From the bow - coming into Chicago. We made it into the 31st Street Harbor in Chicago, 3 miles south of downtown, just after noon on Wednesday, 8/29, just ahead of the 5-9 ft. seas predicted on Thursday. We were amazed that the brand-new marina was less than 50% full, so we had our pick of a slip, selecting one in the middle of the marina, close to the office and the laundry room. Our plan was to stay in Chicago until Sunday, which would allow us the opportunity to visit the city, and to attend a Great Loop get-together on Saturday.
A couple of the other loopers, Quest & Queen Kathleen, had arrived in Chicago
a few days earlier, and were scheduled to leave the next day (Thursday). At this point in the trip, we will start saying good-bye to other loopers that we've come to know during the past 4 months on the loop. From this point forward, the route for everyone is the same (down the Illinois, Mississippi & Ohio rivers), so, unless someone stops for several days on the rivers, once someone gets ahead, there's probably not much chance that we would be able to catch up. Carl & Ricki on Quest live in West Virginia, so their route will be to continue up the Ohio after we turn south down the Tennessee River, so, once they leave Chicago, there's probably not much chance that we would see them again.
So, we called Carl & Ricki to arrange a final get-together dinner Wednesday night at Navy Pier, and then followed up dinner by watching the fireworks of off Navy Pier from the aft deck of Quest. We said our sad good-byes to Ricki & Carl, whom we had known since last fall in Yorktown, wished them well on their voyage back home, and then returned to Rickshaw via taxi at the end of the evening.
The next day we rode our bikes into the downtown area and took the hop on/hop off tour through downtown Chicago, taking in the sights of this fabulous city. In between our trips between the marina and downtown, the 18 mile bike path that went by our marina and runs alongside Lakeshore Drive gave us a good opportunity to get our bikes out and get some exercise, riding along beautiful, teal-green Lake Michigan.
On Friday, we went back into downtown to take the architectural boat tour of the Chicago River, which is lined with famous and beautiful towering buildings designed to take maximum advantage of the views of the lake.
On Saturday, we met up with the son & daughter-in-law of our good friends, Woody & Carolyn (who had stayed with us on Rickshaw for a week), for breakfast. It was great to finally meet Brandon & Rachel, who live in Chicago & whom we had heard so much about from Woody & Carolyn. Later that day, we were picked up by Skip & Barb, from Moor $tuff, who also live in Chicago, who took us on a tour of the University of Chicago before going to the looper get-together in a downtown high-rise. At the get-together, we met several other loopers, one couple from Brazil, who were doing the loop, with their 3 year old daughter on their 50 ft. trawler, Jade, after bringing the boat up from South America. After they finish the loop, they're going to take their boat across the Atlantic and do the canals of Europe! We also met a couple from New Zealand, on Loopy Kiwi, and another couple from Canada, on The Last Resort. So, it was quite an experience to meet up with such an international group.
We had planned to leave Chicago on Sunday, but due to the rains from Hurricane Isaac that had made their way into the midwest, we decided to stay in Chicago for another day, which gave us a chance to catch up on a few boat chores (including fixing the generators that had been giving us some problems), and getting ready for the next phase of our journey. Starting from here, we will be going down through the rivers and back to going through locks again, but this time, we will be sharing the rivers & the locks with tows and barges.
A couple of the other loopers, Quest & Queen Kathleen, had arrived in Chicago
a few days earlier, and were scheduled to leave the next day (Thursday). At this point in the trip, we will start saying good-bye to other loopers that we've come to know during the past 4 months on the loop. From this point forward, the route for everyone is the same (down the Illinois, Mississippi & Ohio rivers), so, unless someone stops for several days on the rivers, once someone gets ahead, there's probably not much chance that we would be able to catch up. Carl & Ricki on Quest live in West Virginia, so their route will be to continue up the Ohio after we turn south down the Tennessee River, so, once they leave Chicago, there's probably not much chance that we would see them again.
So, we called Carl & Ricki to arrange a final get-together dinner Wednesday night at Navy Pier, and then followed up dinner by watching the fireworks of off Navy Pier from the aft deck of Quest. We said our sad good-byes to Ricki & Carl, whom we had known since last fall in Yorktown, wished them well on their voyage back home, and then returned to Rickshaw via taxi at the end of the evening.
The next day we rode our bikes into the downtown area and took the hop on/hop off tour through downtown Chicago, taking in the sights of this fabulous city. In between our trips between the marina and downtown, the 18 mile bike path that went by our marina and runs alongside Lakeshore Drive gave us a good opportunity to get our bikes out and get some exercise, riding along beautiful, teal-green Lake Michigan.
On Friday, we went back into downtown to take the architectural boat tour of the Chicago River, which is lined with famous and beautiful towering buildings designed to take maximum advantage of the views of the lake.
On Saturday, we met up with the son & daughter-in-law of our good friends, Woody & Carolyn (who had stayed with us on Rickshaw for a week), for breakfast. It was great to finally meet Brandon & Rachel, who live in Chicago & whom we had heard so much about from Woody & Carolyn. Later that day, we were picked up by Skip & Barb, from Moor $tuff, who also live in Chicago, who took us on a tour of the University of Chicago before going to the looper get-together in a downtown high-rise. At the get-together, we met several other loopers, one couple from Brazil, who were doing the loop, with their 3 year old daughter on their 50 ft. trawler, Jade, after bringing the boat up from South America. After they finish the loop, they're going to take their boat across the Atlantic and do the canals of Europe! We also met a couple from New Zealand, on Loopy Kiwi, and another couple from Canada, on The Last Resort. So, it was quite an experience to meet up with such an international group.
We had planned to leave Chicago on Sunday, but due to the rains from Hurricane Isaac that had made their way into the midwest, we decided to stay in Chicago for another day, which gave us a chance to catch up on a few boat chores (including fixing the generators that had been giving us some problems), and getting ready for the next phase of our journey. Starting from here, we will be going down through the rivers and back to going through locks again, but this time, we will be sharing the rivers & the locks with tows and barges.
 The view from our slip in 31st Street Marina.  We enjoyed the fireworks from the aft deck of Quest after a farewell dinner with Carl and Ricki.  The relection of downtown Chicago in The Bean. Also, Jim, Jim's back and Belinda taking the picture.  Since Rickshaw is too tall to go thru downtown to connect with the Illinois River we decided to take a boat tour thru downtown that features the outstanding architecture. |  We stopped on the bike trail that runs 18 miles along Lake Michigan by Navy Pier and into downtown.  The chrome sculpture known as The Bean in Millennium Park.  Standing under The Bean.  One of the many brigdes that Rickshaw would not be able to clear. |
The Buchingham Fountain in Millennium Park where we enjoyed the Jazz Festival on Sunday afternoon.
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