Wednesday, August 31 to Thursday, September 15—Chicago
One of the main highlights of my trip so far has definitely been Chicago. It is an amazing city and I recommend it to anyone who hasn't been. I had two weeks to explore it while my dad was back in London, and I first have to thank my friend/tour guide Jamie and her family for their hospitality. They live in Highland Park (a northern suburb), and I divided my time between their house when we were in the suburbs and the boat when we were in the city. The boat was docked at Burnham Harbor, located near the Museum Campus and about two miles from downtown Chicago.
It would take too long to go into too much detail about everything I did, but here are some of the highlights (many of which I got into for free thanks to Jamie):
- North Coast Music Festival (3-days)
- Jack’s Mannequin/Guster concert at Ravinia
- Cub’s game at Wrigley Field
- Northwestern University football game
- The Field Museum
- Chicago Botanical Gardens
- The Art Institute of Chicago
- A sketch comedy show called Bye Bye Liver
- The Shedd Aquarium (we went on the last day with my dad when he was back in Chicago)
Friday, September 16—Chicago to Hidden Cove Marina
Lake Michigan was calm so we left Burnham Harbor around 7 a.m. and made our way to the Chicago River. This route has a bridge with a vertical clearance limit of 17 feet, but by lowering our radar and antennas, we were able to clear this by a few inches. Boats that cannot clear this bridge have to take an alternate route via the Calumet River, approximately 11 miles south of Chicago. Luckily, we could make it, and after proceeding through our first lock of the trip (Chicago Harbor Lock, down 1 foot), we entered the heart of Chicago. This was definitely one of the most amazing boating experiences I have ever had and it was a great way to see the city!
About 2 miles south, we reached the junction of the Chicago River's South Branch and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. The trip after this point became less exciting to say the least. After waiting about half an hour for an Amtrak bridge to open, we continued down the Sanitary and Ship Canal, which has a very industrial feel. We crossed the electric fish barrier, an electrocuted stretch of water designed to keep asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes. Continuing on, we went through our second lock of the day (the Lockport Lock, up 39 feet). It had a floating mooring bits that we attached a line to mid-ship, and the entire process was really easy. We decided not to stop in Joliet, but we were impressed with the coordination of its five bridges, all of which opened for us without a wait. After locking through Brandon Road Lock (down 34 feet), we finally reached Hidden Cove Marina around 5 p.m. There wasn't much to do here so we just relaxed for the night. Overall, while the few miles through Chicago were incredible, the rest of the day wasn't the nicest (there is a reason one of our books calls a stretch of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal "the twelve miles of hell!").
Saturday, September 17—Hidden Cove Marine to Ottawa, IL
Unlike the day before, we woke up to beautiful weather and were happy to continue on down the Illinois River. We locked through twice this day (Dresdon Lock, down 22 feet; Marseilles Lock, down 24 feet). It was nice cruising down the river, and as it was Saturday, there were other boats on the river (which was nice after being almost completely alone the day before). The scenery also became a lot less industrial, although there was still the occasional factory and power generating station.
I should also talk about tows. Towboats push barges through the river system. I never realized how much river traffic there is along the rivers between Chicago and the Gulf of Mexico. We are now more familiar with how to pass the tows and the terminology. "Passing on the one whistle" means port-to-port, whereas "on the two whistle" means starboard-to-starboard. Some tow captains also say, "hang back on the green side" or "hang back on the red side." While the terminology isn't that difficult, understanding their heavy southern accents over the VHF radio sometimes is! The biggest tow we have seen so far was on the Mississippi and it has 35 barges (7x5). Thankfully, the tows on the Illinois River were not this big so we got some practice passing smaller ones. Nonetheless, we realized today just how careful we have to be, as we heard from the people we crossed Lake Michigan that they recently had to rescue people whose 42-foot powerboat capsized and sank after passing a tow (they don't know for sure what happened). So we know to be even more cautious in the future.
