Day 121-122. 2nd year. September 21-22. On to Chicago and returning to Hammond Harbor. Miles 26. Total miles 4116

 Woke to prepare for a short trip to a mooring can in Monroe Harbor,  Chicago. Will meet up with Bill’s cousins to take them on a boat ride down the Chicago River.

As we leave Hammond, the Chicago skyline is very visible on the horizon on this hazy morning.  The seas are calm and winds light as we traveled with only a few tugs as our company on Lake Michigan.

The closer we get to Chicago, you could recognize some of the more unique skyscrapers along the skyline.

  We hooked up to a mooring can in Monroe Harbor with the help of Capt Val from her Harbor tender.

  Soon afterward, Bill’s cousin Mike and his wife Karen, and cousin Ron were ferried to the boat and we made ready to take the boat ride down the Chicago River.

We left the harbor, past the lighthouse and turned north to get to the lock at the entrance to the Chicago River.  Had to wait for a boat to lock through ahead of us, 

then we proceeded into the lock to lock down about 3-4 feet into the Chicago River which passes west and then branches off north and south right through downtown Chicago.

 We traversed 25 bridges as we wound our way through the river surrounded by skyscrapers on all sides.  The Chicago Tribune, Wrigley Building, the Opera House, Willis Tower, Prudential building and the old Montgomery Ward building are examples of some of the wonderful architecture that makes Chicago special.  Bill’s cousins have lived in Chicago for years and added their own knowledge and stories about the buildings as we traveled along.  

We traveled through the south channel and part of the north channel before turning around and heading back to the lock to relock through to Lake Michigan.  Was interesting when we turned around to head back someone called Hey Bill, and we looked on the Architectural Tour boat going past us to recognize  Trisha and Mike from MV Darlin Lea waving and calling to us.   What a coincidence!  

This is the shot of us going down the river, compliments of Trisha and Mike.  

As we continued the return trip through the lock and into the lake, we decided to head north in Lake Michigan to discover a few more of its harbors, Belmont and Montrose, and the skyline of northern Chicago.

Turning around we headed back south to return to our mooring can in downtown Chicago.  Here are shots of all the cousins on the boat.

After discussing which apartment building Mike’s brother rented in North side of Chicago and other varied topics, we decided to try Miller’s Pub a local restaurant since 1935 for dinner.  On the way to the restaurant, we stopped at Palmer House, one of the fanciest hotels, and walked through their lobby and bar area.  Apparently this is the place where the rich and famous go while in Chicago.  The building was quite elegant with carved and painted ceilings, old style elevators and marble and wood walls.

We got to Miller’s and had a bit of a wait to be seated, but it was worth the wait as we had a delicious dinner.  

After dinner we said our goodbyes to the cousins and enjoyed a walk back to the boat through downtown all lit up at night.  The skyline was spectacular.

Day 122  September 22. 

Arose early to spend the morning in Chicago before leaving to return to our slip at the Hammond Marina. 

The mooring basin has a launch that picks you up at your boat and brings you to shore.  Was a nice perk for staying there.

 We walked through Grant Park and along the waterfront south to Shedd Aquarium.  On the way we were stopped and asked to take a photo of two women, one was the City of Chicago Attorney and other was an Alderman for Chicago. Who would have thought, we'd meet someone famous in Chicago!! 

They offered to take our picture also!!

After taking their picture, we continued our walk to the Aquarium past the Field Museum with it famous Sue Tyrannosaurus Rex

And up to the Shedd Aquarium.

We enjoyed the displays of freshwater fish and reptiles from all over the world, even recognizing a few from the early days when we had fish tanks. 

 Next we visited the reef fish exhibits and oohed over the colorful fish, corals and sea anemones.

The aquarium also had a Beluga Whale exhibit.

After the aquarium, we  walked back through Grant Park 

and visited the Buckingham Fountain display.  

Further along we stopped and got a bite to eat before heading across the street to the Art Institute.  There we wandered through the Far East exhibit

A beautiful stained glass window

and European Masters ( Van Gogh, DaVinci, Durer, Van Dyck, Seuret, Caravaggio and others)and even took in  a few modern works( Picasso, Gauguin, and O'Keefe, etc.)  

Bill especially enjoyed the statues and the exhibit on Medieval armor.  

The museum has more than one million square feet of display space, but we barely saw one third of the exhibits.   Will just have to come back sometime.

Leaving the Art Institute, we headed back to the mooring field and the boat to prepared to leave.  We slipped our mooring lines and took the last shots of Chicago before heading southeast toward Hammond Marina

Our thirteen mile trip was uneventful with the lake cooperating in being calm. Returning to our slip, we had the help of MVDarlin Lea, Trisha and Mike assisting us with our lines.

After joining the other Loopers at docktails for a bit, we had dinner, caught up on the blog and readied for our trip to the Bill's cousin's Lake House.   Will sleep well tonight, was a busy day.