After 17 days on Lake Michigan we were rewarded with the
Chicago skyline. We passed it on our way
to Hammond, IN which was where Ken and Roofus would dock up while I made a trip
back home.
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| View of Chicago skyline from Hammond, IN |
We got in 4 days before I was
to fly out so we took the opportunity to head into the Chicago and be
tourists. Our first stop was to take the
Architectural and Historic Cruise on the Chicago River. Not only are the skyscrapers truly scrapping
the sky, the architectural styles vary from gothic and graceful of the 1920s to
mid-century modern of concert and glass to edgy beauty of the 21st
century. What I did not realize is that
this remarkable trail of wonderful buildings is really due to a tragic fire
where a third of the population was left homeless and the entire business
district was wiped out. This was the
Great Chicago fire of 1871. Remember
learning that it was caused by Mrs. O’Leary’s cow……well not true as our guide
informed us. This made way for a complete
rebuilding and the result is one of the most beautiful downtowns I have ever
seen and the icing on the cake is the Chicago River runs right through it. We actually got to do this cruise twice. Once with a guided tour and again on
Independence. Not a city person but I
have to say this was truly memorable.
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| Driving into downtown Chicago |
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| Downtown Chicago - the interstate runs under the buildings. |
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| Our company at the next table at a downtown café that we stopped at prior to the river cruise |
There are 5 buildings currently over a 1000' with the Willis Tour (formerly the Sears Tower) topping the list at 1450' with 108 stories. It was built between 1968 and 1974, and was the tallest building in the world until 1998. It is part of the mid-century modern architecture of steel and dark glass.
The next tallest is the Trump International Hotel and Tower at 1388' built 2005-2009 followed by the Aon Center at 1136 built 1970-1973. The John Hancock Center and the Franklin Center, at #4 and #5 respectively.
Some of my favorites were the ones built in the 1920s as they had grace and style that you don't see in modern buildings.
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| The Wrigley Building was built 1919-1925 and was the corporate headquarters of Wrigley's Gum until 2012. |
The Tribune Tower, home of the Chicago Tribune built 1922-1925 and was the first air-conditioned commercial building in the city. Neo-Gothic style and has flying buttresses too.
To the left is the Jewelers Building built 1924-1926 in the neo-classical style. It was featured in the 2005 movie 'Batman Begins'. Above is the Merchanise Mart completed in 1931 in art deco style and was considered the world's largest building for its first 10 years at 4,000,000 square feet. Now that is a lot of showroom and office space. In 1941 the Pentagon, DC surpassed it.
To the left is the Carbide and Carbon Building built 1928-1929 and is an art deco design. It hard to see but the top floors are covered in gold leaf and the building itself is green terra cotta. It was over the top in glitz but have to remember it was built during the roaring 20s. To the right is the Civic Opera Building built 1927-1929 and is another art deco style. With almost 3600 seats, it is still in use today.
There were so many more we saw both new and old, round and square, tall and short but I do think the most unusual building is 150 North Riverside built in 2017. It is a cantilever design where the first eight floors are narrower before going to full size office floors above. Really unique.
I will leave this off with a of my favorite city scapes with no particular story other than they appealed to me.
After the guided river cruise, Ken and I walked Michigan
Avenue, the shopping and commercial hub known as ‘The Magnificent Mile’ and
ended up at Lawry’s Prime Rib and Steakhouse Restaurant to celebrate my
birthday. This also happens to be Ken’s
favorite restaurant in the world. The
décor, service and food were fabulous. I
now understand why Ken never misses an opportunity to dine there when in town.
The next day we headed to the Museum of Science and
Industry, another one of Ken’s favorite museums and I was not
disappointed. Trains, planes and
automobiles were everywhere as well a captured WWII German U-boat submarine,
robots and an entire gallery on the nature of storms which was very interactive
(in other words, we acted like kids, playing with all the exhibits). But I must
say my favorite was in the Genetics wing where we watched baby chicks
hatch. I had never witnessed this. I was so fascinated, I made Ken go back with
me before we left at the end of the day.
It was so impressive watching the chicks work their little butts off,
getting out of their eggs.
