Yesterday we left South Milwaukee Yacht Club and intended to motor to Waukegan, IL but the wind and seas were cooperating and the forecast storm didn’t appear, so we kept going—all the way to Chicago. We anchored in anchorage C of the harbor basin. That was a mistake. Although the view was great, between the swells coming in and the wakes from all the boats, we really rocked (and not in a good way). But hey, we’re on a boat so what can we expect? Saturday morning we entered the first lock and putted slowly through the downtown area, enjoying the sights and sounds of the big city. We were out of the city and into the commercial shipping canal sooner than we thought. Never saw so many barges. After a 42 mile cruise, we passed through the second lock and motored a short way to Joliet, IL. We tied up to a free wall provided by the city. We found the greatest authentic Mexican restaurant just a few blocks from our mooring. We had to order using the pictures. Everything was in Spanish. We even had a pretty hard time understanding our waitress. What we ordered can be best described as a Quesadilla on steroids (assuming they would give steroids to quesadillas). It was the size of a large pizza and almost 1/2″ thick with filling. Lest people think all we do is eat, Diane had an iced tea and I had a margarita.
Two views from our Chicago anchorage
Once out of downtown and past the industrial section, this is what the Chicago canal looks like.
There are LOT of bridges.
We passed a tugboat graveyard.
Not trying to scare anyone but hey, we’re electrifying the water and thought you might be interested. Enjoy your boat ride, ignore the sparking.
Our boat (again, the smallest one) from the bridge in Joliet. I hate to keep bringing up the size but hey, guys are sensitive to that sort of thing.
You may say it looks all burnt but that was the seasoning. By far the best quesadilla we ever had.