Winthrop Harbor
Marina – September 2 through 9/24/21
Winthrop Harbor is just barely inside of Illinois. It is the largest marina in the Great Lakes with 1,500 slips! To walk from our slip to the office was about a mile! Their prices were reasonable, so we decided this would be a good place to leave the boat for our visit home. There was a stop on the Chicago commuter train just a mile away – We got a ride from the marina personnel. Not knowing how far away from Union Station in Chicago, we decided to go into Chicago the day before our train to Detroit. We got a hotel room right downtown, and enjoyed the evening and next morning of “touristing” in Chicago. We’ve already enjoyed Chicago on several occasions, so were fairly familiar with the downtown area. Always fun to visit!
From our hotel window, Dan saw a sign painted on a building not far away that advertised a restaurant that sounded interesting. Off we went. When we arrived at the building, we found out that the restaurant was long closed – when asked why they sign was still there, the doorman replied that the sign was historic! We ended up eating at a nearby Irish bar. Next morning, we explored the area before heading off to Union Station for the trip home. Amtrak has a stop just 2 miles from our house in Royal Oak! Friends met us at the train platform and chauffeured us home!
Next evening, my son, Travis had planned a surprise sit down dinner to celebrate his and Lisa’s 20th anniversary! Their actual anniversary was in July, but the dinner had to be postponed – Travis and his family had been exposed to Covid and had to be quarantined! The dinner went off without a hitch in the hall where their wedding had been held. There were about 40 guests, cash bar, and a lovely dinner. Lisa was surprised – I couldn’t believe he actually pulled it off! He surprised me with a short speech about how he hadn’t danced with me at the wedding, how much I mean to him. He had picked out a song, and we danced – can’t tell you what that meant to me.
After a two week visit home, during which I had special adventures with each of my three grandchildren, we returned to Winthrop Harbor. After some routine maintenance on the boat, we left for Chicago.
DuSable Marina, downtown Chicago. 9/24 thru 9/26/2021
We had an amazing time for two nights and three days in Chicago. We went on a Sequeway tour of the museum campus, Buckingham fountain, and nearby area. Fun and tiring!
We decided to go to the top of the John Hancock Building (96th floor) for drinks and the view, after which we’d go to another restaurant for dinner. We were lucky to be seated right next to the window for our drinks. What a spectacular view! We could see our boat in the marina! We sat there in wonder as the sun went down and the downtown lights started coming on in the buildings. I could never get tired of that view. As we finished our drinks, Dan said “Let’s have our dinner here too…”. So we went down one floor to the restaurant, and were lucky again to be seated at the window. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and some wine, all the while staring out the window.
A woman from the table next to ours came over to ask if we were celebrating our 20th anniversary or some other event. We got started talking to her and then to the other 5 people at their table. Of course, we got into the “Loop talk”. It’s always fun introducing the subject to new people – we truly are the luckiest people I know! We are in our 70’s, healthy, financially able to do this amazing trip in our boat!
After dinner, we ended up in the elevator with some young women, who obviously hadn’t stinted in their libations….! As we exited the building, they insisted on taking our picture, exclaiming how ‘cute’ we were! We got a taxi back to the marina. The taxi driver asked us why the marina. When we explained that we are living on our boat traveling around America’s Great Loop, he was amazed. We had a short walk from the taxi drop off to our boat. One man asked which dock we were on – ‘OH!’, he said, “You’re on B for BIG BOATS!”
All in all, we had a truly magical two full days of adventure and wonder in Chicago. Can’t wait to return one day!
On this journey, you can either go through downtown Chicago on the Calumet River, or go around downtown and down the Sanitary Canal (doesn't that sound enticing..."!) The determining factor is the height of your boat. We are fortunate in that the Kittiwake fits under the one fixed bridge in downtown. We chose to leave on a Sunday so that the river traffic would be at a minimum. We left with 3 other boats. First up is the lock that takes boats from Lake Michigan into the Calumet River. The drop isn’t much, less than 2 feet. It was such fun to see downtown Chicago from the river!
Thus began our six week journey on the river systems until we came out in Mobile! We enjoyed the trip, which involved several rivers, numerous locks, and many quintessential American river towns.
First stop is usually in Joliet, Illinois at the town’s free dock. We had heard some tales of vandalism from locals, nothing serious, but we just didn’t want to deal with that stress. We bypassed Joliet and went to the next marina, Harborside. Nothing remarkable about the marina – in going to our assigned slip, we stirred up some mud – it was a little shallow! But, it was fine, stress free, and we had dinner at an on-site restaurant!
September 27 thru 29 – Heritage Harbor Marina, and the famous Jeremy
Next stop was Heritage Harbor Marina, where we met up with the boats Four Pikes, Aurora, Alegria, and Lee Ann. We would encounter, leave, and re-encounter these folks over the next weeks and months! Heritage was famous for Jeremy’s briefing for boaters. He generously covers the next parts of the river, talking about things to keep in mind, things to avoid. One famous quote is regarding a spot on the river where there is a sign pointing to the left (“To the Lock”). Jeremy exclaimed “For the love of God, GO LEFT!!” Apparently, if you go right, there are some dangerous rapids that are not navigable. We were in Alton, near that point, when there was a sailboat that didn't heed the warnings or the sign - they were rescued, but their boat was a total loss. We were grateful for his time and information – even if we were tired, hungry, and ready for bed after a long day’s cruise! We stayed here two nights, taking advantage of their loaner car to get some groceries.
September 29,
Illinois Valley Yacht Club (IVY)
This is a small marina with a nice club on site. As we have often experienced, our transient status gets us a slip that is farthest from anything! Here, we were only a few yards from the main building as the crow flies, but to get there required about a half mile walk! We were happy to see Four Pikes there near us! They were experiencing a problem with their generator – Dan was able to give them a part they needed. They’ll return it down the river when they’re able to purchase one! We decided to eat at home and not trek to the dining room. We sat outside with Joyce and Paul from Four Pikes to have a drink and enjoy some talking about our adventures so far and our plans.
September 30 and
October 1 – anchor out at Quiver Island and Valley City.
We enjoyed these anchorages, seeing our boat friends from Alegria and LeeAnn. We were fairly inexperienced at anchoring, so it was good to get advice from some veterans! It’s nice at anchor – quiet, peaceful. It’s wonderful to be self contained and competent!
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