I flew home Friday September 22nd for 10
days. My girls met me at the airport and
I just couldn’t stop hugging and kissing them, I missed them so much. They even brought Abby and I can’t tell you
how good it felt to be behind the wheel again, shifting gears and speeding down
the highway. I got to catch up with
friends, GOT MY HAIR done, had doc appointments, enjoyed shopping madness and
got pedis with Sue with our usual trip to Bakers Crust after for drinks, gossip
and dinner (in that order). And of
course, more time with my girls and friends. Sleeping in my own bed was a luxury! The time went so quickly and I was back in
Chicago, traversing the Chicago River, before I knew it. I was ready to continue our adventure and I did
so miss Ken and Roofus.
Back at the boat, Ken captured a beautiful sunrise and Roofus captured herself in the sleeve of Ken's sweatshirt.
Before I go further, I want to give a brief overview of the
next part of the trip, The Inland Waterways.
We will be going from Chicago, IL to Mobile, AL which is over 1300
miles. This posting will cover ~300 miles
of the trip from Chicago, IL to Grafton, IL by way of the Chicago and Illinois
rivers. Once we got out of Chicago the waters are very
heavy with commercial traffic. Tows are
pushing anywhere from 2 barges up to 30.
Just to put that in perspective, each standard barge is ~200’ long and
35’ wide and has a capacity to hold ~1500 tons.
To put that in further perspective, each barge carries as much as 58
large semi-trucks or over 13 railroad hopper cars. That’s a lot of cargo which varies from coal,
soy beans, scrap metal, sand, fuels, etc.
Needless to say, they have the right of way especially when they are 5
wide and 6 long!!! This is a challenge
for Ken as he needs to know what’s coming around blind corners as many times as
not, the river is wide enough for the only the barges. Talk about big brother…..
So back to Chicago.
We left on a cloudy, rainy morning so many of the tall buildings along
the Chicago River were in the clouds though it cleared up as we moved through
the city. This is the same river that is
turned green for St. Patrick’s Day!
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| Independence heading for the Chicago Lock and entrance to the Chicago River. |
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| Both days we were in Chicago this guy was there, blowing bubbles off the Columbus Street Bridge. |
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| The design on the side of this building is the path of the Chicago River through the city. Too cool!! |
Once on the south side of Chicago, we moved into the
Illinois River and over the next 5 days, stayed in the towns of Joliette,
Ottawa, Peoria, Beardstown and Grafton.
All in the state of Illinois.
Long state when moving north to south.
The most interesting overnight stop was in Beardstown where we actually docked
up to a barge!!! Talk about feeling like
a flea on a dog. What was even more
interesting is that all the barges were waiting for a transfer which is that
one tow dropped it off and another tow is coming to pick it up. The barge we were docked to was full of
soybeans. In fact, while we were there,
we had to move to make room for 2 other pleasure craft (that is what they call
us up here) as the barge they were docked to got picked up. We also got to join a tow captain, Jeff, in
his tow, who was managing all the barges waiting for transfer pickups. Super nice guy and very knowledgeable. Really enjoyed the overview.
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Junction of the Illinois and Cal-Sag waterway.
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| Our first but not last encounter with a barge. |
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| A floating bollard in one of the locks. We added Independence to the rest of the looper's signatures. |
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| This is the Spirit of Peoria. It is a true paddleboat as it actually uses its paddlewheel for propulsion. |
Here is where we tied to a barge overnight in Beardstown. Ken in the tow with a pic looking down on Independence. The cleats and bollards we tied to were enormous compared to what Independence needed to be secure, but secure we were. Below are soybeans which filled the barge we were tied to.
Our last stop was Grafton, IL which is where the Illinois
River and the Mississippi River join. We
stayed here for 2 days, to re-provision, enjoy the local winery and get a
little down time as we were doing 50 to 85 mile days.
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| Grafton, IL is where the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers meet. Illinois in the foreground and the Mississippi in the back. |
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| The night before we left Grafton, a thunderstorm with lightening in the clouds rolled over us. Really beautiful is see though the pic doesn't do it justice. |
Next update will be from the Mississippi River and beyond.
PS from Roofus:
Yes, you see this right. I have decided I need to get on board with the trip planning. I figure if I get involved and then I can suggest the quickest ways to get home. Do you think absorbing through osmoses while I sleep will work???!!!!
