Chicago

When we left St. Joe Friday morning, Lake Michigan was not the "gentle lady" referred to earlier, but not the witch any of the great lakes can manifest. Our boat handles waves very well and we had just this "window" before more wind came, so we moved across the lake.  We began to see the Chicago skyscrapers more than 30 miles out!  We spotted smoke/steam along the south-figured it was New Buffalo then Michigan City.  When we saw a solid cloud of vapor, we figured it was Gary (we don't want to insult anyone but when Benjamin was 4, his maternal grandparents took him to Minnesota for Easter and when they went through Gary, he told his grandparents he thinks it should be called "Stinky", Indiana).

After passing the Chicago Harbor Light, we made our way to Dusable Harbor, the marina closest to downtown and the Navy Pier.  We tied up then walked to Navy Pier, where John discussed the difficulties of being cooped up on the boat with Mary with "Dr." Bob Newhart.

Navy Pier at night, as seen from our boat.

We arose early Saturday to ride our bikes when the pedestrian/bicycle path would be less congested.  Surely Chicagoans sleep in at least a little on the weekend.  There were so many runners!  Just as we were silently congratulating the people for being so committed to physical fitness, we came across a water station.  We were in the middle of a race.  We weren't the only bikes, either.  We rode down to the concrete path along the water's edge.  It was a lot rougher, but a lot less crowded.

Buckingham Fountain

We rode past Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum, Buckingham Fountain, Soldier's Field, the Adler Planetarium and old Meigs airfield on Northerly Island.  Chicago had wanted to close the airfield for many years.  It closed after 9/11, but eventually the FAA developed a plan to keep it open for 25 more years.  Mayor Daly had bulldozers move in one night and destroy the runway.  The city was fined $35,000.00, but didn't have to deal with the airfield any more.There were very few people on the island and it was a pleasant ride through a bird and butterfly sanctuary and prairie grasses.  We rode 11.5 miles.

Kevin, Mike, Kathy and Mary on Navy Pier

Our friends Kathy and Mike, from Midland, were in town visiting their son, Kevin.  We used to boat together a lot in the 90's. They do their traveling now in a fifth wheel.  They came to the boat and we walked to Navy Pier for lunch.  We always enjoy Mike and Kathy and it was great to have a chance to visit with Kevin.

Sunday we walked to the Willis (Sears) Tower and went to the Skydeck.  Received the best military discount ever-100%!  John's visit was free.  On the way,we detoured to "The Bean", actually "Cloud Gate" by British artist Anish Kapoor

and by the fountain that "spits"

Chicago citizens were the models

We ate Chicago pizza for lunch and took a taxi to the John Hancock building to see the view from the top.  Kevin had alerted us to the bar at the top of the building.  If you go up there and have a drink, you get the view without the wait and the cost.  We then walked to the Navy Pier to get a Chicago hot dog for dinner.

It was a looong day!

We took a pedi-cab back to the boat , even though it was only about a mile.

Goodnight, Chicago

We left Monday morning to begin our adventures on the river.