Perfect Day on the Great Loop: Three Days in a slip on the boardwalk of downtown Chicago

Downtown Chicago from the bay

Crossing to Chicago was much easier than we expected. We made a 40 mile crossing across the Lake Michigan uneventfully in good weather. Fortunately the weather forecasters were correct. They correctly predicted great weather early in the morning with a huge thunderstorm coming in the late afternoon. We were safely in the marina when the storm hit. The wind was so bad that Chicago canceled the TRAIN service. We sat in the flying bridge on top of the boat and watched the lightening all around us. We felt pretty safe with the lightening as we figured it would hit a sailboat mast before it would get us. We were just hoping our canvas was not going to rip off. It was cool and scary at the same time!

We stayed at Burnham Marina which was right near downtown. It was really convenient to getting around downtown. There was a great bike path that went for about 15 miles along the lake that passed right by there. We spent 3 days there, had a great time, and wore ourselves out trying to see it all. We took lots of pictures! One of my favorite things was visiting the “Field Museum”, a huge natural history museum. Seeing Chicago by bike is really an experience. There are 18 bridges in Chicago that the boat has to pass under when going downriver. Our clearance for some bridges was by inches. One morning Bill wrote his bike to all 18 of them to check on their exact heights.

We attended a pizza party that was hosted by a “looper” at their Chicago condo. There were about 20 loopers there. It was really nice to meet people who were doing the same trip as us and hear their stories. Everyone had advice for us as we’re just newly started on the route. We learned about the “Skipper Bob” book which they all had and consider the Great Loop bible. Apparently EVERYTHING you need to know is there in great detail. We’re going to try and get that book tomorrow!

Several of the women asked if I had bruises. I thought it was only me! Apparently not. We all keep all keep running into and hitting the same spots over and over again on our boats. (I have 7 bruises on one leg in almost the same spot!) Must be a female thing – Bill and the other men have no bruises!