So long Chicago (It's been five days)

I can't get enough of this town. We went to see Billy Elliot last night. We spent all day and part of the previous one in the Museum of Science and Industry. We think we finally have the street car system figured out. The smells coming out of the restaurants leave you drooling like a fool. The "Bears" are coming to play soon and they say the town goes crazy with tailgate parties. Our marina is a stonesthrow from Soldiers Field. No wonder this is Frank Sinatra's kind of town!

If we don't leave soon we may never pry ourselves away so at eight o'clock this morning we pumped out the boat and headed down the Illinois River, through our first lock and under at least five hundred bridges. Surona took point and guided the trawlers through thru the congestion of the Chicago, Illinois and Des Plaines rivers. Around 3:30, after weaving our way through between hundreds of full and empty barges being pushed up and down through the most stinking water known to man we tied up in Jolliett about forty miles south west of Chicago. Linda from "Selah" fed us her down home version of Shrimp and Grits the way (almost) those folks from Edisto Island in South Carolina make them.

Few people who haven't seen this would believe that such huge amounts of goods get pushed and pulled up and down this river daily. It keeps you on your toes to avoid conflict with them or the bottom or the walls in the locks or some of the idiots on the River.

We see a few fish jumping but we can't tell if they are Ninja Carp or the regular three toed four eyed catfish that evolve in these waters. We have passed through the Electric fences that are supposed to stop the carp from gaining access to the great lakes. So the pressure is off. We have passed the only thing that would have stopped us for any length of time. They are going to close the canal on Oct 1 for some improvements to the fish fences.

We really miss the clean water of the great lakes.