Saturday, August 22, 2009

The air was cool and dry and the sky was mostly cloudy as we began our day at the dock. After breakfast and showers, we packed some snacks in the backpacks and headed out to explore Millennium Park where we enjoyed the large outdoor amphitheatre, the faces on Crown Fountain, the gardens and other interesting structures and outdoor artwork. Then it was back to the boat for some lunch before we took Blue Heron out for a sail.

Kevin and Justin were both tired from all the excitement and the walking we’ve been doing, so they decided to take a nap in their cabin for the first part of the boat ride. As we headed out into the harbor, we met the sailing vessel, Black Widow, who’s Captain hollered out to us, “You’re not going to like it out there! It’s really rough!” But being the ”seasoned” sailors that we were, we ignored the warning and continued on anyway. It wasn’t long before we were in 8 foot waves with 30 mph winds out of the northeast. Since the bumpy ride wasn’t all that much fun, we dropped the sails when we could and headed back to calmer waters. We were glad the boys slept through the whole ride.

We were back in our slip just before 5 pm and Kevin and Justin were ready to fish. Grandpa Gale got them all fixed up with a fishing pole, a bobber and the bait they had dug up in the park earlier in the day and they went in search of the fish along the dock. Between the two boys, they caught three blue gills and one rock bass in a matter of a few minutes by spotting the fish, putting the hook right on top of them, and waiting for the bite!

Before dinner, Grandpa Gale, Dan, Kevin and Justin played a great game of Blokus. The little boys beat the big boys this time, but there was a promise of a rematch to come sometime in the near future! Grandpa cleaned the fish and we grilled them up alongside the chicken breast already on the menu.

As if the day weren’t full enough, it was capped off with a great fireworks display at 10:15 pm from Navy Pier. We had front row seats for the show and we were all very glad that we didn’t have to take too many steps afterwards to find our beds!!