Rollin Down The River

Left a good job in the city. Workin’ for the Man every night and day.

There are many phases to the Great Loop – The Canals (Erie and Hudson), Canada (Georgian Bay and The North Channel), The Great Lakes (Ontario, Huron and Michigan) and the part that we are now on The Rivers (Calumet, Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee and Tombigbee). The rivers while a nice break from The Great Lakes offer their own set of challenges – debris, logs and trees floating down the river. Fast moving currents that can both help and hinder your progress. Huge Tows pushing barges that takes up the entire center of the river. Turbulence caused by tow wake and underwater dams. Each phase offers new learning experiences and unique experiences.

This week we have had several special guests - The Dornicks (John, Jan and Julia). My dad (John) acted as the chauffeur driving first to Joliet to meet up with us and deliver my mom then again to Hardin to bring my sister Julia.  The four of us went to dinner in Joliet, my parents slept over then my dad left in the wee hours of the morning and the three of us set off down the Illinois River. While they have visited us once before on the Tidings neither had experienced what it was actually like to Loop – getting up at 6a.m, performing engine checks, unhooking power and lines, navigating through locks, opening bridges and helping the boat make it to her next destination. My mom in the week she was here got the full experience. She even got to line handle through one of the locks.

She loves boats so she had a ball and we enjoyed being with her a lot. She is the ideal guest doing all the dishes, removing spider webs daily and general cleaning that she would see needed to be done. By being here for a week she got a real sense of what it takes to loop and realized that it is more then just sitting back and going on a boat ride. After several days had gone by we arrived at Hardin Illinois where we would meet up with my dad and sister. We stayed at a very bizarre place in Hardin at Mel’s Restaurant, which offered a dock free of charge if you patronized the restaurant. The dock was steel and very uneven and kinda shady. There was no ramp between it in the restaurant and we all got chigger bites as we walked up for dinner. Mel’s is a locals place and when you walk in the door everyone stops eating and turns around to stare at you until you find your seat. The food is self-described as “down home” and offers a lot of the meat variety. We all liked our meals and had delicious homemade pie for dessert.

Again, my dad left in the wee hours and the four of us pushed off to Grafton, Illinois in search of a sports bar to watch the MSU football game. It felt like a hundred degrees with 100% humidity and when we each set out in different directions we all returned sweated out and unsuccessful. After missing the entire first half we finally decided to watch the game on the boat on mom’s Ipad.

         The next two days would take us to Alton for some boat maintenance and swimming in the marina pool. The four of us also rented a car and drove into St. Louis. We went to Salt and Smoke for lunch where BBQ was the specialty, we walked around “The Loop” and visited the famous arch.

We returned to the boat, made dinner and decided to have one last hurrah on the boat before Mom and Ju had to leave in the morning. We played music, sang and drank and waited until midnight in order to sing happy birthday to Ju who turned 35 on the Tidings. In the morning I drove them to the airport and went to Whole Foods. It was a great ending to a nice week with the fam.

         Yesterday we made our way to the famous Hoppies Marina, which consists of three barges, tied together which serves as a platform for boaters to tie up to. The owner Fern Hopkins is an elderly woman of the river. Daily she gives a lecture to the boaters updating them on information about the Mississippi – things to avoid, safe places to anchor, numbers to call if in trouble. Very interesting and quiet a unique experience for us both.

My Kind of Town

We just spent the last four days in Chicago and loved every minute of it. As we made our way across Lake Michigan from Michigan City, Indiana the city appeared as a still life – large skyscrapers meeting the lake with a quiet stillness that didn’t reveal all that was going on inside the city. As we got closer and closer we got more and more excited.

Around 2:30pm on Tuesday we were tied up in DuSable Harbor right in the heart of downtown. We couldn’t have been in a better location and had total access to the city. We were both anxious to get off the boat and go exploring. We put on our tennis shoes and headed into the city. We trekked around for hours going from the familiar Michigan Avenue to the river walk, which neither of us has ever walked before. Passing by the Trump building made us both cringe but for the first time since New York (2 and a half months ago) we were in a real city. We were both so happy. I never realized how much of a city girl that I am but after small town after small town and not having access to food and supplies that we needed I am convinced.

