Red Pearl

Friday morning we went through the Chicago Lock to head down the Chicago River, which runs into the Illinois River. It was so amazing to see the Chicago Skyscrapers from the deck of our boat!

Once we go through the city, there wasn’t much of a view… A lot of industrial sites along the Illinois River. We got stuck for a while at a train bridge waiting for the trains to go through before we could pass.

Further down river, the view did get prettier!

We made out way to Joliet, IL to the “Joliet Wall”. It is a free tie-up with electricity right by a park. We met another couple who were “looping” for the 2nd time on their boat, At Ease. Bob helped catch our lines and helped us tie up.

Saturday, we set out early, only to be stuck almost immediately at the first lock for around 2 hours. At Ease caught up with us and cruised with us for a good part of the day. We made our way through 3 more locks without too much trouble, with a 7 pm arrival at our next stop Big Bend Marina in Hennepin, IL. A long but successful day! 12 hours and 4 locks!

By the way, Abraham helped us at the Starved Rock Lock and Dam.

Besides the locks, our other obstacles were the tow/tug boats (which actually push the barges) and their barges. One big one had 3 barges across and 5 deep.

We ended up at a quaint marina, called Big Bend Marina, in Hennepin, IL.

The owners were fantastic and we walked up the hill for some local color and Jayhawk football at Spratt’s Tap.