M/V Perfect Fit: 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!