Grand Haven was quite enjoyable. We extended our stay until Sunday, 9/1. The women enjoyed the shopping in the downtown and with the car they were able to get out to a very nice grocery store. The looper boats, 13 of them, all had a Labor Day cook out on Saturday. I drove the people from two of the boats out to the grocery and they bought all of the food and we all split the cost for hamburgers, potato salad, and all the fixins. The Habormaster was very nice and worked hard to accomodate us when we all kept extending our stay.The town has a lighted fountain across the "river" from the marina. The fountain only runs each night from 9:30 til about 10:00. The color of the lights and the sprays are coordinated with the music. The Saturday morning farmer's market was super. We got to visit with Muriel's Uncle and Aunt and we had Shelly's medicine shipped to their house and they brought it to us on Saturday morning. They are very spry at 85 years, they play golf twice a week.Most of the loopers left on Sunday. We ran to Saugatuck where we anchored in the small harbor. The marina spaces were filled for Labor Day. The town is an art center with many small art studios. Muriel enjoyed walking through town and looking at the shops. We purchased nothing! There was a small chain ferry which crossed the channel entering town. It is passenger only. The operator, a woman when we saw it, cranks handle all the way across the channel to wind the chain over the drive wheel. The chain sinks back to the bottom as the ferry passes and boats cross over it. On Monday morning we left with several other boats and skipped South Haven, which was a planned stop and ran to Benton Harbor, St Joseph while the weather was good on Lake Michigan. The forecast was for good weather Monday through Wednesday morning and then wind and rain. We did not see any on the towns. We did dingy back to another marina and had happy hour with some boats there and discussed the possibility of crossing the lake on Tuesday to get to Chicago before the weather turns bad for several days. We decided to go for it. It is a 55 nautical crossing about 25 miles above the south end of the lake. It was probably a good decision. The lake was a bit rolly early but settled some as the day progressed. The auto pilot functioned well with the following seas and we enjoyed a relaxed crossing. Our longest crossing yet. The approach to Chicago was a bit dissapointing due to the haze obscuring the skyline. This was also a bit intimidating because the haze also made it a bit difficult to see the inlet to the harbors.
We arrived in Chicago two days ahead of schedule and were not able to get a slip in the favored marina but we did get into a marina about a mile south of the desired marina. The first choice marina is adjacent to Navy Pier and downtown. Also, the entrance to the Chicago Canal is adjacent.
Muriel, Shelly, and I got out and walked to the Aquarium Tuesday after we arrived and it is closed until Friday. We then bought a ticket to ride a tour boat through the cannal with a guide describing the buildings. This included a water taxi to Navy pier where the tour started. We then purchased visitor passes for the Chicago Transit System which allow us to ride any of the busses, trains, or subways for 72 hours.
We plan to leave Chicago about this weekend and begin our trip on the rivers.
1 comment:
Hi there Sunshine!
We are the last one's "standing" here in Hammond Indiana. Blue Max and Graceful left this morning. We met with the folks who will be taking care of Ithaka for the 12 months while we are back home working in Naples...we went away feeling good that we picked the right place. We miss the three (oh, and Carlie, too) already and look forward to seeing you SOON! Hopefully next month at the Fall Rendezvous...or in SW Florida this winter! We will read your blog to keep up with where you are and how you are doing. It was great sharing the summer with you and we feel so blessed to call you our friends. Love, Chip & Michele xxoo
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