Hammond Indiana

We tied up in Hammond Marina on 9/5 and was there for a month, untying the lines at 6am on 10/6 headed toward the Calumet River.  We took advantage of the time in Hammond to do some boat work, go home and visit family and friends and the kids even came to visit us here!

In our dock in Hammond Marina.  Look close, you can see Chicago about 12 miles away. 

The marina has over 900 slips and was the biggest we had stayed in before.  With that said, we were docked at the end of Pier W, slip 33 and the main pier was 772 steps long to the end.  I know this because Ashley, our daughter counted her steps while she was visiting.  Once at the end pier's entrance was the Horseshoe Casino to the left and the marina office to the right.  

It was nice staying in Hammond with lots to do and a Walmart within walking distance.  

Bill hit a Roya Flush in the casino! Nice!

We rented a car and planned on driving back to Ohio for a week.  On our way home we met friends in Windsor Canada to attend a Bush concert at Caesars Windsor Casino.    

Once home it was great to see everyone back in Ohio!  We even got to see our work buddies!

Ashley drove back to Hammond with us and stayed a week.  Thanks to her, and her car we were able to get to Costco for a much need provisions run for the next leg of our trip.  We also took the train into Chicago for the day and visited the Willis Tower (Sears) and the Shedd Aquarium.  Super fun day!

Waiting on the train

Views from the top of Sears Tower

Looking back toward Hammond

Looking down the river

Hanging on The Ledge at the top of the Sears Tower

View of the skyline from the Museum Campus.   

Tom even came to visit us in Hammond for a weekend. 

Bill and I decided to go back for another day trip to Chicago to visit Navy Pier and take the Architectural Boat Tour through the city of Chicago.  I have to say the boat tour was my favorite part of our visits to Chicago.  I highly recommend it!

On the river boat!

Tall Ship Windy passing by the end of Navy Pier   

We then decided to ride the dingy to Chicago!  We went through the lock and took our own tour of the river through Chicago!  

On our way!

View of Navy Pier from the dingy

In the river!

Leaving Hammond Marina at dawn. 

South Haven to Hammond Indiana

The South Haven Marina was on the Black River, had nice homes, businesses and parks on it's banks.  As we were docking, the bow thruster went out!  Luckily the wind and current pushed us right onto the dock.  Bill wasn't sure if we had sucked something into the propeller or what had happened.  Turns out the coupler broke and we would have to make our way to Hammond without a bow thruster.  

The river was bustling with boat traffic and sightseers walking the riverside down to the beach and up to the center of town.  There were lots of shops and restaurants in town.  We had dinner at Clementines; it had a really nice "antique" atmosphere and the food was great!  After dinner we called it an early night because we had to be up and headed out early in the morning to complete the ride to Hammond Indiana before the winds and waves pick up again.  The forecast for winds and waves don't quiet down again until Saturday.    

We loved South Haven!  I would love to come back here when we have time to get the dingy in the water and explore all there is to offer there.  

Headed into South Haven! The beach was busy with everyone enjoying the last hours of Labor Day weekend.  

Dinner at Clementines 

Headed back out onto Lake Michigan Tuesday morning.  Roxie is up and ready for duty!

Bye South Haven! 

The lake was rough....I almost got seasick working down in the office in the morning.  Thank goodness I had two meetings that kept my mind busy and off being bounced around!  

Chicago!  Were getting close!

Of course the winds kicked up on our approach to Hammond marina.  Luckily we were able to tie up to the end of a T head pier with the help of some loopers.  This is home sweet home until the lock opens in Chicago in October.  

Hammond marina is very large marina with over 600 slips.  The docks are in really good shape as are the piers.  The only drawback is the walk for Roxie to go potty.  It's like a half a mile away!  But it's no big deal since we could use the exercise anyway.   The other thing is that it is really rolly in here.  It's probably due to the direction of the winds that we outran....that are not supposed to let up until Saturday.  

Don't think it is just a coincidence that Bill picked a marina that has a casino nearby.   Not just nearby, the Horseshoe Casino is right at the end of our pier!  We spent the afternoon in the Casino and had lunch.  We like to play video poker.  Bill got seven 4 of a kind hands on one machine!  I wasn't so lucky....he won what I lost.  

Wednesday morning Bill got to work on ordering the parts for the thruster.  Turns out it is a "right off the shelf" part and they will ship it to us by tomorrow.  That's good news.  In addition all the work is done from inside so we don't have to get hauled out!  While I was working Bill decided to take a celebratory stroll around the casino and would you believe that lucky duck hit a Royal Flush!  Awesome! 

The part did not come until Friday morning.  Bill had the part switched out in less than an hour and the bow thruster is working great!