Chicago Through the Eyes of Jim Hauenstein

October 4

The Chicago Loop

A journey starts with a step....ends with over 100,000 and a memorable adventure.

As Aubrey introduced in his last blog, I will be the guest blogger, Jim Hauenstein.

My invitation on the journey was to assist, in Terri's absence, guiding Shorebilly, Too through a series of locks and damns, starting in Lake Michigan and heading to St. Louis.  Being a novice boater, this was truly an adventure.  But a delay in the repairs of the locks pushed the start date of the Illinois River trek back 5 days and, due to a prior commitment, I would not be able to assist Aubrey with that specific journey.  But, my plans were altered to allow me to be a guest on the Shorebilly, Too while she was in Chicago, a city I had never visited.  The journey begins.

As Terri departed from Midway International Airport, I arrived.  After a brief provisions stop, Aubrey and I made our way to his boat's current holding spot, Hammond Marina, Indiana.   There I was taught the workings of the boat from my perspective as assistant, given lessons in required knot-tying (which I failed to master) and attended my first docktails event.  I was greeted by a very cordial group of 50-60 loopers, all waylaid at Hammond awaiting for the flotilla kickoffs, commencing October 6.   I enjoyed the conversations, snacks and listening to the variety of boat-types, flotilla numbers and home ports.   I was even able to discuss golfing in Myrtle Beach which is something I do much better than tying knots. A beautiful moon rise over Lake Michigan ended the evening and I was blessed to watch the sunrise on day 2 (thanks to the adjustment from Eastern to Central time and personal sleep habits). 

Day 2 started with a few nautical procedural lessons and Aubrey and I then embarked on our trip to Chicago.  I was amazed by the technology of the Shorebilly, Too as well as how well she handled in the waves of Lake Michigan.  The magnitude of the Lake, the green hue of the water made for smooth sailing to Chicago.  To Aubrey's credit, his selection of craft was excellent and his pride in his vessel obvious.

Approaching Chi-town, we connected with the crew of Never Home, Atillio, his wife Kathy and friend Jim.  They had also just arrived and we planned to cruise the Chicago River in tandem.  We journeyed through the lock to enter the river, met Never Home and floated into a canyon of unique and stately buildings of a variety of architectural styles.

After we cruised the main branch, then both the North and South branches of the Chicago River, we stopped for lunch at Portofino Pizza, rafting next to Never Home.  I was welcomed by Atillio, Kathy and Jim.  Our banter was jovial and  the food excellent (although the pizza was thin crust).

As our lunch ended, we cruised through the lock, out of the Chicago River and into Lake Michigan to our home marina for the next few days, DuSable Marina.  As we pulled Shorebilly, Too into our berth, and settled in, we met a few more Loopers as well as two boaters who call DuSable their home marina.  We asked for a local recommendation for dinner and one of the locals, a truly classic Chicagoan (if you can recall the SNL skits of "da Bears"), Deano,  said to go to Volare but you need reservations.  We found there were no reservations available for the evening so we asked Deano and he said, "Head to Volare, asked to speak with Benny, tell him Deano from the marina sent us".  What did we have to lose.  We teamed up with the Never Home crew, headed to Volare, met Benny and we were seated within ten minutes.  Again, delicious meal, and great company.  Deano, thanks for steering us right!

Post dinner we decide to walk Navy Pier and stop as we walk, to watch the last minutes of the Duke v. Notre Dame game.  As we watched at the bar, another patron steps in behind our group, wearing a shirt identifying him as Captain of the Tall Ship Windy, a 148', 4-masted schooner docked right outside of the bar.  In casual conversation, Captain Rodney shares his brother is planning to Loop and he then invites us to join his ship tomorrow night for the final cruise of the season, 7pm.  (More on that later.)  We return to Shorebilly, Too and call it a great day!

Day 3 begins with breakfast in the city and a scheduled boat architectural tour of the city from the Chicago River.  Aubrey and I again sail the river with a tour guide who points out architectural details of the canyon of skyscrapers.  Fascinating details of both the style of architecture as well as some of the history of the city of Chicago.  Amazingly, almost all of the river banks' buildings have been built since the Great Fire of 1871.  The fire destroyed a huge part of the city, leaving 1/3 of its' population homeless; buildings dated from the early 1900s to 1980/90s. 

Trivia learned on the tour - answer later in the blog to keep you reading:  Why is Chicago referred to as the Second City?

Then, Aubrey and I return to the Shorebilly, Too, gather Yudee up for a walk, then we walked down Lake Michigan's coast to see Buckingham Fountain and Millennium Park.  While large parts of the park are cordoned off in preparation of the October 8th Chicago Marathon, the gardens were spectacular.   

