Freedom's Turn crossed over Lake Michigan from New Buffalo, Michigan to Chicago, Illinois on Tuesday, September 2. The weather was sunny and very warm and the big lake laid day down nice and quiet for us. We could not see land nor any boats for quite awhile; just like we owned the lake! Hurricane Gustav was way below us and after about a five hour cruise,we hoped we would be fine, tucked into our reserved slip at Burnham Marina, one of Chicago's eight recreational marinas on the 29 mile stretch of Chicago's riverfront.
Our marina was about a four block walk north to the Art Institute and Navy Pier and very close to Grant Park, the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum of Natural History. We first rode our bikes in Grant Park; to just get off the boat and to get a better feel for the area. We soon discovered the Shedd Aquarium was closed for the week!
The next day, Charlie really wanted a long walk. He knew I was hoping to go to one of my very favorite places: the Chicago Art Institute. So we set out walking together then separated for three hours. When we met up, I wanted pizza. We found the wonderful "Pizzeria Uno" restaurant where we enjoyed a heavenly deep dish pizza and a beer. For those of you that do not know, this restaurant is credited to be the birthplace of the deep dish pizza in the world. We were glad to have some left over for the next day. Charlie had gotten his long walk in; to the north end of Michigan Ave. as well as to the Navy Pier! Ice cream ($4.90-small scoop) was expensive at Navy Pier but Charlie's craving took over. I bet I walked closed to ten miles by the end of the day and Charlie walked even more. Charlie said that this day was all about Linda. I guess I need to try to find a way to have more of these days....
It is a good thing we got our exercise because the next day the winds and rain from Gustave hit Chicago. With 6-10 footers on the lake and very high winds, we became stranded on our boat and could not leave to go south nor did we choose to even get off our boat. We really felt alone but made the best of it with showers on the boat, a DVD and popcorn that evening. We canceled our plans for more museums and shopping.
The next morning, the waves had subsided to 2-4 ft and the wind had calmed down a bit to 15-20 knots out of the northwest so conditions were good to go. It was Friday, September 5. We went outside of our protective break wall and down two miles into the lock area which would open up for us to proceed into the Chicago River. We had an hour wait for the lock to open due to the storm the day before. Once tied up in the lock, we quickly dropped the two feet into the Chicago River. This lock is approximately 580 feet above sea level. Before we get to Mobile, Alabama we will have to go through many locks!
The Chicago River is an emerald green color and has the distinction of being the only river in the world that flows backward. Engineers reversed the river so that the city's agricultural and industrial run off did not pollute Lake Michigan, which is the source of the city's drinking water. A little farther down, we would go over a specially designed electrical field under the river that shocked fish especially the the invasive species Asian Carp;trying to prevent them from coming into Lake Michigan from the Mississippi River. We have heard stories about these carp leaping into boats and hitting boats down south of us! Yuck!
We were ready to go through the downtown under several bridges. Charlie's design and building of our radar arch support prop was in place so we could lower our radar dome and anchor light to get from our overall height of 17' 5'' to 15'5'' which was then clear enough to handle all the bridges except the Amtrak bridge which opened to let us through. If boats can't clear heights of 17 feet, they have to proceed south by another route, called the Calumet-Sag waterway near East Chicago and Whiting, Indiana. Both ways merge further south on the Illinois River
As we went under the first downtown bridge, the Lakeshore Dr. Bridge, geese were swimming along with us as if to say "now follow us south." Silently and in awe we cruised by skyscraper after skyscraper, looking up and feeling like we were just a dot in the overall picture. We did not see any other recreational boat on the the downtown part of the river that day so we felt like we owned the river as well! Charlie said it was like we were in a river canyon, looking way up at the little people walking along the walkways that lined both sides of the river. The city was moving fast and we were taking it all in while moving slow. The view from the river was so unique and today we remember this time as a 'once in a lifetime' thrill.
Our destination that day was to go about six hours and end up tied at a free city dock wall in Joilet in the afternoon.
