September 7, 2012  Day 119      Chicago, IL       Total miles to date:  2413.6

Day two in Chicago greeted with us rain but by mid-morning the sun was shining.  We greeted Bama Belle and Good Karma, Loopers that had arrived yesterday.

Museum of Science and Industry

We took a taxi to the Museum of Science and Industry with Chuck and Becky and had a great time wandering through all three floors of exhibits, many of which were hands on.  We got back to the boat about 2:30 and then relaxed for a while.

Berghoff

Final dinner with Chuck and Becky

Trump Tower

We chose to go to the Berghoff Restaurant for dinner which meant walking more than a mile downtown, but it was worth it.  This is an old Chicago restaurant and they were celebrating their German roots by having an Octoberfest menu this week. The Sauerbraten was awesome!  We walked back to the boat along Michigan Avenue to the Riverwalk – a longer walk but more scenic! We are still enjoying looking up at the tall buildings as we pass by them.  Beautiful architecture!

Wrigley Building

Entrance to the Riverwalk

Chuck and Becky came back to the boat and started packing. They will leave us tomorrow after a two week visit. They will take the Amtrak train from Chicago to Alton, IL to visit Becky’s family.  It has been so much fun having them on board with us traveling from Traverse City to Chicago.

September 6, 2012  Day 118      Chicago, IL       Total miles to date:  2413.6

Approaching the /Chicago skyline

Buildings on our tour

Willis Tower (former Sears Tower)

We have had a pretty amazing day.  Seeing the Chicago skyline from our boat for the first time ranks right up there! We left Waukegan at 7:00 am and arrived at DuSable Marina at 11:45.  It seems surreal to be docked right at the base of downtown Chicago. After lunch on board, we set off with Chuck and Becky to find the Architecture River Cruise.  We were fortunate to find the one provided by the Chicago Architecture Foundation on The First Lady and we only had to wait 30 minutes before it departed. We were not disappointed! The ninety minute cruise was narrated by a CAF docent who gave us an extensive description of over 50 buildings as we cruised slowly on the three sections of the Chicago River. She explained the history, the occupants, style of architecture, the architects, and many interesting facts about the buildings. We saw the Trump Tower, the Wrigley Building, Willis Tower, Aqua at Lakeshore East, Merchandise Mart, Chicago Tribune, Marina City, Lake Point Tower, and many others.  Since our boat is too tall to fit under many of the bridges on the Chicago River, we will need to take an alternate route around Chicago, and we did not want to miss seeing these buildings from the water.

333 West Wacker Drive

Entering Navy Pier

The Lighthouse at Navy Pier

Next we went to Navy Pier and walked the whole length of the pier and then walked through the interior of the buildings on the way back. There is a very nice Stained Glass Museum inside with many pieces displayed in the hallway.

We walked back downtown and had pizza at Giordano’s at Prudential Plaza.  An excellent choice!  The pizza was superb and we need to rest after so much walking.  We finally made it back to the marina by 8:30!  We were exhausted from our long day, but we are happy to be in this fascinating city.

We will continue our sightseeing tomorrow!

September 5, 2012  Day 117   Waukegan, IL         Total miles to date:  2375.2

We thought we might need to stay in Racine again today due to storms. But, by mid-morning the rain had passed and we decided to go ahead with our original plans to go to Waukegan, IL. We stopped at the fuel dock and filled the center tank with 100 gallons and got a pump out before heading back into Lake Michigan.  Having extra time this morning gave us a chance to take care of some on-line banking, etc. and it gave Chuck and Becky time to get their train reservations made for Saturday when they leave Chicago.



Waukegan South Marina

We traveled under a sunny sky and 2 to 3 foot waves, just off the bow.  We only saw three boats while we were coming down the Wisconsin coast! Where is everyone? We arrived at the marina in Waukegan about 3:15 which involved two dockings. You must go to the fuel dock first and tie up; go in and pay and then get the slip assignment and move the boat again. The wind made that interesting but we managed to take care of everything.

We had dinner on board and started discussing what we want to do in Chicago. One priority is to take the 90 minute Architectural River Cruise – yes getting on another boat – but we will at least be the passengers and it will give us a chance to see and learn about the Chicago buildings.  It should be very interesting.

After dinner Bill met another boater on a Californian 45 and of course they had to see each other’s boats.

Thanks to Becky for taking the pictures for the blog tonight!

