HAMMOND, IN
JUST SOUTHEAST OF CHICAGO
After a much calmer night here in Pier 33, we pulled out of the breakwater and were back in Lake Michigan’s aggravated waters. It was a little rough at first but we are on the “Mighty Quest” and she does a great job of muscling through it all. As the day wore on, the lake water calmed and by the time we were way down in East Chicago it was an easy ride.
We caught our first glimpse of the distant Chicago skyline around 11:30 and continued to chart our progress by the slowly growing buildings. By noon our cell phones were flipping from Eastern Standard Time to Central Time during their intermittent hook-ups. Back and forth, back and forth, they just couldn’t figure out where to hook. We are now on Central Time for a while.
CHICAGO SKYLINE AT 37 MILES AWAY
(LOOK HARDER, IT'S THERE)
GETTING CLOSER
Our resting place for the next few days will be Hammond, IN. We arrived in the late afternoon, were given our slip assignment and proceeded to dock and tie up. Rob, captain for the Whiskey Wisdom, hurried over to help with the lines and welcomed us to Hammond. There is a Harrah’s Horseshoe Casino right at the marina. It is considered a “Riverboat Casino” and built on some kind of floating foundation. I’m sure it has something to do with taxes or permits ‘cause is sure doesn’t look like a “riverboat” to me.
ENTERING THE MARINA
HARRAH'S HORSESHOE "RIVERBOAT" CASINO
We chose this dockage because it is so near Chicago and is often the jumping off place for those who have chosen to cruise down the Calumet River system to the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal then into the Illinois River. We will have to drop our mast to 19 feet to clear the bridges but going through Chicago involves a drop to 17 feet.
Dan made arrangements to rent a car tomorrow in order to pick up some of the necessary navigation charts, make a trip to West Marine for a Garmin chip, provision for the rivers, visit downtown Chicago and pick up Debbi who will be flying in from Boise, ID tomorrow.
SUNSET IN HAMMOND
After dinner at the casino buffet, we waddled back to Quest muttering “never again” and groaning about our lack of control.
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