The windy city

Chicago is not called the windy city because of the winds that come up and make even the best marina  quite rocky but because of the politicians in the 1800s who were full of hot air. It is a wonwonderful place to visit with so much to do.
There are museums of all sorts as well as art galleries. We chose to go to the aquarium which was quite nice. We are enjoying the 18 mile bike trails that follow lake Michigan and the Illinois river through the heart of the city. The people are in a great hurry, the cyclists are zooming along the trails dressed in the correct cycling gear,  there are hundreds of joggers and a number of swimmers.
We rode over to the Navy Pier that is a touristy attraction with Tshirt shops, complete with a Jimmy Buffet store, eateries and boat rides.  There is a ferries wheel and carousel, an IMAX theatre along with some more museums. The Billy Goat tavern with it's famous Chicago Cheezborger is on the Navy Pier.  We tried the deep dish pizza at Giordano's for lunch and were not as impressed as the guide suggested so we will forgo the Cheezborger for dinner tonight.
We got back to the boat just in time for a shower, a quick bite and off to Millennium park for a free outdoor concert, in the stainless steel Jay Pritzker pavilion. There is also a long stainless steel and wooden walkway leading to the pavilion that we found equally impressive. The performance was the group, The Million Dollar Quartet, made up of Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley,and Carl Perkins impersonators. They put on quite a show but we were fascinated by the Chicago crowd as well.  Groups of friends had little tables set up with deli type food and wine complete with table cloths and even flowers to enhance the dining experience. There was lots of dancing and merry making that rivalled the performance on stage. One couple told us that on Thursday night there are free jazz concerts that really stir up the appetite and enthusiasm of the locals. Wow!

We closed off this wonderful day by pulling the boat ahead on the wall we are tied to in an effort to reduce the rocking. To no avail, we are rocking more than when we crossed the lake and the folks who are paying premium price for their stalls are in the same situation. I am glad we did not take a mooring ball, those folks are bucking to their tether like a demented bronco. We were awakened at 5 am, this morning, by a brazen young couple who decided to take a leap on our boat, probably to enjoy the rocking. I woke the Captain who got up to ask what the ***&**! they were doing on the boat.  They quickly got off without any harm done.

Chicago is a welcome and impressive site from Lake Michigan

North Star is the little dwarf tied by the bicycle path in Chicago

The Illinois or aka Chicago River

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Navy Pier

The Jay Pritzker stainless steel pavillion

Today we are doing more exploring and we will try to catch the fireworks at Navy Pier.

Chicago

We are extremely happy to report that we are tied up to a wall at Md the Chigaco Monroe Harbor in Chicago!!!! We had a good 8 hour steam across lake Michigan and this concludes our Lake Michigan adventure.
We will explore the 18 mile waterfront bicycle trail, the Aquarium and the Navy pier. We will sample the deep dish pizza and the burgor.
More on this tomorrow.

Sunday in St.Joseph

Sunset in St.Joseph

They look smaller from shore

6-8 foot waves

No bull, the Captain is having fun

Fun in the waves

Pushing my ass around town

We spent a nice day biking and exploring St. Joseph but we are anxious to get across the lake to Chicago.  We went to watch the sunset last night at the North Pier.  Quite a few people were taking pictures of the high waves. They appeared to be 8-10 foot waves.
This morning we watched the wave runners having fun in the surf. We walked through town as well as the beach on the south side of the river. There are decorated farm animal sculptures all over the downtown that I found quite interesting.  They have a beautiful waterfront complete with a large merry go round. It was a perfect day. 
This marina even has free laundry which I am taking advantage of.  There are 6 loopers here but I am not sure if they are making the crossing tomorrow.  It looks promising so we will try it.

St.Joseph

We had a lovely hot day in St. Joseph Michigan. We rode our bikes into town and spent most of the morning at Wolf's Marine.  It boast of being the largest marine store in the mid west.  It was large and we were able to find drink glasses that I have been trying to find all trip.  They have a nautical theme and are double plastic  so they stay cool and dry on the outside.  We also found some oar locks for our dinghy so we will be able to get exercise with that as well now instead of using the motor.

He wishes...18 lb king salmon

Windy day fora beach wedding

the water is warm at 76 degrees

Beautiful site when you are on land

We went to the farmers market and walked around some of the little shops but it is quite hot so we decided to go visit the beach and look at the waves.  The waves are nice and fun when you are on the beach. Fishermen keep coming in with their catch. They are not selling any, it is a tournament so they have to go get them weighed in.  They won't even give us the tongues or cheeks. The captain just couldn't resist, he had to have his picture taken with the fish.
Tomorrow will be an other down day as we wait out the wind.  We are going to visit the beach on the south side of the river and go out for lunch. More loopers arrived today so we will visit with them shortly.

St.Joseph-Benson Harbour Michigan

We had a 12 hour steam today to take advantage of the good weather. North Star can be called a pleasure craft once again.  The winds were calm and the waves were less than 2 feet. We travelled 102 miles from White Lake to St. Joseph which is a good location from which to cross the lake. The weather is not looking good for the next two days so we will stay at this municipal marina until it is safe to venture forth.
There are many loopers here, some we have already met along the way and some we will meet for the first time.  It looks like there will be a number of us once we reach Chicago.

Making new friends

Leaving White Lake early in the mist

Whitehall

We waited out the wind again today. We met a nice lady at Montague pier yesterday and she came to visit with her husband for the evening.  They took us to the Whitehall side of the pier in their antique Oldsmobile. The Lake was no where near settled down last night.
Today we went for a bike ride and some more shopping.  We spent the afternoon with Joyce yakking and drinking in the nice sunshine on the back deck of North Star. Thanks Joyce, for helping us while away the hours in Whitehall.
We drove out to the pier again with these new friends to have a look at a developing emergency  We did not find out what all the coast guard and Sheriff activity was about but we did see two tall ships go by.  The lake is still not settled down so who knows what will happen tomorrow.  We will stay here if the weather dictates that we stay put.

Waiting out the wind

We are having a nice time waiting out the weather.  It was overcast and windy again today so we got on our bikes and went for a 20 Km ride to Lake Michigan and back.  The waves don't look as bad when you are standing on solid ground. We walked on the beach, watched the Para surfers fly around. It is hot and muggy and luckily the sun did not come out until we were back at the boat or it would have been too hot.
We went to the farmer's market as well and we bought some fresh produce.  The corn is not as good as the Prince Edward County corn but the blueberries are nice and fat and juicy.  The peaches are unbelievably good.  We find the price of food and marinas quite reasonable in Michigan.
The little towns are clean with flowers everywhere and the people are most helpful. Not a bad place to wait out the storm.
It looks like we will be here tomorrow as well. We are glad we started to tackle lake Michigan early.

Nasty Lake Michigan...beautiful sand

No not time to leave