Sept 10-13 Doing the Tourist Thing in Chicago

Sept  10-13



Chicago.  I honestly was not looking forward to Chicago.  I made it through NYC which was better than I expected but still there is just too much noise, too busy, too many people, too much trash, too much homelessness, too much hassle, etc.   So, I was sort of surprised at how much I enjoyed Chicago.  I’m sure a lot had to do with the limited area we explored which was primarily along the waterfront.   This area is essentially a giant park with assorted “public” spaces encompassing museums, monuments, fountains, marinas, etc. Very walkable but also good public transit and with our limited distances we wound up using the rental bike service  called  Divvy and the dedicated paths to get around.

The Bean!!

We took time to enjoy several of the top tourist destinations.   Day one was the architectural boat tour through downtown on the Chicago River. We're too tall to travel this route on our boat.  Great trip on a beautiful day.  Tour guide did a fabulous job of not just pointing out the more famous buildings we passed but also how and where it fit into Chicago’s timeline.

The tour begins

Old School buildings

The "Less is More" School of basic boxes and exoskeletons

"The Corn Cob"  -  no  straight lines school

Modern - McDonalds Apple Pie Building

Newest skyscraper - female architect - still under construction

 Next day was a road trip out to Oak Park to visit the Frank Lloyd Wright house and studio and a walking tour of a number of other houses he designed during his career.  Very interesting as he designed a number of more traditional houses when working for a firm early on.   You can see the transitions over the years as he developed his own prairie style.  

Front of FLW's house - early in his career - still pretty conservative

Two of his later design houses - more in his style

Inside of Unity Temple - his style in full effect

This was originally a more traditional English Tudor style house he designed. Fire destroyed 3rd and 4th floors so he came back late in his career and redid it with Japanese and Moorish influences 

Next day we took in the Shedd Aquarium. We did a special evening adult visit which was sort of different.   They sold adult beverages which you could carry around while looking at the fish and had a DJ Alicia spinning tunes under a tent outside for the much younger crowd. Final day was a visit to the Field Museum of Natural History.   Both the Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum were built in the 30’s and are gorgeous classic buildings.

Along with all that culture we also managed to enjoy Chicago food.   A deep dish stuffed pizza from Giordano’s, some outstanding eggplant parmesan from Tufano’s , and  great beer and food at Berghoff's – a 3^rd generation family run German restaurant.

Chicago Style Deep Dish Stuffed Pizza

Sept 9 Michigan City to CHICAGO!!!

Sept 9



We’re in CHICAGO!!!   DONE with Lake Michigan!!   Over the last few days we've been in Michigan, Indiana and now Illinois and moved from Eastern to Central time zone.  It sure gets dark early here!

Sept 7 - We had to sit out an extra day in South Haven, MI waiting for that small craft advisory to pass. It was surprising the amount of rolling we experienced in the marina as those swells worked their way through the inlet and up the river.  They finally subsided a bit during the night providing a few good hours of sleep.   We headed out the next day to very light winds but there was still some wave motion that made the 7-hour trip to Michigan City, Indiana less than ideal.  Here’s a quick tour from the helm showing the rolling  motion.

https://youtu.be/605eGN7MSGo

 This trip continued the straight-line cruises off the coastline between ports we’ve become accustomed to on the lake with not much scenery other than water and dunes.

Journey for Sept 7

After making it to Michigan City we checked out the next day’s weather forecast and determined things were not settling down as had been predicted.   We gave it until the morning, but things still were looking unfavorable with waves increasing over the course of the day.  We opted to stay an extra night.  The Michigan City Marina is large and well protected from waves so we got a couple nights of good sleep.  Sunday morning started with a big breakfast at a local diner called Studio 801 while checking out the downtown area and a quick look at the Barker Mansion.

The Barker Mansion

The Barkers owned a huge complex that produced boxcars for the railroads. It was eventually bought out by George Pullman of Pullman passenger car fame.  Interesting note – while Henry Ford is often credited with the first assembly lines – it was actually Pullman who developed the system for the production of his railcars.   Unfortunately, the mansion wasn’t open for tours, so we moved on to the nearby outlet mall to find some heavier clothing – it’s getting cool up here.  

