We left home on Wednesday Aug 17 for Chicago. Other than for business or in transit I have never been there. The weather was beautiful- clear, 70s, actually for this whole trip except one rainy day in NS.
Our first interesting experience was finding the train from O’Hare to downtown. 19 stops and $5 on the famous El (Elevated Train) system. When we reached our stop I felt something touching my back wallet pocket.I slapped it away, found the zipper half open and zipped it closed. There was a crowd getting off and some buildup at the El door. I felt it again and slapped it away. This time my pocket was unzipped all the way but the wallet was still there. It was an older fellow wearing a mask trying to pick my pocket.
Our afternoon activity was the architecture tour by boat, which was really great. We had a great and lively guide named Jim who taught us that Chicago really does mean “stinking onion”, that Mrs. O’Leary and her cow have been cleared of causing the fire in 1871, and about how Chicago was rebuilt out into the lake out of the rubble and with its extensive parks. This tour makes you really love Chicago, especially in nice weather.
For our solo day in Chicago we went to the Art Institute (5/5 stars). The very kind ticket woman gave us day’s member passes and free tickets to the Cezanne exhibit. We then walked to the Shedd Aquarium (too many people and loud children) while practice by the Blue Angels for an air show took place overhead.
These are the invasive gobies present in the lake. But with a little luck they will figure out how to eat zebra mussels.
Back at the hotel we met up with C and D but had to go through the very complicated check in process for our cruise. Luckily there were guides there to take us through the Arrive Canada customs and Covid clearance process.
In the morning we met up with the cruise group for a bus tour of the Loop in downtown and then joined the boat. Highlights were the Bean and the Crown Fountain. Leaving the dock at about 7, we had fantastic sunset views of the Chicago skyline.
This fountain is super. When it was in planning they asked a large group of Chicagoans if they wanted to participate in a long term project about their city. 692 or so volunteered and were photographed smiling and whistling. Then their images were shown on this glass fountain (one of two shown) spewing water. Everyone loves it.
All night and all the next day we were heading up Lake Michigan toward the Grand Hotel and a small bit of Lake Superior.
At Grand Isle on the 21st the cruise excursion was a tour by horse drawn carriage (no cars allowed) around the island led by college students with summer jobs there. The tour script is somewhat freelance but full of corny jokes about the horses and the tourists. Our girl driver was from Romania, an engineering student, and she was full of charming personality. The tour ended at the hotel where we wandered for a while. Alcoholic drinks at the hotel were $29.95 (no thanks), the decorating similar to that of the Greenbrier by the late Carlton Varney. We enjoyed looking in the gallery at the photos of celebs and dignitaries who had visited. (Before the trip C and I watched Somewhere in Time again to reacquaint ourselves with the hotel and the by gone styles- not so good the second time). We hiked back to the Voyager via the Old Stone Church (which has some politically incorrect stained glass windows but is nonetheless worth a stop). C went in search of fudge and I went off to look at the flowers, to touch the lake (warm) and to get some photos.
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The next day after a very short ride we were in Sault Ste. Marie on the Marie River and Lake Huron. The town was interesting but pretty small. However there was a “laker” converted into an extensive museum of the Great Lakes marine traffic including a special section on the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975. We had the best veggie panini and met a very talkative bookstore owner who led us to buy three books about Ojibwes, the local Indian tribe. He apparently singlehandedly built all the computers in the world but was very engaging. The Voyager then went through the locks there and to Little Current Island on Huron.
Little Current on Tuesday the 23rd was great. The main attraction was our visit to the Ojibwa reservation where we observed O art and learned about O culture. They have a “smudge” ceremony with bark, grass, tobacco and something else for everyday purification. I think we should try to teach Betty about the Ojibwe- she would love them. An award winning group performed some O dances for us. They know how to really whack a drum. After a short walk around town, I fished at the stern of the boat and caught a bunch of smallmouth bass with my Tenkara. That was many firsts (T fish in Canada, on a Great Lake, on a cruise) and lots of fun.
