The Frenchies took this pic of us heading into Chicago River that winds through downtown.
Before I talk about our travels this week, I want to take a moment to give God my deepest thanks and praise for watching over our family. We had many members located in Irma’s path in different areas of Florida. All are safe and sound with only minor damages to homes and loss of electricity. We had a close friend in Texas come through a craniotomy for a bone tumor behind her eye with flying colors. And we were ecstatic to learn that our son, Connor, showed absolutely no signs of any returning cancer in his PET scan done on Tuesday. We are all so blessed to be able to continue our crazy and exciting paths through this life which often throws some scary situations at us. We learn, we grow, and hopefully live it to the fullest…. and never take it for granted!
After leaving Grand Haven (Michigan) we stayed a night in Saugatuck. The waterfront town was filled with great little shops and restaurants. The marina was filled with yachtsmen with too much money for their own good, and their wives trotted around draped in gold and jewels and drank wine from crystal glasses. Feeling a little ‘out done’ in our shorts and t-shirts and canned beer, we decided to take our slumming one step further and embark on a pub crawl….just the 2 of us. Four bars (from hipster to biker) later we found ourselves in a tiny piano sing-a-long joint. We haven’t sung that loud in public….ever. We met about 60 of our closest friends that night! Quite surprisingly, I was not one of the many people who stood on the piano to lead in a song. I think I might officially be getting old. We haven’t had that much fun since our own sing-a-long parties 20 years ago.
We are now done with the Great Lakes…..YAY! We spent 3 days in Chicago to celebrate getting the heck out of the land of shifting winds, tortuous waves and unseasonal cold. The marina was where Lake Michigan meets the downtown skyscrapers and the view at night was spectacular with all the lights. After being in very small towns the past 2 months, the city noise seemed so much louder! Sirens, the ‘L”, construction, and the constant hum of traffic noise 24/7 was disconcerting. Derek went walking to find an ATM, got lost, and found himself instead in the middle of the homeless living under the bridges. Ooops, wrong turn, baby. It was also our first time in a downtown grocery store that had elevators and escalators to shop on it’s 3 floors. The city charges for grocery bags (plastic and paper) and adds 1 cent for every once of sweet soda purchased. Derek, of course, had to give the cashier a lecture on over-taxation! I guess we are true country bumpkins at heart!
The highlight of our stay was going to the Cubs vs Mets baseball game at Wrigley Field. The stadium was completely filled on a Tuesday night. Boy, do they love their team! Cubbies won 8-3. Even though Chicago is huge, we truly enjoyed the midwestern inclusiveness of all the people we met. Loved the chicago hot dogs, but sorry guys, thin-crust NewYork pizza still rules over deep dish!
We left the big city via the Chicago River that runs through the middle of downtown. What an awesome site with the buildings towering over us. We passed under countless fixed bridges that were ‘supposed’ to be over 18 feet high. Uh….NOT! With our mast down we measure 17 feet in height. Derek and I held our breath as we passed under many with only inches to spare.
We are now on the Illinois Waterway, heading for the Mississippi River. Our new challenge is avoiding HUGE barges headed north to Chicago. Some are over 600 feet long and 300 feet wide! We hug the sides when they pass and hope their wake doesn't push us into shore or suck us towards them. It takes over a half a mile for them to stop, and they probably consider us ‘speed bumps’! They have precedence in the locks, and sometimes pleasure boaters wait many hours for our turn. Every time we go into a big bend in the river, we hope a barge is not headed our way in the turn.
Another highlight happened when we were cruising about 10 miles out from Chicago on Lake Michigan. A B-2 Stealth Bomber flew DIRECTLY over us at LOW altitude. It came from behind, following our same exact course. It was SO quiet that we didn’t even hear it till flew over us and filled the view out of our front flybridge window! Derek was as excited as a little kid. If only we’d had our camera ready. We did get a shot with it off in the distance. I wonder if he set his bomb site on our boat just for fun when he was directly above us!!! Someone later said he was there to do a fly over for the Bears football game. ‘Merica!!!!
We are now in a convoy with seven other Looper boats, including the Frenchies. One family is traveling with their son who is around 6, and another with their grandson who is 18. Derek and I are no longer the youngest on the Loop! The temps are warming as we head south, but the trees along the shore have started their autumn color change already. Where did summer go? It will be weird celebrating the holidays away from home. I plan on decorating our boat like a Christmas tree! Several weeks ago we booked a month in a marina in Marathon Key for mid December to mid January. We don’t know if the marina is still standing after Irma plowed through, hitting the Keys hard. Among many other things, this trip has taught us to quickly adapt to changes in plans. You can’t change what you can’t control. A true lesson for this planning fanatic!
Love you all and spend precious moments following everyone on Facebook. As Pink Floyd says….’Wish you were here’.