Michigan City Lighthouse Museum

Then a trip to the Lighthouse Museum to take in the local history and culture and finally a flight of craft brews at Zorn Brewery to finish out the day.   Seemed pretty productive for an extra shore leave day.

Sept 9 - The wind and waves were forecast to be a bit more favorable today, so we opted to make the crossing across the bottom of Lake Michigan and over to Chicago.  Not a terrible trip – at least it was a shorter day running the engines a little harder than normal and making it over in less than 5 hours. 

Chicago is in our sights!!

We’re in Burnham Marina which is one of the city of Chicago’s marinas right on their waterfront and close to all the attractions.  So far the only things we’ve taken in are a walk by the waterfront and a Chicago deep dish stuffed pizza. 

We’ll be here several days  so plan on doing the tourist thing taking the architectural boat tour  through downtown, visiting the Art Institute and Aquarium and we’re hoping to get out to Oak Park  to explore Frank Lloyd Wright’s house and studio and take a walking tour to view several homes he designed in the area.

Night time skyline view from our  rear sundeck

Journey for Sept 9

Sept 5 Muskegon to South Haven

Sept 5


The Muskegon Municipal Marina was a good place to weather the gales that pushed through.  It’s an older but well-kept marina and a good bit further back from the breakwater but it wound up offering excellent protection.  We could tell the wind was blowing looking up at the surrounding trees or out onto the white caps on the lake, but in the marina the boat barely even rocked.   The other benefit was that the marina is the closest one to the actual downtown area but still a bit of a walk.   The town has a real mixture of vibes.

A handful of original buildings remain

 At various times it’s been an industrial manufacturing stronghold but over time it’s seen some pretty significant ups and downs.   It took a hard hit back in the 60’s and still seems to be recovering with several big industrial buildings looking forlorn and empty. The downtown had much of its older buildings torn down back when urban renewal was in vogue.  Yet there’s a definite upside as some new shops, restaurants, breweries, museums, etc. are taking hold along with some new condo’s and even old industrial buildings being converted to apartments and lofts.  And they have some great parks and trails. 

Civil War monument in Hackley Park

There’s an amazing park and monument to Union civil war hero’s a block off downtown.  This park is a full city block with statues of Lincoln, Grant, Sherman and Farragut (“Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead”) anchoring the corners and a huge monument in the center.  This was all built and paid for by one of the millionaire lumber barons of the day named Charles Hackley.

Hackley House Museum

Hs impressive house still stands as a museum as does the public library building he funded.

Hackley Public Library

At the end of the 1800's when  lumber was depleted and he had made his millions he was instrumental in luring manufacturers to Muskegon - personally  offering them financial incentives and establishing  the basic Chamber of Commerce model for development. 

Still, we were glad to have a weather window open to get back on the move.  The extended forecast was predicting three good travel days, so we headed out on Thursday at 7AM on a cool 47 degree morning to flat seas, sunshine and our sight set on South Haven some 60+ miles south.  

Leaving Muskegon Inlet - not as many boaters as on Labor Day!

A very boring run as there simply was nothing to see or do the entire day.  Once we exited the Muskegon breakwater, we turned due south, set the autopilot once and made a straight line all the way down to the breakwater at South Haven.

Entering the breakwater at South Haven. Lighthouse on right side.

   After getting settled at South Haven  marina, we did our normal check of weather for the next day and was surprised to see that Lakeshore Beach Hazards and a Small Craft Advisory was posted for Friday due to strong winds and building seas.   South Haven is a nice little town.  Founded in mid-1800’s as part of the lumbering industry but not much happened after that disappeared in the late 1800’s.  Like many towns, it became a tourist destination and still is today.  A nicely preserved downtown area, good restaurants and bars, and even a nice collection of assorted shops.  Wonderful waterfront park area with a walkway ending at the old historic lighthouse on the end of the south breakwater.   Friday the 6th was just sort of a cool, overcast, windy, damp day so didn’t do as much exploring as normal other than checking out the rough seas that developed.  Quite impressive for a "lake".

