Serendipity Sojourn: Chicago, chicago ....


Finally Lake's End

The BIG city

Sunday, September 12^th

An early morning start for the short run to Burnham Harbor, Chicago. We arrived at 10:30 and the tailgate parties were well underway. It was opening day for the Bear's football season. The parking lot for the marina was full of tailgaiter parties. The marina is really large, about ¾ mile from end to end and the parking lot is also that big. The stadium is only about 200 yards from the marina, so the lot is used for tailgating for home games.

After walking Annie and putting everything away we decided to go to the Shield Aquarium. We walked to the stadium to see if we could get Carole a Hot Dog. There was a large circle of display booths promoting Radio Stations, Cell phone services, etc. and one was promoting a cheese spread and giving away cheeseburgers – nice. Two booths away they were promoting and giving away sausage. So stuffed with burgers and sausage we walked to the aquarium where we paid for our free lunch with a very expensive bottle of water.

The Aquarium is marvelous. Lots to see - big shows with Dolphins, Mink Whales, Sea Lion, and Penguins, and mini presentations. While the penguins were being fed there was a keeper outside explaining the process. When a diver was feeding the fish in the Caribbean reef she was describing what she was doing from inside the tank. Another keeper was outside relaying questions from the visitors to the diver.

There is an exhibit featuring the Amazon. Through a series of tanks the Amazon is shown from spring flood through the dry time. Each tank has both land and water features showing the different fish, turtles and other creatures and how they change with the conditions. There is even an indigenous Indian hut with a platform underneath floating on the water for the cow to live on during the flooded days. We spent almost 5 hours at the aquarium.

Mink Whales playng with pool noodles

By the time we left the football game was over and the parking lot was almost empty. The tailgaters cleaned up after themselves really well. Annie hardly found any scraps to eat.

Dinner aboard and an early night.

Monday, September 13^th

Clear and cool. The parking lot looks like nothing happened here yesterday. Everything had been cleaned up.

We moved to DuSable Harbor, a short ½ hr. trip. It put us closer to town.


Navy Pier

We went off with Tom and Linda from Q's End on a walk to Navy Pier. We wandered in to the permanent Stained Glass Museum there. Some really nice pieces from the 1600's through current designs.

Mitch staring at The Bean


The Bean up close

After Lunch we split up and wandered around the downtown waterfront area. We found “The Bean” (Actually titled “Silver Cloud”) a sculpture in Millennium Park. You will need to look at pictures to understand why it is so fascinating, and actually see it to really understand the fascination.

Went to dinner with the group at Giordano's Pizza. Just O.K.

Tuesday, September 14^th

Off to the Museum of Contemporary Art with Dave and Brenda from The Old Grouch. The Alexander Calder Exhibit was great! The pieces were some of his smaller works, including some of his “found object” pieces. Looking at his smaller Mobiles was fascinating. Unlike the large ones (which I like) these were of a scale that I could relate to. I was fascinated by the variations and delicacy of the work.

the far room was the Calder exhibit - no pictures allowed

From there we grabbed a quick lunch at a Hot Dog place and then took the EL to the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Office Museum. Another worthwhile trip. The tour gave me insight in to his life and design ethic.

Dinner at the Columbia Yacht Club Bar. Poor food, High prices and a Great Location. The club house is a retired, very large enclosed ferryboat. It was designed for ice breaking and the car deck could carry a railroad car while the passenger deck was all mahogany and brass.

No docks but a great Clubhouse

Wednesday, September 15^th

Bev – a friend thru Salvatore – came to the boat and off we went to Sal's Old neighborhood. Bev took us on a tour of the area, the schools, and we went to Lunch at the Lincoln Tavern. Had some really good sandwiches and beer. On the way back we did some shopping including a major wine buy – We are heading for some dry counties!

In the evening, Tom (from Q's End) and I took a Segway tour. What fun! They are incredible machines. I want a pair of them for the boat. Kind of heavy though and at $6000 each a bit pricey. Sure would make shopping easier.


The Segway tour group


Great Fun

Bev joined Carole & the rest of the group for a Chinese dinner.

Thursday, September 16^th

We had planned to leave today, but the weather and Tom convinced me to stay in Chicago another Day. I got some work done and Carole got some shopping in. Those that left reported heavy rain, so we are glad we waited. Carole wanted to take pictures as we go through downtown Chicago.

Friday, September 17^th

We tore ourselves away from Chicago on a cool Sunny day. After clearing the Chicago Lock we headed down the Chicago River through lots of bridges and we had high rises all around us. We took a side trip up the North Branch of the Chicago River. The buildings here are newer and there are a number of very large condos, some with the lower floors as parking garages. Also many people seem to commute on Water Taxis.