Monday, September 11 - Touring Chicago in
Two Hours
The boat rocked and
rolled all night. Neither of us slept very well, Danny even stayed up a
couple of hours. When we got up, Dan and Jean on Time Out were already
gone, escaping the continuous motion.
We rode the bikes
into town in search of a Dunkin Doughnuts restaurant so I could buy bags of
coffee. I know they sell them in grocery stores, but I’m convinced the
ones from the restaurants taste better. Plus its a good place to eat
breakfast.
We didn’t have any
kind of map, but how hard can it be to get to those skyscrapers we could see
from the boat? First, we had to take our bikes through the ship that
served as a clubhouse, then onto a road that went straight toward town. BUT,
it was not bike friendly, to say the least. We passed a tent settlement
under the bridge, went through puddles, walked the bike along a narrow walkway
beside a very busy road, all underground, then couldn’t find a way to
sunlight! Of course Danny, who was ready to leave Chicago before
we even docked yesterday, really enjoyed the experience. 
On the way back to
the boat, we biked through a park and rode by Navy Pier to take a few
pictures. 
We had planned to
take the architectural boat tour as our one sight-seeing adventure, but Danny
was fried. And facing the rest of the day and another night at the crazy
dock, or moving to another marina that would be $40.00 more per night, I was
ready to leave, too! We pulled out about 10:30. Goodbye, Chicago.
Some boats travel
the Chicago River from downtown, but our boat is about 2” too tall to
Clearwater the bridges so we went back out into Lake Michigan and down to the
Calumet River. The water was smoother than yesterday, but we still were
not sorry to say goodbye to Lake Michigan.
And this is some of
the cargo. The train cars had been there so long weeds were growing
around the wheels. 
The names of the
rivers and waterways change so frequently it’s hard to keep up with where you
are. We had just passed a junction when we heard a siren behind us.
Danny thought we were being stopped for speeding, but it was a fellow boater
telling us we were going the wrong way. He led us back to the right
channel. When we thanked him, he said, “You would have figured it out
soon enough, the river ends not too far down.” He also said it was fun
using his siren! (Later, when I re-read Waterway Guide, it gave
specific instructions about staying southwest because northwest was a large
ship turning basin. It looked like a river to us.) This is the first
lock we have seen since the Trent Severn. It was so large, and such a
short drop, that we just floated without tying up to anything.
We passed several
of these along this stretch. Danny said they were aeration dams, possibly
coming from water treatment plants. They are much more attractive than a
big pipe or a ditch.
My iPhone tagged
the location as Blue Island Historic District.
These pictures were
taken on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Channel. So many large plants and
industrial facilities, some of them abandoned.
We approached this lock above Joliet, our destination, at 6:30, WAY past our docking time. And this was after an hour and a half of tying off and circling. So frustrating! This was our first time locking through with multiple tugs.
I had been in touch
with Jean and Dan on Time Out all day, confirming that there was space for us
on the Joliet Town Wall. It is free dockage, and has power. Very
unusual. They assured us there was space and were waiting along with the
folks from Lab Partners and In Deep Ship to take our ropes. It had been
such a long and stressful day, they certainly were “a sight for sore eyes” as
my Mamma used to say. We enjoyed an adult beverage or two, then turned in
on the smooth water of the Des Plaines River. Yes, another
river/waterway. I would count up how many we travelled today but I am too
tired.
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