Video of the inlet here: 

https://youtu.be/gbfIIiq-hg8

Journey for Sept 5

Aug 31 - Sept 2 Frankfort - Ludington -Muskigan

Aug 31 – Sept 2 

Aug 31.   All travel – all the time, seems to have been the all-consuming way of life the last few days.   Lake Michigan is tough.  Weather – mostly wind and wind driven waves - start kicking up with more frequency this time of year so  when you get a few good days in a row you need to take advantage of them.   We had a 3 day weather window open up  so pushed hard on Saturday leaving Petoskey at 6:30 with first light and traveling 11 hours and 88 miles to Frankfort.  

Sun rising in our wake as we leave Petoskey

Scenery was pretty much just water and shoreline although the shoreline was interesting seeing the 480’ high sand dunes at Sleeping Bear National Seashore.  

Point Betsie  Lighthouse

Sleeping Bear Dunes  with Little Sleeping Bear in background

One of the small dunes. Dots by water are people.

 Not terribly rough conditions but after rocking for 11 hours we both had the woozies while sitting at dinner on shore.     No time to even explore the town – just a quick dinner and hit the sack pretty exhausted.

Journey for Aug 31

Sept 1.    Off the docks at 7 AM with our next port of call looming some 52 miles away.  Seas picking up a bit and more confused so a bit bouncier.  Not a day for picture taking as just more choppy water and dunes along the shoreline with an occasional lighthouse.

Big Sable Point lighthouse

Ludington Breakwater Lighthouse 

We did arrive early enough to explore the town and partake in a flight of craft beers at one of the local breweries with a bite to eat.   A bunch of loopers were at the marina so of course docktails were in order. We got to watch the ferry “Badger” maneuver into port.   Quite a site as he drops anchor and spins the 410’ boat for a stern in dockage.  It’s the last commercially operating coal fired ferry on the lake and offers service between Ludington, MI. and Manitowoc, WI. It’s a National Historic Landmark.  

Badger entering Ludington Harbor

We got to catch up with Jim and Justine from Knights Kingdom again as they had pushed ahead of us after our initial meeting in Campbelford.  This is their home port and they had just completed the loop and earned that coveted gold burgee!

Journey for Sept 1

Sept 2.   Decisions, decisions….  We had originally planned to go across the lake to the Wisconsin side for the remainder of the trip to Chicago.   But winds and waves were coming from the west which would have meant a constant pounding on the bow with seas forecasted to be a bit steeper in the middle of that 60 mile crossing with nowhere to go if it got ugly.  So, we opted for another days run along the Michigan side.   We had hoped to make Grand Haven but called it a day after 7 hours and 58 miles   of bouncing around in a building and confused sea.  We’re holed up in Muskegon for a few days as a strong cold front is passing through. 

Muskegon Breakwater lighthouse - a welcome sight

Labor Day boaters enjoying the protected waters inside the channel

  Gale force winds, seas building to 7-10 feet out on the lake, couple of rainstorms, and lakeshore flood warnings all in place.  After covering 200 miles in the last 3 days we’re almost at 2500 miles into our loop.

This is how you look and feel after cruising 24  hours in 3 days 

Good opportunity while stuck in port to do a bit of maintenance.   Time already for another engine and transmission fluid change!!  And speaking of fluid changes - there are  2 breweries to test out. 

Journey for Sept 2

Aug 24 -30 Petoskey, MI

Aug 24

Another longish day on mostly open water going to Petoskey.  We had some mail from home forwarded to us at Mackinaw City and had to wait for the PO to sort the morning mail and find our package.  While Martha was attending to that I took the boat to the fuel dock and put in 125 gallons of diesel at $2.99.   Enough to get us easily to Sheboygan where they have reportedly got about the best fuel prices on the lake at $2.58.   Finally left Mackinaw City about 9 AM and knew it would be a full 6-hour cruise.  We went under the Mackinac Bridge and formally entered Lake Michigan. 

The Big Mac bridge

  A westward trek for 2 hours before making a hard turn to port heading south and following the eastern shore.  Then across Little Travis Bay with a direct track for Petoskey, Mi.  Long straight shots using the auto pilot in fairly deep water makes for a bit of a boring ride.   We did have one area where we scooted into some 20’ water and with the sun shining down on it you could see clear to the rocks on the bottom.  Amazing clarity and water color!