September 4, 2012  Day 116       Racine, WI           Total miles to date:  2344.8

We stayed in port today at the Reef Point Marina in Racine. We ran some important errands which enabled us to get Bill’s new glasses and then we did major grocery shopping. We also stopped at a map store and picked up a chart book for the Illinois River and a guide book for the inland rivers. We were so grateful to our Racine friends, Karen and Fred Kelroy for lending us their car all day. Chuck and Becky decided to spend their day walking around the downtown shops near the marina and then came back and enjoyed the pool!

Karen and Fred came to visit us on our boat this afternoon and then we went to dinner with them at the Chancery near the marina. It has been so good to see them again! 

Bill planned our route which begins with a stop at the fuel dock first thing in the morning. Then we will head south to Waukegan, IL. 

September 3, 2012  Day 115       Racine, WI      Total miles to date:  2344.8

Leaving the Grand Haven Harbor
to enter Lake Michigan

This is what we saw today -
one cargo ship and lots of water

We had a successful, uneventful 85 mile crossing of Lake Michigan today from Grand Haven, MI to Racine, WI. Once we left the harbor with several small fishing boats in the area, we only saw one boat on the water and it was 5 miles away about half way across the lake.  The waves were only 2 feet and quite tolerable.  We left at 7:15 (EST) and arrived at 3:30 pm (CST) so it was a long day.  As soon as we arrived at the Reef Point Marina, we met Gold Loopers on Kismet who helped with our lines. They just completed their Loop a few days ago and are in their home port now. It was very nice to meet them.

Bill, Joyce, Karen, Fred

We were invited to the home of friends Fred and Karen Kelroy for a delicious dinner.  It was so relaxing to be in their lovely home and to share the evening with them. They generously loaned us their car so we can run errands tomorrow.  They will visit us on the boat tomorrow and then we will meet them for dinner.

We are ready for a day without travel to catch up on provisioning the boat. Chuck and Becky plan to walk around the local shops and Bill and Joyce will take the car to Lens Crafters to get Bill's glasses replaced and go to the grocery store, etc.

September 2, 2012  Day 114  Spring Lake, MI  Total miles to date:  2259.8

We stayed in Grand Haven today although we had to move to a marina on Spring Lake – just 2 miles away and 3 bridges away! When we arrived our assigned slip was taken, so they put us in a slip whose owners were away for the weekend. We spent some of the day doing laundry, installing a light fixture in the galley, walking, playing cards, baking brownies, relaxing – nothing major! 

Carried Away at Boat Works Marina
 on Spring Lake

We did go to dinner at Old Boys Brew House and had great burgers.  It was also in walking distance of the boat.  We came back and watched a movie and enjoyed the brownies!

We are gearing up for our BIG day tomorrow. Crossing Lake Michigan to Racine, WI will take about 10 hours, so we will leave around sunrise. The seas are forecast for 1-3 feet so we are hoping that is accurate! We have spent 14 days in Michigan and have enjoyed the quaint, small towns along the coastline.

September 1, 2012  Day 113  Grand Haven, MI  Total miles to date:  2257.8



This guy was on a paddle board in
Lake Michigan this morning and crossed right
in front of us - he was headed west!

This has been a fun day. We left the marina on White Lake at 7:20 this morning and were in Grand Haven by 11:15. We had a very smooth trip today!  Our slip at the marina was still occupied until noon, so we tied up on the wall until it was available.

One of many examples of "Dog Art" in
Grand Haven. This one was made of dominoes!

Grand Haven is a very active waterfront community especially Labor Day weekend.  There was a parade of boats going up and down the river all afternoon and the marinas were full. There are many shops and restaurants here on the waterfront and in the adjacent downtown. We are glad we made the decision to come here.

Karen and Joyce

We were so happy that long-time friends, Karen and Jerry Mackey, from Battle Creek could join us this afternoon. We had not seen them in many years and it was good to reminisce. We had a nice visit on the boat and then we went to dinner with them and Chuck and Becky at a nearby Italian restaurant. 

Karen and Jerry had to drive back to Battle Creek so we said good bye shortly after dinner. 

At 9:30 we watched the Musical Fountain water show from the boat. We had perfect seats from the top of the boat although there is a stadium next to us where many people gathered to watch. There was still a parade of boats going by during the light show!

We met one Looper here from Ohio on their saiboat, Sea Biscuit. We also met the owners of two other 45 Californians. It is rare for three Californians to be in the same marina!

Tomorrow we will stay in Grand Haven but we need to move to another marina. We could not book this slip for 2 nights, so we will “relocate” to a marina on Spring Lake.