Getting back to the trip, we reached Ottawa around 4:30 p.m. and after missing the town docks by about half a mile, we realized our mistake and turned back. The City of Ottawa provides a complimentary 110-foot dock with water and electricity, so we decided to stay for two nights. We were the only boat there the first night, but a couple from Florida kept us company the second night. Ottawa is located at the confluence of the Fox and Illinois Rivers (it is sometimes referred to as the Town of Two Rivers). W.D. Boyce, one of the founders of Scouting in America, lived in Ottawa when he incorporated the Boy Scouts of America in 1910. Ottawa was also the site of the Lincoln-Douglas debate on August 21, 1858, and there is now a statue to commemorate this. We spent Sunday exploring and cooked a roast in the crock-pot for the first time on the trip! A nice sunday night dinner.
We had great weather again for our roughly 45-mile trip to Henry, and the scenery was great! We only had to pass through one lock (Starved Rock Lock, down 19 feet). Henry Harbor Marine offers transient space along the inside of an old lock wall (the remains of a lock constructed in the 1870s that closed in 1933). Downtown Henry was a short walk from the harbor, but there wasn't much there, so after getting a few groceries, we headed back to the boat for another quiet night.
Tuesday, September 20—Henry, IL to Peoria, IL
It was only about 35 miles to Peoria, so we arrived mid-afternoon. We saw our first flock of white pelicans as well (although we haven't seen any since, so I'm not sure why they were there). We stopped briefly at the Illinois Valley Yacht Club for diesel and then headed to the Peoria city docks, which are technically for day use only. However, we were told by other loopers that they had spent the night there, and as it was late in the season, we figured no one would mind if we did too. The electricity had been turned off for the winter though, so we did have to run the generator for a while. On the plus side, there was open Wifi, so I had internet for as long as my computer battery lasted.
According to Wikipedia, Peoria is famous as a representation of the average American city (the saying "will it play in Peoria" is apparently a metaphor for whether something will appeal to the mainstream American public). The best way I can describe Peoria is...average. It was clean but surprisingly empty. We visited the Caterpillar World Headquarters (a necessary stop as our engines on board are Caterpillar). We also had dinner at Joe's Crab Shack (only fitting after seeing our first pelicans), where I had crab-stuffed shrimp.
Wednesday, September 21—Peoria, IL to Havana, IL
We only had one lock to pass through on our way to Havana (Peoria Lock, down 10 feet). We travelled a little more than 40 miles and arrived at Tall Timbers Marina by about 3 p.m. It was a very nice smaller marina with all the basic amenities. The docks there have the ability to rise 20 feet during times of high water. Downtown Havana was only a couple blocks away, so we wandered into town and picked up some foam pads to make our beds more comfortable. The boat was docked next to a natural spring, and there were some herons wading around that evening!
Thursday, September 22—Havana, IL to Illinois Riverdock Restaurant
There are no marinas between Havana (mile 120 on the Illinois River) and Grafton (mile 0). Not feeling like anchoring out, we decided to travel 100 miles to the Illinois Riverdock Restaurant, arriving around 6:30 p.m. We only had to pass through La Grange Lock, which took us down 10 feet. The Illinois Riverdock Restaurant offers overnight docking along a 250-foot floating dock, but provides no other amenities, so we were again running the generator. Upon arrival, Mel, the owner of the restaurant, gave us some free brisket to entice us to eat dinner there. It worked! Not only did we have dinner there (with complimentary pulled-pork), but we also went back for breakfast!
Friday, September 23—Illinois Riverdock Restaurant to Grafton, IL
Finishing breakfast around 10 a.m. we left the Riverdock and continued down the river towards Grafton, mile 0 on the Illinois River at its junction with the Upper Mississippi. It was only about 20 miles, so we again arrived mid-afternoon. Grafton Harbor, a marine that opened in mid-2006, had good bath and laundry facilities, a convenience store and restaurant on-site, and courtesy cars. We decided it was a good place to spend the weekend before embarking down the Mississippi. I worked on my law school applications, we did laundry, and we rented a car to drive to the Wallmart in nearby Jerseyville.
I'm tired, so I'm going to leave it here for the night. I'll post about our journey down the Mississippi River sometime in the next few days. In case anyone is wondering, we are currently in Grand Rivers, Kentucky. I'm trying to pick a good selection of pictures for the blog, and I'm not sure if/when I'll get the rest of them uploaded. If anyone would like me to upload pictures of anything else (i.e. more of the towns, more of the harbors, etc...), let me know and I'll do the best I can!
--James