All the next day we stayed on the lake on the Canadian side of Lake Huron until we got to Detroit.
The 25th was our visit to Hitsville USA, the Motown Museum. “Now you’ve gone from me and left behind so many memories”. Really it was old age that left the memories. Then it was time for the overwhelming Henry Ford Museum, an amazing amalgamation of all things Americana, focusing mostly on the Industrial Revolution and , what else, cars.
This is the actual chair Abe sat in at Ford's Theater when JW Booth shot him. The museum also has JFK's limo from Dallas and the real Rosa Parks bus from Montgomery.
Continuing with the music theme, we spent most of the 26th in Cleveland, on Lake Erie, at the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame Museum. On the boat the previous day we heard a lecture/quiz show entitled “Beatles vs Beach Boys”. Guess who won with our old crowd?
On the evening of Friday the 26th into Saturday the 27th we crossed Lake Erie to get to the Welland Canal and Niagara Falls. A reminder- I have never been to any of these places. NF was a totally soaking, totally fun experience. The might of the Falls would or should make everyone fell very humble and small in the face of Mother Nature.
Overnight we crossed Lake Ontario into Toronto and got out early for part two of this trip on the MVSB.
On the morning of the 28th we flew from Toronto to Halifax to meet our friends. After we checked our bags and walked toward security there was an officer saying everyone needs to wear a mask in the airport and on the planes. No questions, no complaining- everyone complied. We rode in an unmarked, very fast cab to the harbor in Halifax and met the T’s right away. The N’s joined us in a couple of hours.
Next stop, Lunenburg after a smooth 8 hour cruise in the morning. I took off trying to find a stream to fish in (without luck) and met the others at St Andrew’s. C and I told this very nice young docent we were interested in the Bible (Parable of the Vineyard/ typo in St A’s Bible Parable of the Vinegar (the Luke version)). The docent was so engaging we prompted him to tell us more about the church. We were totally hooked when he told about the stars over the apse and the fire, the scholarly research, and the answer that the star alignment in the apse is the way the stars would have been over Lunenburg NS on the first Christmas. BTW the docent was a film studies guy and knew Beasts too.
Lunenburg has a great chandlery which is really a second or third hand shop. I would have stayed much longer looking at all the ship metal work and ropes if it didn’t close at 5.
I can visualize a painting of this scene from KN and SBT.
In the morning we left for Shelburne in the fog but the day once again turned into smooth clear sailing. Along the way we found out that the folks in Yarmouth NS who had told Dennis that we had a berth didn’t write it down. With some weather coming Dennis was left scratching his head.
In Shelburne Dennis and I took the inflatable and went looking for a stream, but we ran aground and turned back. The next morning K and I walked back to the same area and found a very beautiful stream that would have been perfect. But then the rain started and did not quit. Dennis recommended cruising all night for Bar Harbor. The ocean was pretty bouncy for the first few hours but gradually calmed.
In Bar Harbor (actually SW Harbor) we met the McC’s who were joining us for dinner and spending the night. The T’s and N’s left the next morning followed by the McC’s heading back to their lakeside camp.
We cruised on to the very familiar Boothbay Harbor. At night C and I gave the cook the night off and went to Sherman’s Unshelled for some “lobsta”. This was followed by too much ice cream.
Newburyport MA was next. We were the center of attraction at the dock- pilots, harbor police, a lot of current going against us, and a lot of onlookers. Anne, Wes, and baby E joined us for dinner. Newburyport has a great rail to trail walking path and the town is very quaint off the waterfront. After our morning walks we headed for Boston.
Near the Constitution there is the WWII destroyer the Cassin Young. I went aboard and glimpsed the tight sleeping quarters, the armor storage locker that John talks about, and the officer’s mess. There I saw china just like the china I went on the salvage mission in Philly Harbor on the DH Fox in 1971. Memories…
Back to reality the next day but a great trip from the Great Lakes to Canada touching base with many friends and relatives.
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