Then to the Tall Ship Windy where we, including Atillio and Jim from the Never Home, are treated as VIPs abroad this beautiful schooner.  Three of the four sails are up, the schooner cruises about 1.5 miles out to Lake Michigan and, under full sail, we view the spectacular Chicago skyline.  The Loopers connect with Bruce and set plans for his journey.

 

Day 4 starts with a breakfast out at Eggy's, then we take Yudee for a long walk along North Shore Drive's Lake Michigan's green-way.  Yudee gets a chance to be the bird dog he is, encountering a gaggle of geese, he points then chase.  A beautiful dog doing his thing.  Aubrey and I decide to take an walking tour of some of the buildings off the river.  We take the PedWay first, a 5 mile underground "hall" connecting buildings and streets to shelter the Chicagoans from the winter weather.  We also tour Chicago City Hall, Dailey Plaza (both well known for their role in The Blues Brothers) and featuring a Picasso sculpture.  Finally, the tour ends at the old Chicago Library, now the Chicago Cultural Center, featuring intricate workmanship, as well as two of the three largest Tiffany stained glass domes in the country.  The tour ends at Millennium Park and The Bean, which unfortunately is closed for walkway repairs.  (Sorry, no photo.)

Thanks for reading to this point.  I hope the pictures supplement the descriptions of our journey.  The answer - Why is Chicago referred to as Second City?  Since the great fire destroyed most of the original city, the rebuilt Chicago is referred to as the Second City.

Dinner plans...what is left to experience - deep dish pizza you say!  Absolutely - reservations at Giordano's made and ready to walk to the restaurant when we receive a text asking us to pre-order our pie since it takes 1 hour to make.  The pie is 2 inches thick, sauce on top, some crust, stuffed with cheese, sausage and pepperoni with another crust.  Again delicious!

As Aubrey and I return to the marina, we stop by Buckingham Fountain for the light show.

Returning to Shorebilly, Too, we get Yudee and walk The River Walk, one last evening view of the spectacular canyon of buildings, now fully illuminated.  Again, absolutely breathtaking.  Yudee liked the lengthy walk as well.

Day 5, get away day - breakfast at a cafe, Yudee and we decide to walk The Magnificent Mile, the Fifth Avenue of Chicago, mostly high end retail stores.  While this sounds mundane, the Chicago City Walk buildings are at the end of The Mag Mile, Michigan Ave.  Why of note you ponder ... Chicago had a drinking water issue even though on the banks of freshwater Lake Michigan there was a pollution issue.  Solution, build a drain 2 miles into lake Michigan, tunnel under the lake to Michigan Ave and bring in fresh water.  Brilliant solution, even more so considering the project was completed in 1915.  Yudee with us, we had what we thought was one last view of the Chicago River.   But, we needed lunch, so the Chicago experience ended with a Chicago-style hot dog... a beef dog on a sesame seed toasted hot dog bun covered in Indian style relish and mustard, with a sliced tomatoes and mini gherkin pickles.  

Aubrey and I leave Chicago but we are amazed at the breadth of historical, architectural, visual, culinary experiences we had over this part of the trip.  And we met some great people.

We return to Hammond Marina, the Loopers, anxious to continue on their journey and two more docktails before I fly out of Chi-town.  I meet more folks, truly a cacophony of our country, from all over the east coast and midwest, even as far as Idaho.  One of the two nights in Hammond, Dan and Sue of Boat Time join us, from Worcester, MA, for more laughs.  I experienced dialects from our country, heard a few comments about my own Jersey slang, but all those I met, many unnamed her,e were welcoming and creating their own journey.

Oh, the 100,000 step comment to open - here is the daily Chicago step count:

Sept. 29 - 18.5K; Sept. 30 - 18.9K; Oct. 1 - 21.9K; Oct. 2 -29.6K; Oct. 3 - 21.7K; Oct. 4 - 10.8K. I did the math, Aubrey and I (Yudee did much of this as well) trekked over 121,000 steps, or approximately over 57 miles.  The journey, our adventure,well worth the sore toes!

Thanks Aubrey and Terri for the invitation.  I am sorry I will miss the Illinois River part but I appreciate the opportunity to experience a small part of The Loop.  My small exposure amplifies what you have both experiencd.   Aubrey, thanks as well for your patience with this landlubber as we moved your beloved home on water.  Terri, I am sorry you missed Chicago.  But when you and Aubrey circle back, Marilyn (my wife) and I will connect for a Chicago adventure re-do.  Marilyn, my wife, thanks for letting me experience this.  Yudee, it was great hanging with an awesome bird dog! To The Loopers, thanks for welcoming me, sharing your stories...and safe travels as you continue. As you pass through the Barnegat Bay portion of the Jersey Shore, if you connect, welcome and I can guide you through.

I am a Parrothead, a long time follower of Jimmy Buffett.  He made a living of musically celebrating the journeys of life.  I hope that for those of you following this blog, I added to your journey with the Shorebilly, Too!