Day 140 – 142; Oct 10 – 12: Tuesday we started off with a scare as we woke up, came up for breakfast and saw divers running a search pattern in the water between the Chicago Yacht Club bulkhead and our boat. We watched them for a while, with the ambulance and rescue trucks in the CYC parking lot. It didn’t look like there was a lot of stress or urgency, though, and it all made sense when we saw them pull a dummy from the water – just a practice drill! Phew!!
Tuesday was a busy day – our last in Chicago. We went to the Federal Reserve Money Museum and learned a lot about the role and history of the Fed, all the way back to 1791 when Alexander Hamilton proposed the first incarnation of a National Bank which as approved had a charter for 20 years. We also learned that the Secret Service wasn’t originally started to protect the president and other senior elected officials….. it was started because, by the end of the civil war, nearly one third of the currency in circulation was counterfeit. The Secret Service was started in 1865 as a bureau within the Treasury Department to suppress widespread counterfeiting and still holds that responsibility today. It was after President McKinley’s assassination in 1901 that the Secret Service was tasked with full time protection of the POTUS. Back to the money…. The Fed plays a big role in monetary policy and interest rates as well as printing, storing, circulating and destroying damaged currency. Ever seen one million dollars in various denominations of bills? Check out the below!
After an amazing lunch at Miller’s Pub, an icon in Chicago on S.Wabash Street, we were off to the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) to have our turn on the Skydeck in “The Ledge.” Willis Tower is the tallest building in Chicago at 1454 feet and the third tallest in the Western Hemisphere. It was the tallest building in the world when completed in 1974 and held that title for 22 years when it was surpassed by the Petronius Towers in Malaysia. The Skydeck is on the 103rd floor with panoramic views of Chicago. The Ledge glass balconies extend out 4.3 feet from the Skydeck, 1353 feet in the air.
We finished our night with an amazing dinner at Rosebuds, an Italian restaurant highly recommended by a Chicago friend and colleague. Even though we were quite full, we topped off our night with the “mile high chocolate cake”, which was both huge and delicious! We had dessert for days!
We thoroughly enjoyed Chicago and as they say, if it weren’t for the winters, it would be the most beautiful city in the country. We were lucky to have very nice weather with warm days and cool nights. Alas, all good things much come to an end and it was time to move on. Wednesday we left Chicago and headed to a marina in Hammond about 15 miles which has little to offer except a casino and being close to the mouth of the Illinois River, where we will start our river journey south. We heard there was a Walmart about a mile away, but that’s about it. It’s a huge marina that had lots of loopers waiting for their scheduled time to go through the Brandon Road, Dresden Island and Marseilles locks – all newly refurbished and reopened.
We will be in flotilla #9, transiting on Saturday, 10/14. There are 16 boats in our flotilla and we will all gather at the Jolliet free wall on Friday, 10/13…..then on we go!
Sue
Incredible, never knew that about the Secret Service, and that cake is gigantic! Sounds like you did it all. Ha did you look down on top of the Sears Tower? OMG! 🥹whoa! Safe travels heading south! Love love love all your posts, it’s been my daily reading!