then.  The Maggie Daley Children’s park is right across the street from the marina and Katie and Holden went and checked it out this afternoon—we look forward to spending a lot of time there.  Tonight, Katie and Leeton walked over to the Columbia Yacht Club to watch the movie Goonies on the rear deck.  Fitz, Holden and I were too worn out. 

Sure glad to see our kids--missing Nick and Scott

Foggy City
 

The Bean

Willis Tower AKA Sears tower with the mail-order mailbox on the side

John Hancock Bldg.--glad we weren't going up for the view

Financial District AKA Gotham City

Field Museum

Trump Tower--Rahm Emanuel doesn't like the sign

Chicago!

We left Michigan City with a little regret to travel the 30 miles to Chicago.  Next to us in Michigan City were Kellirae Boann and Bill Adock aboard Ocean Dancer that were just starting the Loop this week— along with about 10 other Loopers we had extra fun docktails. The added bonus being- we had a Newbie in our midst that all were sure needed guidance. Manna had come in the night before –Sue and Dave are Canadians that started their trip in Parry Sound when we were there and we got to hear how their first 6 weeks have gone.  Plus New Zealanders (Ric, Kitty, Thom and Barbara) aboard Southern Comfort were great.  But.. we had a great weather window and Chicago is calling.  Columbia Yacht Club sits in DuSable Harbor downtown and can take us in until we move next door to DuSable Marina where we have reservations on Thursday.  It is a little rocky but situated about 3 blocks from the bustling Michigan Avenue and beside the public parks that will be terrific for the kids. 

Docktails--the Newbies are beside Fitz

Coming into Chicago
 

Docked at Columbia
 

Columbia Yacht Club, founded in 1892, is housed in this big beached ocean liner

Great Park

Water Feature in the park--they also had movie in the park (Breakfast Club) and thousands attended

Nightlights from the Harbor

Washington Park Marina in Michigan City, Indiana

This is a great stop to get ready for the big city of Chicago.  We have really enjoyed that part of our trip—being a tourist in major metropolitan cities in the best hotel room –the harbor.  A lot of the highlights from the trip so far can be found in Key West, Charleston, Washington DC, Annapolis, and New York City.  We are hopeful that Katie, Leeton and Holden will meet us (making plans with children is as unsure as the weather) and for 5 days we will try to tackle the beast called Chicago.  Washington Park is well located to jump to Dusable Harbor with a relatively easy cruise, has a great (inexpensive) laundry and some good restaurants.  We found fellow Loopers here—Island Office (Denise and Mark), TiKi (Tim, Karen and Mark) and Fryedaze (Betsy and Dave).  All of them are taking this opportunity to go back home/work/visit friends and will be in Chicago later than us.  Sharing docktails with them the first night here, allowed us to get to know these nice people and we will be floating down the Mississippi River with them. 

Welcome to Indiana

 

Tim, Terry, Betsy, Mark, Dave, Mark, and Denise--fellow Loopers

 

 

Neat Veterans Memorial at our dock

 

Getting the V-berth ready for Leeton and Holden

St. Joseph’s/Benton Harbor

Going into St. Joe we waited for a tow with a BIG barge backing out the canal

St. Joseph, Michigan was an artsy little town with a really neat gallery/artist studio called the Box Factory.  There artist are working their craft and we got to talking with 3 curmudgeons and admired their work.  One was a Digital Artist, one a modern artist (reminded me in looks of my friend at Vanderbilt, Michael Aurbach) and an Indian (From Mumbai) that worked with photography and framed for them all.  They were about our age and very interested in our trip as we were their work.  We got to talking to them and ran out of time—they closed the Gallery on us.  But there was a person who worked with pewter, a few pottery artists and a couple of terrible watercolorist that did self-portraits.  We stayed at the Free Wall in the heart of town because the winds were calm and ate on board so we didn’t really take in everything the town had to offer but we liked what we saw.  We left the State of Michigan the next morning and headed for Michigan City, Indiana—we have been in Michigan for a month and we had a weather window. We loved all the places we visited in Michigan and the Lake is and continues to be a challenge—wonderful if the winds and weather are right—otherwise stay in port. 

 

 

Thought our Grandson would love this one

 

Sunny Days at the Free Wall

Saugatuck

We got up early and traveled the 25 miles to Saugatuck.  This is a great little vacation town that reminded us of Fairhope, AL.  Lots of higher end clothing and art shops and there is jazz in the park tonight right on the water.  The fire department showed up and set some practice fires on a platform so they can train to put fires out in the water, this kept Fitz entertained for a couple of hours.   The weather started out lousy so we rejoiced when the sun came out at Happy Hour even though the temp has not climbed over 65 today.  At least the wind promises to start settling down and we should have a couple of good travel days. 

Beautiful homes on the Saugatuck Canal from Lake Michigan

Busy anchorage on Lake Kalamazoo in the Saugatuck Harbor

The Chain Ferry will take you across the Lake/Canal

Fire Department training

Music in the Park

Paddleboat takes people of a tour