Wrigley Field with the Kids

We ended the kids’ visit with a bang on Sunday.  Carrie and I had a limo show up to the harbor to pick us all up and take us to Chicago.  They had a flight out mid-day on Monday, but we weren’t done just yet.  Before leaving South Haven, we managed to get a slip in a little more protected spot across the river and in a cove, where the lake surge, predicted to get pretty nasty, would not beat Once Around to death while we were gone.  It proved to be a good call, as friends (Dockers Inn) docked on the main channel would tell us the next day.

Your chariot awaits...

...my Queen

The drive to downtown Chicago took us a little less than three hours.  We left Michigan, passed through Indiana, and entered Illinois, all before lunchtime.

Proof that at least Dina and Lia were in Indiana

Lunchtime was spent eating Chicago dogs and drinking a few beers at Wrigley Field.  The weather was low seventies and sunny, the crowd was 40,000 plus, and the Cubs won.  The two kids ate three large bags of peanuts…OK, maybe I helped them some.  A great time was had by all.

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Everybody got a Cubs hat!

We had great seats, too.

The famous Wrigley Field.

The suckers were a hit!

My gorgeous daughter, Dina.

Well, if truth be told, six innings would have been plenty for the little guys as they kind of faded near the end.

Ben faded late in the game.

As did little sister, Lia.

The grandparents had a great time!

After the game we dropped Dina, Darrin and the kids off at a hotel near O’Hare Airport so they could get a good night’s rest and catch their flight home on Monday.  The driver then took the Admiral and me all the way back to the boat in South Haven, arriving there around 9:30 PM.  By 9:35 PM Grandma and Nono were sound asleep.

Today my first mate and Judy from Moonstruck took a cab at around 2:30 to a laundromat.  Judy was surprised to see that Once Around had four large bags of laundry, mostly sandy beach towels.  Doug and I stayed on our boats to “study the river charts”.  Well, that was the plan anyway.  But, Doug called around 3:30 to tell me there was a great country band at Captain Lou’s, the local watering hole near where Moonstruck was docked.  So we sat on the deck, soaked up some sun and enjoyed a great band and a few brews.  We made up with the Admirals by taking them out to dinner tonight in town.  At least, I think we did.

The lake conditions are looking really crummy for the next several days.  Our plans are jelloing into an interesting shape.  We may drive (again) to Chicago and stay there in a hotel for a few days doing the sites and, according to the Admirals, do some serious shopping.  We’ll be watching the lake conditions and when they look good, we’ll scram back to South Haven and run across the lake to, and maybe right through Chicago. 

I’m not gonna lie, a king sized bed and room service sounds pretty darn inviting.