My good buddy from high school "Wies" (Mike Wiesenhaun) has lived in the city for years and we made a plan to meet up later for some Chicago pizza and drinks. Around 7o’clock we met up at Lou Malnati’s. We ate delicious Chicago pizza, salad and many beers. The place was packed and we were happy to be with Wies. After dinner we all headed back to the boat for more drinks, some card playing and bullshitting. I was very happy to see and catch up with my old friend.

The next day we decided we would have a day of culture and headed to The Art Institute of Chicago. What a beautiful museum with a very large collection. So large that we spent three and a half hours and still didn’t see everything. We did catch the highlights – Monet, Rembrandt, Picasso, Warhol, Van Gogh, Matisse and Dali and had a self guided audio tour to lead us through.  After the long morning at the museum we came back to the boat for a rest before our evening. That night we had a fun night planned thanks to Anthony Bordain and his TV. show Parts Unknown, which we are both big fans. We had watched an episode while still in San Diego where he went around Chicago to some of his favorite spots that were a bit off the grid. First we took an Uber to a bar called The Old Town Ale House. This bar has been opened since 1958 and not a lot has changed. When you walk in it’s dark and kinda seedy with just a few men sitting at the bar. The owner is a bit of an artiest and has decorated the entire bar with his paintings. Most of the painting are of regular bar goers and staff but there is also some political art like Vladimir Putin wearing nothing but a pink tutu and ballet slippers, Sara Palin buck naked with a gun in her hand and wearing a tiara. There is also Mitt Romney in his magic underwear. He’s a Mormon. The bars art keeps you entertained for hours. After a drink here we walked down the street in Old Town to Topo Gigio for dinner, again thanks to Anthony Bordain. It was delicious!! We were greeted by a basket of hot bread. We had a cocktail, wine, pasta and Jeff had a whitefish, which he stated was the best whitefish he’s ever eaten. Thank you Anthony.

We had planned to leave the next day (Thursday) but we were having so much fun and hadn’t had a chance to ride our bikes so we extended for a day. Thursday we took our bikes down and rode the lake front bike path. It was a scenic, flat path that took us 16 miles round trip. We felt good. After our ride we rested a bit then walked to the train station to venture out to Wicker Park at Wies’s recommendation. It felt nice to be on the train. How can you come to Chicago and not ride the train? Wicker Park was an eclectic mix of artists, hipsters, mom and pop shops and corporate chains. We strolled up and down the streets taking it all in. Finally we rode the train back to the boat. Since we had a bonus night we decided we could have Chicago Pizza again. Yum! This time we walked to Navy Pier that is right next to the boat and only a 5-minute walk to Giordano’s. We had some drinks and ate more pie. Stuffed and tired we made our way back to the boat in anticipation of leaving in the morning.

When I woke up Friday morning Jeff said that we weren’t leaving. The waves were too big on Lake Michigan and we would have to stay one more day. Fine by me. I was so happy to be in a city I could have stayed a week. Today would be an especially happy day for me because we were biking to Whole Foods. The Motherland. Being a vegetarian while traveling through all of these small towns has been very tough and I have been very limited with what I have been able to cook so going to a place like Whole Foods was great! They were playing their usual happy upbeat music and I was singing as I pushed the cart up and down the isles. I think Jeff liked it too. We made our way back to the boat with a full Travoy and backpack and all set for the week to come. The rest of the day we just relaxed, cleaned a bit and readied the boat for the departure in the a.m.

Today (Saturday) we woke up at our leisure, ate breakfast and took off for Calumet Harbor and Hammond Marina Indiana. It is a large marina, very industrial and omitting lots of pungent smells. Fortunately we are only here one night. We will lower our arch tomorrow and head out to Joliet, Illinois and begin our next phase of the Loop-The Rivers.

