Day 3 - Home from Chicago

 We were up at 7:30am for a quick breakfast.  We have today (Sunday) and tomorrow (Monday) to make it home so we have been watching the weather.  There is a large cell of rain coming up from the south and the sprinkles had already started over breakfast.  We weighed our options and decided to make the run today.  The waves would be from the S,SW for most of the ride so it could be a little bumpy if we went straight home vs following the coast.  

We pulled out of the marina at 8:15am.  

We could see the buildings on the horizon for quite a while before losing cellular service.  It was a pretty typical boat ride.  After over an hour had passed, the waves picked up to 3-4’ but with the wind direction and swells it created a motion that was unique (to put it lightly).

It wasn’t long before three of us were hanging out on the back bench staring down the horizon and we had distributed Dramamine and ginger to everyone.

We pulled into the channel at Grand Haven around 1:25 pm.  Once we slowed for the channel, I warmed up French Dip sandwiches and we all enjoyed a warm meal.  

We pulled into our slip around 2:00 pm and started the process of packing up. 

It was a great weekend.  A first for us to cross the lake and a bucket list at that!  

Chicago - Day 2

We slept in til almost 9:00 am!  Wow!  

As we began to prep our breakfast, we were thrilled to see the Thunderbirds fly overhead.  It was fun to see the stunts above and we even enjoyed the color smoke along with the acrobatics.

After we cleaned up from breakfast, we headed over to the Alder Planetarium.  We were able to see the sun through two telescopes outside and then moved in to see the exhibits.  

Once we finished up, we were headed outside to make a plan and were greeted by a large bank of rentable bikes.  We had talked about taking a bike ride today so we figured it was a good sign so we headed over and rented bikes.  

SO MUCH FUN!  Chicago has a long bike path along the lake, running parallel to Lakeshore Drive.  It is wonderful to be close to the city without having to stop for traffic, plus add the cool breeze off the lake.  AMAZING.  

We had a great ride up to Navy Pier and ate lunch at Harry Carey’s.  

After that, we grabbed bikes again and continued north past downtown and then turned back to the south.

We had a slight accident but everyone was ok.  Then we finished with a stop for Dippin’ Dots - Sam’s favorites.

We returned the bikes to a bank near the planetarium and then walked back to the marina.  We had a little time for rest in the AC before heading out for our dinner reservation at the Capital Grille.  

It was an amazing meal yet again!  Followed by a walk downtown to find a Shake Shack and a Starbucks for dessert.  Then we grabbed an Uber and headed home for the night.

I had a headache so I laid down and watched some TV.  Sammy spent the night in her room while Scott relaxed on the back of the boat.  Tyler hung out with me for a bit and then went outside to call Maddie.  Unfortunately, a bird dropped on him mid-call so he came back in squirming.  LOL.

It was a great day!  Lots to see and do.  We’ll definitely repeat the bikes on Lakeshore Drive.  It was a highlight for us all!

Day 1 - To Chicago

 We were looking at the calendar and found we are running out of long weekends this summer.  We have wanted to go to Chicago for some time but we were somewhat intimidated by the long travel day involving a lake crossing.  But our recent trip to Mackinac proved our abaility to go longer runs without issue and when the weather forecast looked favorable for this weekend, we decided to go for it. 

We left our house in Ada around 8:00 am. Stopped for a few groceries in Spring Lake and then were on the water by 10:15 am.

The lake was smooth.  It was a beautiful day!  Due to the angle of our course, we lost sight of land shortly after leaving Grand Haven.  And with it went the use of cellular and data on our electronics.  Its a weird feeling to be out so far knowing that you are disconnected.

It took around 4 hours to arrive.  We passed the time on our devices, reading books, I took a little nap, and the kids watched a movie.

Just after the halfway point at 12:15 pm, we could see the glimpse of tall buildings ahead.  As we continued, the city came into view and it was fun to point out some of our favorite places from the water.

The Burnham Marina is just east of Soldier Field and the Field Museum, next to Shedd Aquarium.  There are over 1000 boat slips available.  It is HUGE.  The upper half of the marina houses the larger boats… Each slip is 100’ long.  

We are docked here for the weekend.  It’s a beautiful spot and close to the walk/run path on Lakeshore Drive.

I made tacos for lunch since we were all hungry. And Coco got a quick walk and some lunch as well.  Then we took a couple hours to just relax. 

At 5:00 pm we called an Uber and headed to a new restaurant for us, the Franklin Room.  It was a great meal.  We split a couple 18oz Ribeyes, had Taro fries, Charred Brcollini, and Butternut Squash.  We all ordered dessert and then headed out for a little walk.  

We grabbed some grocery items from CVS and then called another Uber who drove us to the marina.  Unfortunately there is a big concert on the peninsula by the marina so the road to drop us off was closed.  The driver dropped us off a little further away so we started walking.  But a man with a rickshaw came by and we flagged him down.  

He dropped us off at the main entrance to the marina, still a bit of a walk to our slip… but it was a nice walk.

Scott and I sat out on the back of the boat with our coffee while the kids hung out inside.  Eventually I headed to bed for TV and fell asleep really quickly.  It was a big day and lots of fun!

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