Great Loop Adventures Aboard Next Chapter: Chi-Towne

The Land of Deep Dish Pizza

On Thursday morning we headed out for the 52 mile cruise across the lower part of Lake Michigan, Chicago bound. It was not the smoothest of rides as we had a bit of a beam sea meaning it caused us to rock side to side. Fortunately it wasn’t too bad. We arrived to Columbia Yacht club directly in the shadows of the Chicago skyline. It is a remarkably beautiful city.

The view from our boat was nothing short of breathtaking. The marina we were in had a 400’ ship that served as their club house which included a bar and restaurant. About an hour later I got a text from our friend John Gawn who just happened to be in Chicago for a layover. Even more crazy he actually flew over us and saw us on his approach to Ohare International Airport. Ya just can’t make this stuff up. Since we all had been sitting a lot that day we decided to take a walk into town. We walked the famed river walk through the heart of downtown. Shortly after we returned to the boat my sister Patty showed up with our dog Teak who would be aboard for a conjugal visit.

We really missed him but did not miss the hair! The night kicked off with a bang literally as it was Mexican Independence Day and boy do they celebrate. Fireworks, music, blocked streets, street racing and burnouts all till about 4am and the actual day was Friday! We had our own little party onboard as Patty brought a delicious dish of pumpkin rigatoni. Boy was it good.

On Friday we did the Architectural tour down the Chicago river. Fascinating facts about the different buildings and who designed them. One of the most interesting facts is that when new skyscrapers go up the must relate architecturally to the ones around them. Really cool how they pull that off. There was a name for that type of deal but it escapes me. We were joined later by my future brother-in-law Dan. Great guy. He is a plumber for the city of Chicago. We enjoyed drinks dinner at the bar in the club house bar on the ship. Awesome time.

On Saturday we went to Oak Park where famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright built his first house and studio. It is also one of the largest concentrations of homes he designed. We did the tour and really enjoyed it. It was fascinating to see how even in his first design he incorporated many of the elements that would later make him famous. He was a true rogue of his time as the style of the day was Victorian. You could see throughout the home and studio his struggle to break out of the current style and define a new direction. The walking tour took us past 10 other homes and one church he designed. Saturday nite we went to a fabulous steak house right downtown overlooking all the lit up buildings and river.

Sunday morning Sue left for Florida to see her ailing 88 year old Dad. That left me, my sister and the dog to fend for ourselves. Fortunately we survived just fine. We were able to take in the Field Museum, biked to China Town for lunch, hit a Mexican Street market and explored a number of the great parks right in downtown. And yes we did stare into the ever talked about Bean in Millennium Park.

On Tuesday we had another one of those exciting boating moments only this time I was solo. The winds had picked up a bit causing a bit of a swell in the marina. Our boat was pointed in the direction where the swells were coming which is generally good. So I put out a few more lines and additional fenders to secure Next Chapter. I felt pretty good so I jumped on my bike to head to West Marine 2.5 miles away to replace a chaffed line from the last event.

Well I was about a mile and a half out when my phone rang. It was another boating friend that was also on the same dock. He said, “You might want to get back here the conditions are terrible and the boats are beating themselves on the dock.” Well after a 1.5 mile Tour De France back to the boat I found Next Chapter acting like a bucking bronco ready to bust loose.

With the help of the staff and another boating friend I pulled the boat away from the dock and went to the marina next door and just tied up on a slip. I went into the office and said, “Hey I’m here for my slip.” The Dockmaster asked, “Do you have a reservation?” I said nope and proceeded to explain my dire straights. Now remember this is the downtown water front of Chicago. What are the chances they had a slip I could stay in?

Well Lady Luck was on my side and they fit me in. Whew! Another disaster averted.

Late Wednesday afternoon Sue returned from Florida and needed some cheering up which my sister happily did by walking her into downtown to a grocery store to get some supplies. Oh you say what in the world was my sister thinking?

Well turns out the grocery store in downtown called Mariano’s has a bar inside of it the serves wine that you can walk around with while you shop and at the grocery store price of $3 a glass! That certainly took the edge off. We finished off the night by ordering the famous Chicago deep dish pizza from Giordanos to enjoy onboard. If you have never had one you are really missing something special. I’m pretty sure that did the trick with Sue.