The Chicago Tale Continues

We pick up our tale on Monday September 10, 2012. It is a clear warm day, perfect Chicago weather. I tell you, there is nothing as glorious as a clear day in fall in Chicago. Just perfect, heaven sent. The sunlight sparkles off the water, the halyards clank away on the gazillion sailboats in this marina. All is right in the world.

 I discovered a dog park across the way. You walk under Lake Shore Drive, through an unpaved alley behind a bunch of buildings and under another underpass. You come out into the most beautiful park I've ever seen. Honest. It is like being in Oz. Red and pink roses, hydrangeas just out of flower, grass and walkways, along with these pretty fountains along all the walkways with water falls that kids can play in. The park is tucked in on an entire city block surrounded by high rises.

The park has a kids playground that was always crowded. There must be several day care centers in the high rises around the park because every time we visited there were strings of little kids walking around. Sometimes they were playing organized games or crafts in the sidewalks around the playground.

I took Rusty to the dog playground. He is somewhat less impressed because every dog is younger than him and most want to play. I imagine his internal dialog is sighing. He is always sighing at me.

This dog park was an adventure. The other dogs have this system. There are a couple of dogs that greet every new dog that arrives. They rush to the gate and start gabbing and sniffing right away. Then they run around to the far corners, some younger dogs look like they are being flung by a rubber band!! There is a water fountain that some of the dogs like to jump in! That was fun. Rusty was sighing.

 

 

 

 

We said a sad goodbye to Mary, Charlie's friend. She had to get back to work. We took the opportunity of having the loan of John's car to make an expedition to the city to do laundry and grocery shop. We found a laundromat at Fullerton and Clybourne, about 3 or 4 miles from here but it seems like an eternity. We took Charlie with since he needed to do laundry too.

First we had the Great Federal Express Adventure! Charlie needed to pick up a package at 111 E. Wacker Drive Fed Ex office. Now, those of you familiar with Chicago will know that Wacker Drive goes North, South, East, and West. It is the only street in Chicago to do so. Well, I was driving (see the previous post) and I could only get so close to the building. So unfortunately I made the mistake of letting Kermit lead Charlie to the correct address while I stayed in the car. It was the funniest thing! I wish I had a camera. Here is Kermit and Charlie going South on Michigan Avenue and me in the car saying out loud, "no, you are going in the wrong direction!!". I called him on the phone and he said "what happened to East Wacker Drive? Now we are on West Wacker Drive?" Oh no! What have I done?

Finally I corralled them and picked them up in the car after trailing behind them for a few blocks and let them out directly in front of the correct entrance. It was kind of funny. You will be proud of me because I did not get mad at Kermit. Actually it was my fault for not dropping them off at the correct place in the first place.

So then we head out for our errands. We stopped at West Marine on North Avenue first - a mandatory stop for all boaters in Chicago, at least the male kind. Then on to the laundromat where Kermit did 6 loads of laundry. It is amazing how much laundry we accumulate. To be fair we also washed the rugs. Charlie and I went to Dominicks to do the grocery shopping. Afterwards we were hungry so we found a nice Italian restaurant on Fullerton, Via Carducci. Very nice. By the time we got home we were all tired. We spent about 7 hours traveling and doing chores - a long day! 

Tuesday we spent cleaning the boat.  This is an exercise we go through whenever we expect company. If you come visit, be assured we will spend a few hours cleaning and putting things away. It is shocking how quickly the boat becomes messy. We were expecting the Dreuth's to join us for dinner. We also had to clean out the car to turn it back to John when he arrived. Aunt Pauline likes things to be neat and clean and we wanted to make a good impression. I FOUND MY OLIVE COLORED SHORTS!! In a closet while cleaning. Go figure...

Charlie is traveling alone on the Loop so he gets new crew every so often to travel with him. He finds these folks on web sites that connect boaters who have boats with people who want to crew on boats. The latest one is named Boo. She is very nice lady from Newport RI, very experienced with sailboats. We got along very well! I hope they have fun!

Tuesday evening we went to dinner at the Chicago Yacht Club. John and Donna Dreuth and Aunt Pauline Dreuth joined us for a lively cocktail hour and good conversation. The group also included Ross and Laura from The Zone (we dined with them in Charlevoix) and Tommy and Les, who are doing the whirlwind version of The Loop. They left Mobile in April 2012 and plan to be home for Christmas. Amazing!

This is our little group at dinner at The Chicago Yacht Club, from both ends of the table.

Wednesday was another gorgeous day - clear with temperatures in the 70s. We bummed around Grant Park, took several walks to the dog park, read, and reviewed the packages John brought the  night before. We received the oil changer Kermit ordered and a box of Skipper Bob books for the rivers. We didn't order them originally but everyone keeps raving about how valuable they are so we ordered some. We didn't need them for the Great Lakes since the Richardsons and Waterway Guides are comprehensive. But evidently we will need them to understand places to anchor in the rivers.