Greetings From Grand Haven, Michigan

We have been in Grand Haven since Saturday (9/3/16) with the intention of being here a couple of nights but Lake Michigan had other plans for us. For those of you not familiar with the Great Lakes they can be a wild beast. When we first started out on the Loop I was very skeptical of this coming from San Diego where we deal with the ocean and swells and waves all the time. What? A lake is going to be so challenging and something to head caution towards? I didn’t buy it. My first indication should have been when we crossed Lake Ontario a couple of months ago– we had beam seas (waves that hit us directly on the side of the boat) in 2-4feet waves with the occasional 5 footer and we were being tossed around like rag dolls. Then again crossing Lake Huron we had big waves and high winds. Now I was paying attention. Since those crossing we now check both the waves and the wind before heading out on the Great Lakes. For the past several days Lake Michigan has had large waves (up to 8 feet) and 20-30kt winds. The Tidings could definitely handle it but it would be a wild ride and one we would rather not take. We are in no hurry to get anywhere so why push it? This seems to be the looping attitude.

     Coming into Grand Haven was a real shock. We arrived the Saturday of Labor Day weekend and it was a wild boating scene and one we haven’t seen since we left San Diego. There were boats and people everywhere. As we entered the harbor boats were all jockeying for position, getting very close to us and passing us in narrow tight quarters. All of which made us very uneasy and longing for the Georgian Bay where we would anchor and be 1 of 3 boats with not a building or cottage in site. This was a crazy big city for us.

We made it through the channel untouched and approached our first bridge on the way to our marina. Both the Waterway Guide and the GPS told us the bridge was 25ft high and not a problem for us at 22ft. As we approached it looked really low. Jeff instructed me to look at the top of the boat as he proceeded slowly. Very quickly I could see that we weren’t going to make it and told him to back off. All this in swarms of boats coming in both directions, hugging our sides and riding our stern. Jeff stopped and the other boats passed us as he slowly started pivoting the boat around. We were very confused and called the bridge on the radio. The bridge master was very nice and told us the bridge height was only 17ft and that if we wanted to pass through his next scheduled opening was at 5:30. This was at 4:40. We had no choice but to slowly trawl around and wait. This was so challenging because of all the boating action all around us. There was no place to tie up while we waited so Jeff decided to float in front of a marina so that the other boats could go around us. After what felt like forever we finally got the bridge opened and made our way to the marina an hour and a half after entering the harbor.

The only thing that kept us calm was the fact that at the marina we had guests waiting for us – my mom and dad. Yay!! Jan and John Dornick were here in Grand Haven for a visit. The night before they had been in East Lansing, Michigan watching my cousin Tyler play football and after some quick calculations by my mom she realized that we were only an hour and thirty minutes from where they were. They hopped in the car and headed over. What a nice surprise it was to see them. We were all so excited!!!

We toured them around the boat then we all sat topside for happy hour.

After some libations we drove into town and had a nice Italian dinner followed by a water show to music. Apparently every night the town puts on a water show and people sit in bleachers to watch. It was amusing for me to see but the guys were not so amused and were glad that it ended shortly after we walked over. The four of us headed back to the boat for what would be our first sleepover and the Tidings first overnight guests. I was so excited that not only was it our first overnight guests but it was my parents! Their room and bathroom was all set up for them and after the big dinner and lots of drinks we decided to call it an early night and headed to bed. The next morning we all ate breakfast and my parents headed out before noon. They had a long 5-hour drive back to Lima, Ohio. We said our goodbyes and it made me excited for the next time that they visit.

Since their visit Jeff and I have moved marinas two more times here in Grand Haven. After the Labor Day weekend a lot of people left so we were able to get a reservation at the Municipal Marina right in town. Much to our chagrin it was a wild ride at their docks. They have no wall blocking them from Lake Michigan so they are susceptible to all of the lake currents that flow in and with our keel we were flying all around. We had 6 fenders out on one side of the boat and were still slamming the dock wall. It was nauseating and not a comfortable night so we left. Our third marina is great. It has a pool, is in nature and out of town and best of all no lake surge. The bike trail is nearby and we plan to utilize it very soon. Weather calls for thunderstorms the next 24-48hrs and the waves and wind will continue until Friday. We will be staying put until then and hope to be anchored out in Saugatuck Friday night.