Charlie won the bet on which one of us would see the city skyline first (6 miles-fog). Our first sightings were surrounded by the remains of a low lying fog which cast different levels of blue gray over everything; the water, sky, and city. As we entered the harbor, the buildings popped out clearly enough to see the magnificent panoramic view! Our marina had most of their of 1,140 boat slips full as we entered Burnham Marina to find our place. We soon realized that of all the boats there, the place was almost deserted; most of them were seasonal rentals and with it being after Labor Day as well as in the middle of the week, we saw just a few people on their boats.
The docks were labeled from A to Z and all had a locked gate with a code at each dock! We were at dock R and a long way to the harbormaster and the restrooms and showers on top of no one around. It was an eerie feeling.Our marina was about a four block walk north to the Art Institute and Navy Pier and very close to Grant Park, the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum of Natural History. We first rode our bikes in Grant Park; to just get off the boat and to get a better feel for the area. We soon discovered the Shedd Aquarium was closed for the week!
The next day, Charlie really wanted a long walk. He knew I was hoping to go to one of my very favorite places: the Chicago Art Institute. So we set out walking together then separated for three hours. When we met up, I wanted pizza. We found the wonderful "Pizzeria Uno" restaurant where we enjoyed a heavenly deep dish pizza and a beer. For those of you that do not know, this restaurant is credited to be the birthplace of the deep dish pizza in the world. We were glad to have some left over for the next day. Charlie had gotten his long walk in; to the north end of Michigan Ave. as well as to the Navy Pier! Ice cream ($4.90-small scoop) was expensive at Navy Pier but Charlie's craving took over. I bet I walked closed to ten miles by the end of the day and Charlie walked even more. Charlie said that this day was all about Linda. I guess I need to try to find a way to have more of these days....
It is a good thing we got our exercise because the next day the winds and rain from Gustave hit Chicago. With 6-10 footers on the lake and very high winds, we became stranded on our boat and could not leave to go south nor did we choose to even get off our boat. We really felt alone but made the best of it with showers on the boat, a DVD and popcorn that evening. We canceled our plans for more museums and shopping.
The next morning, the waves had subsided to 2-4 ft and the wind had calmed down a bit to 15-20 knots out of the northwest so conditions were good to go. It was Friday, September 5. We went outside of our protective break wall and down two miles into the lock area which would open up for us to proceed into the Chicago River. We had an hour wait for the lock to open due to the storm the day before. Once tied up in the lock, we quickly dropped the two feet into the Chicago River. This lock is approximately 580 feet above sea level. Before we get to Mobile, Alabama we will have to go through many locks!
The Chicago River is an emerald green color and has the distinction of being the only river in the world that flows backward. Engineers reversed the river so that the city's agricultural and industrial run off did not pollute Lake Michigan, which is the source of the city's drinking water. A little farther down, we would go over a specially designed electrical field under the river that shocked fish especially the the invasive species Asian Carp;trying to prevent them from coming into Lake Michigan from the Mississippi River. We have heard stories about these carp leaping into boats and hitting boats down south of us! Yuck!
We were ready to go through the downtown under several bridges. Charlie's design and building of our radar arch support prop was in place so we could lower our radar dome and anchor light to get from our overall height of 17' 5'' to 15'5'' which was then clear enough to handle all the bridges except the Amtrak bridge which opened to let us through. If boats can't clear heights of 17 feet, they have to proceed south by another route, called the Calumet-Sag waterway near East Chicago and Whiting, Indiana. Both ways merge further south on the Illinois River
As we went under the first downtown bridge, the Lakeshore Dr. Bridge, geese were swimming along with us as if to say "now follow us south." Silently and in awe we cruised by skyscraper after skyscraper, looking up and feeling like we were just a dot in the overall picture. We did not see any other recreational boat on the the downtown part of the river that day so we felt like we owned the river as well! Charlie said it was like we were in a river canyon, looking way up at the little people walking along the walkways that lined both sides of the river. The city was moving fast and we were taking it all in while moving slow. The view from the river was so unique and today we remember this time as a 'once in a lifetime' thrill.
Our destination that day was to go about six hours and end up tied at a free city dock wall in Joilet in the afternoon.