Charlie wanted to test Bama Belle on the Chicago River so we took an afternoon cruise following the same track we followed with the cruise ship last Friday. The lock was educational. We haven't been on a lock yet but Charlie has done it many times so we learned a lot. Plus, he wanted to show Boo how to do it when it was recreational as opposed to mandatory. Besides the Chicago River lock only moves the water about a foot so there is not the usual turbulence from a larger lock.

This is Kermit on the top deck of Bama Belle.See how calm and sparkly the water is?

Were we supposed to go on the north or south side of  Navy Pie to find the lock? The chart shows the south side but it must be wrong because I am certain it is on the north side? This is the conversation going on at the moment this picture was taken. We decided the chart was right and we needed to be on the south side of Navy Pier! Turn around and go back.

This is the entrance to the lock. If you look all the way in the distance you can see a closed gate. The front lock gates are open and the far gates are closed. You drive into the lock, past the front gates and grab hold of lines that hang on the starboard (right) side of the lock wall. Then the front gates (behind you now) close. 

This is the lock offices where the gates are controlled. See the boat holding on to the wall ahead of us?

We hung on to the wall just behind another pleasure craft. Commercial vessels like tour ships and barges or tows always have the right away but this time there were only the two boats in the lock. When the front gate closes, the back gate (in front of us now in the picture) starts to open, releasing water into the river. In a big lock evidently a lot of water gets released causing swirling and pressure but not in this little lock which only moves up or down a foot. Just enough to ensure that Lake Michigan water pushes Chicago River crappy water down the Illinois River to the Mississippi River. And this is where it all starts!

 This is the first bridge after the lock. The big discussion going on here is whether we will fit under the bridge. Now, not fitting is not an option.  Charlie is sure Bama Belle will fit. Kermit is sure Good Karma will not fit. We will not be taking this route down the river because no amount of controversy is worth being wrong! Bama Belle fit! We had a lovely cruise down the main river and the south branch.

Charlie and Boo came over for dinner on Wednesday night. We tried to put together a group to go to Second City but no one was interested. Bama Belle, The Zone, and Tommy and Les planned to leave Chicago early on Thursday morning so did not want to be out too late on Wednesday night. It was spicy chicken and salads with sweet potatoes and hummus. Delicious!

As predicted Bama Belle, The Zone, and Tommy and Les left early Thursday morning. The weather was not so great. A little cold, and getting colder, plus windy and cloudy. But not so bad to prevent travel. We wish them Bon Voyage and hope to catch up to them later down the river.

I had a big work day on Thursday with lots of meetings including lunch with a potential business partner and a marketing meeting with The Interview Doctor. During the afternoon we were again buzzed by four helicopters that hung in the air over the marina. The Chicago teachers strike!!

Can you see the 3 little black spots about the sail masts? Those are 3 of the 4 helicopters. The 4th is to the left out of camera range. In this picture they kind of look like birds but they are helicopters. They were up there just floating, not moving at all for about 3 hours. They are very, very noisy and leave a vibrating impression. Evidently the strike is a very big deal.

This is what democracy looks like! Credit to the Chicago Tribune yesterday for this photo.

Lots of teachers in red shirts all over the loop moving from spot to spot. I walked over with the dog just as the crowd moved down Michigan Avenue to another spot. I talked to a police officer directing traffic near the Hyatt. He said the strikers are very well behaved, talking to passers by to explain their point of view. He said it was like a 5th grade teacher talking to students!! He also pointed out that his Lieutenant had a son in 1st grade with 42 kids in the class and that was not unusual. The strikers and this police officer wanted to be sure we knew that the strike is not about money. It is about class size and an evaluation system that holds teachers accountable for results when class size of 42 means the teacher spends more time on crowd control than on teaching. A complicated situation. I thought about Judy Vellucci who pulled miracles in evaluation results from class size of 24 or 25. She complained that our local school was really pushing it by increasing class size to 28or 30. And these teachers can have upwards of 40 kids in a class! What a situation.

The last strike was 25 years ago. A good thing too. I remember strikes every other year when I was a kid as teachers fought for better pay, safety and teaching conditions. This was important in my house since my mom was a teacher and my dad was a principal for the Chicago Public Schools. There is a good chance the strike will be over today (Friday). So far as I write this, no helicopters.

Thursday night we watched the Bears game with Katie and Alex Gonzalez, Tom and Char Houser's daughter and son-in-law. It was nice to catch up. Sorry Char, I forgot to take pictures!!

Now a word about segways. I don't mean a bridge between two ideas. No that would be too simple. These are motorized wheels that people stand on to travel without moving a muscle. Wouldn't want to exercise. There are scads of them here. Tours along the water. Here are a few photos. Different tour groups wear different colored helmets. Doesn't make them look any more dignified. And they run within a foot or two of the water. Seems dangerous to me although we didn't see anyone run over the edge. And we looked!

Gathering for instructions. "Avoid the water!"

Here they come:

And there they go. All day long and into the night.

 

This weekend is chocked full of plans. Today I have a pedicure with Aunt Pauline (plus new shoes and a liquor purchase - also need some bagels). Tomorrow Becky/Mike/Dave/Jackie, and Sunday the Ricoh crowd. We also want a great steak, some jazz, and Second City and we are running out of time. More later.