The SR Duvals depart, after a great trip down the Illinois River.

It has been a whirlwind week with Stanwood and Janet.  They left today and we are catching up on laundry and such boring things.  We went to a play that Janet arranged in Chicago, about the life of Jan Karski.  Janet was lucky enough to have Mr. Karski as a professor at Georgetown.  His role in the Polish Underground during WWII is fascinating.  If interested, try reading Story of a Secret State by Professor Karski. 

We were wined and dined by them in Chicago, and had a terrific meal at the Capitol Grill.  The Planetarium was great, as were all the parks, museums, sights and sounds.  Chicago was much more vibrant than I remembered it from 10 years ago.

Our trip down the Illinois River was great with clear weather and highs in the 80s.  I had to break out my shorts that Alexis had packed away!  We have been through three large commercial locks, a fish barrier, and many bridges (we knocked the anchor light off again…).  Joliet and Ottawa were two cities we toured on the way down, and we spent one night at anchor on an oxbow off the river.  We have seen eagles, deer, and a variety of birds.

Joliet has a free wall, with power.  We stayed there with several other Loopers, and walked the city, which was surprisingly interesting.  The Joliet Historical Museum was a real treat.  A Looper that lives there met us at the dock and recommended restaurants, and naturally we tried them, all good. 

Ottawa is the site of the first Lincoln-Douglas debate, and Lincoln had several cases at the old Supreme Court building in Ottawa.  We were lucky enough to arrive in Ottawa during the fall festival, and, you guessed it, dined out again.  Blackberry cobbler to die for (I almost did after the second helping).  The tour of Reddick Mansion was quite informative.  Heritage Harbor Marina in Ottawa is first rate and cheap!  It also has cable, and we watched the LSU/New Mexico game.  Stanwood nearly keeled over saying something about Les Miles not fit to repeat for a family blog…. 

As all boaters will attest, the marine head (toilet) is one of the most finicky, albeit, necessary pieces of equipment on a boat.  The head chops up all the contents, and deposits it into a holding tank below decks.  Under severe penalty of federal law, one cannot pump out the holding tank except at an approved pump out station.  Proper usage of a marine head is a must, or one will have a truly crappy job on hand.  But I digress.  Anyway, after one of Stanwood’s previous visits, our head inexplicably died, so we have since posted proper protocols for the use of the head for visitors.    He had another spotty “head incident” this trip but I have agreed not to post explicit details under threat of retaliatory comments.  So much for freedom of the blogger! 

We head south in the morning towards Grafton, IL and will the enter the Mississippi River. 

PS-many of these pics were taken by Janet.  Many thanks for sharing them!

White pelicans on a derelict barge.  

Duck blind on the Illinois River. 

Our oxbow anchorage. 

We took a dinghy ride that evening and saw these deer.  

Headed down river.

We hit the three locks just right and had little waiting.  

Note how the tugs here have retractable pilot houses and radar, due to all the low bridges.  

At anchor.

The entrance to Heritage Harbor has a big sign welcoming Loopers, which gave us a real toasty feeling!  

Finally!

Anyone know the name of this flower?

Ottawa, IL.

The courthouse.

Businesses all had scarecrows out for the festival.  This one was my favorite.  

Lincoln and Douglas.  

Chicago to Joliet, IL

Our trip down the Illinois River has begun.  We traveled from Chicago to Joliet, IL. and went through two large locks.  Here are my deckhands.   

This barge blocked the entire canal for about an hour.  

Junction of the Cal Sag and the Chicago Sanitary Canal.

This 19' bridge does not open, and all Loopers must go under it, so your boat cannot be more than 19' high if doing the Loop.  

Due to the invasion of Asian Carp into the Great Lakes, an electric fish barrier has been installed in the Illinois River.  It slowed us down for an hour due to a closure.  

After an 11 hour day, we finally made it to the Joliet City Docks, and several other Loopers were already there.  It was nice catching up with fellow Loopers.    

One of countless bridges we had to open.  Many have restricted schedules, so travelling 40 miles in a day on the river takes time due to locks, bridges and fish barriers!  

The river locks are the big commercial ones, making pleasure boaters feel real small.  We are at the bottom of the pecking order, and if there is lots of commercial traffic we can wait for hours till we get through.   

Joliet.  The leaves are beginning to change.  

The history museum here had these Blues Brothers  from the movie that featured the prison here.  

Chicago!

We are having a great time in Chicago, a truly remarkable city.  Our marina is downtown and within walking distance of many museums, restaurants, shops and parks.  After arriving here I had to have some dental work, and was fortunate to find a very good dentist.  Since then we have done the tourist thing, visiting museums, parks and socializing with other Loopers here.   We have dined at a steakhouse, dim sum Chinese and pizza restaurants.  All good.  Way too many restaurants!  One museum is about the history of the Chicago River, which was one of the most polluted rivers in the world.  In the late 1800s engineers reversed the flow of the river away from Lake Michigan and toward St Louis via a ship canal (the one we will take) and locks.  St Louis took legal action and ultimately lost in the US Supreme Court.  After the formation of the EPA real strides were made to clean it up, and now it is a major tourist attraction.  

Chicago has made the most of its waterfront, with fabulous walking/bike trails, marinas, tour boats, etc.  Stanwood and Janet join us today, and we will head south on Tuesday.  We cannot fit under the bridges on the Chicago River, so will take the Calumet River via a ship canal to the Illinois River. 

Both Bill and Walter chimed in on the bird picture, with different results.  Bill says it is a warbler, Walter a vireo. 

We are off to a play tonight with Stanwood and Janet.  Many of you have commented on the blog via text to me.  The best comment so far goes to Dixon Lewis regarding the small aids to navigation in Canada.  He says they were made with Stanwood in mind, so when he hits them he won't damage his boat as much.  I have now told that to Stanwood, who has responded, but it is not fit for a family blog......

My starboard engine was slightly out of alignment and we had it fixed here.  All the pounding poor Moondance has taken this year took its toll.   

Navy Pier.  A touristy part of the waterfront.  

Chicago River.

Some of the bridges do not open, and the 17' height is not enough for us to go under.  

The city banned this type of signage after this guy polluted the waterway.  

The planetarium.  

These pics are from Millennium Park, which has some interesting art.  

Our reflection from The Bean.

Bean.

Yes, I do walk on water....

We made it to Chicago!

Finally, a good day to cross.  We traveled 61 NM from South Haven, MI to Chicago today in 1' seas and gained an hour crossing into the central time zone.  We will be here (DuSable Harbor Marina) to Monday, and Stanwood and Janet will join us for the Illinois River portion of our journey.  DuSable is next to Navy Pier and within walking distance of downtown.  More to come later, but time to rest after a long day.

This guy joined us for the ride across the lake.  Bill and Walter-can you identify this bird?  

Chicago skyline.