Amazing water colors

  Petoskey is a great little town. Downtown area covers several blocks known as the “gas light district” with a good variety of stores.   A bit upscale feeling but with plenty of good restaurants and several bars featuring a large selection of craft beers on tap.   Very walkable.

One of only a few "downtown" JC Penney stores remaining

  Initially the town started as a lumbering town helping supply material to Chicago to rebuild after the great fire.   After that it became pretty dependent (and still is) on summer tourism.   The Hemingway’s had a summer place up here so “Ernie” spent summers here until his early 20’s and used this area as a backdrop for many of his earlier works.

Me and Ernie.  

We’re secure in a decently priced municipal marina that’s part of the Michigan DNR   system with a great western facing view that should provide a few nice sunsets.  Good thing the town is nice and within easy driving distance of a few other towns we want to explore as it looks like we’ll be here a few days.  Stronger winds, higher waves and rain expected at least through mid-week.  

Petoskey - Home of the Million Dollar Sunset Views

Journey for Aug 24

Aug 28.   We’re still in Petoskey.  Until today the weather has been fairly decent except for unfavorable winds.  Today it turned nasty with cold, rain and very gusty conditions.  Waves are actually crashing into and over the breakwater protecting the harbor.

 We had a rental car for a few days which let us do some exploring of nearby towns.   We took a trip to Traverse City which has a bit bigger downtown – more shops, restaurants and bars good for a decent mid-day walkabout.  Then we headed to Charlevoix which has a collection of roughly 30 “mushroom houses” or “hobbit houses”.  These were all designed and built by Earl Young between 1918 and the 1950’s.  A very unique and eclectic style using local stones and flowing roof lines. 

The Thatch Roof house - the most famous

The Boulder House

Dinner was at The Polish Kitchen where I got the sampler platter consisting of all the favorites – Kielbasa with sauerkraut, potato pancakes, perogies and a stuffed cabbage roll.    The following day we drove back to Mackinaw City and took the ferry across to Mackinaw Island to explore the town, the fort and the Grand Hotel.   Mackinaw Islands claim to fame is that they prohibit the use of any motorized vehicles. 

It goes back to a town ordinance enacted at the turn of the century when the tourist carriage ride owners became threatened by the prospect of having cars on the island and ruin their businesses. So, they approached the city council to put in place the ordinance that stills stands.   The town is loaded with horse drawn carriages, bicycles, exquisite Victorian era houses, and tons of tourists.

  The Grand Hotel – built in 1887 - is the largest summer hotel in the world.  Very impressive but all I could think about while inside was Jack Nicholson and the movie “The Shining”.  It’s very well maintained but there’s no denying it’s a very old and old school hotel.  

The Veranda of the Grand Hotel

   The fort was well worth spending a few hours exploring with a nice selection of buildings, good historical documentation and an awesome view from up high on a bluff.  

View from the fort looking at harbor,  town,  and Straits of Mackinac

Lunch at the famous Pink Pony Bar and Grill

Another amazing sunset back at the marina

Aug 30.  We remain shorebound.  Advisories have been in place for the past few days and small craft warnings remain through tonight. We have been buffeted by strong winds up to 40 mph so even here in the marina  we get rocked around - sometimes uncomfortably .  Waves still crashing over the  stormwalls and small whitecaps going doing the marina fairways are quite a sight!  During one of our walks around the many park areas in town we crossed a small bridge and saw a slew of guys fishing in this one small  40' x 40' open area  where the Bear River   cuts through town and empties into the harbor.  Unbelievable,  but they were hooking  nice sized salmon!  

"This one's going in the cooler"

Took a stroll along the shoreline looking for (and finding) some Petoskey Stones - the state stone of Michigan. Fossilized corral from a bazillion years ago when the area was  part of the sea.  Now we just need to polish them up.   Hoping the weather breaks for a Saturday departure.    This has been about as good as any place we could have asked for a layover but after a full week being shore bound we’re getting anxious to start moving again.   But the sunsets do  continue to be amazing!!