JACKIE B III Going Loopy

  We crossed Lake Michigan and went directly to Chicago. What a sight it is as the city comes closer and closer into view. The view from our slip at Burnham Harbor was fantastic.  It was even more spectacular at night.  If you tap on the picture you can  zoom in on the building with blue bar.  You can see the message # Be Kind  in the middle .  They had a different message every night. Before we had even thought about what we were going to do first, some looper friends we met when they passed through Holland; Gavin and Lica, contacted us and invited us to go up the Chicago River with them on their beautiful, de-masted Catamaran. They have been living on their boat since 2009 and have come all the way from New Zealand via the Indian Ocean, Europe and the Atlantic. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed going out on someone else’s boat. I had so many photos of the Chicago River that I mad a little video.  Notice the modern buildings reflecting the ol...

  We had a wonderful opportunity in May to join our friends Scott and Pam on their fabulous boat, MI Escape (pronounced My Escape) in Destin, Florida.  After enjoying Destin for a few days, we began the journey to MI Escape’s home port in Mississippi.  We were able to preview  the Ten-Tom portion of the loop with an  experienced captain.   The weather was balmy and the company was great.  The beach had the most beautiful white sand and the ocean water was so clear we could see fish in the water. The mode of transportation in the Baytowne Resort was a golf cart.  The resort was huge and the ride from the marina to the shore was about 5 minutes. There are lots of condos and in this view from the top of  the hotel you can see the marina. This is MI Escape.  A beautiful vessel giving me a little bit of boat envy, very comfortable for the four of us for the entire trip. There was even room for more. This is The Wharf at Baytowne.  A...

Leaving Mackinac Island was calm but foggy and spooky. This is the Mackinac Bridge off our port(left) and starbord(right) bow. We could see this big guy on our radar long before he emerged from the fog.  We were going about 8 knots and he was bearing down on our exact same heading at 15 knots.  Obviously, we changed our course. We made our way all the way to Charlevoix in one day.  At this point we were making haste to get to Holland to help my mom with my Dad’s “party” of remembrance. We were lucky that the municipal marina right in town had a cancellation.  They called us while we were waiting for the draw bridge to the harbor to open. This is a very nice marina with a splash pad for the children and a fish pond with fish food dispensers. We of course went paddle boarding.  We also went shopping and I got a new dress so Mike took me out to dinner. We were even treated to a concert in the park next to the marina. The next day we set our course for Frankfort, Mi...