September 12, 2023

Hello from Captain Pat and Admiral Cindy on ‘Sunshine’.

We have one more blog to post, the last of our Lake Michigan town visits – St. Joseph, West Basin Marina. We can’t say enough about this marina – cleanest facilities, friendliest, helpful staff, and free laundry! More about that in our next blog.

However, we want to update you as to where we arrived Sunday, September 10 – Chicago, Illinois!

Journey to Chicago

We depart St. Joseph around 8:30 a.m. (eastern) and arrive Chicago around 1:30 p.m (central time) Not a bad ride – minimal waves most of the way.

I am nervous though, especially as we approach the towering skyline, which seems to go on forever.

Approaching Chicago, it was fun to watch the skyline come closer into purview. First sighting of the skyscrapers was 25 miles out!

As we near the entry channel, we see a dozen or so sailboats.

Sailboats have the right of way over motorboats. This poses a problem for the Captain. Which way are they going? and where is he supposed to go?

We finally make it around the sailboats and soon see the familiar lighthouses we have seen at each waterfront town. These lighthouses look so tiny next to the high rise buildings.

Arrival at DuSable Harbor

We call the marina – DuSable Harbor – and they tell us they will have dockhands available to help us dock. Docking always makes me nervous. We have a stern in, starboard tie. (That means you back the boat in.)

Sure enough, two dock hands are there to assist us – thank goodness. We make it in, no problem.

We are docked in Slip B53 at DuSable Harbor, compliments of our Looper friends Polly and Bruce. For this we are eternally grateful. We could pinch ourselves. The location couldn’t be better – right across from the marina office and facilities, and boardwalks to downtown Chicago.

We Leave for the Locks on October 16

This will be our home port until October 16. We just heard yesterday from the AGLCA our date to enter the Chicago Locks. We are in AGLCA Flotilla No. 16 (out of 20) to enter the Chicago locks. That means we are scheduled to go through the locks on October 16. As mentioned earlier, all Loopers (around 300 boats) completed a survey indicating their first, second and third choice on Flotilla dates. There are around 16 boats in a flotilla.

So I have a while to worry about this next portion of our trip. -:) Captain Pat is of course not worried at all. I figure this Chicago stop is a major milestone in our journey. The next milestones are: St. Louis, Kentucky, Alabama, crossing the Gulf, and then Florida!

Our Homeport of Chicago

We will probably take some side trips from Chicago to Wisconsin – no firm plans now. Just taking it one day at a time.

I’m loving this location! I am a country girl but also get excited when in a big city. Especially after living in Boston. I love the hustle and bustle and big buildings and diversity of people. There’s just this excitement in the air.

We are in a lovely part of Chicago. Clean, lots of parks, easy to walk anywhere. And there are bikes to rent.

Sunday Exploration

Sunday we asked for a map from the girl in the marina office. She looked at us like we were crazy. “Just go out here and follow the walkway. Follow the trail for walking or biking.” 🙂 I’ll just follow my phone.

We did meet a nice couple on our way to the grocery store. They live in a nearby high-rise. They took us to Mariano’s, a two-story fantastic grocery in a high-rise! (Everything is in a high-rise.) They also pointed out Greek, Mexican, and breakfast eateries. Everything is so convenient.

We had tacos and burritos at the Mexican restaurant to celebrate our safe arrival.

Later Sunday evening we walked to Target. I had my first “it fell in the water” episode in St. Joseph. At the marina dock, standing on the boat, my Apple AirPod fell from my right ear, right into the water. Target has a sale on them so off we go.

Along the way, crossing over the Chicago River bridge, Captain Pat points out the Chicago lock.

This is the first lock we will be going through on October 15. This lock is the staging lock. Then we go to the first big lock on the Illinois River for our October start down the rivers.

Stay tuned for more of our adventures in Chi town! Here are more photos from our first day in Chicago.