My Kind of Town............

Someone much younger, but MUCH wiser than myself recently said "the greatest success comes not from standing on the summit but from rising to meet it". That is so true and with that said, yesterday, Saturday, October 9, 2010, I crossed off another "to do" on my bucket list. My list is not organized by what I want to do first, priorities, or by importance; but as my wise soul has reminded me I need to start rising to the summit.

My sister, Susie, was in town from Raleigh, North Carolina this weekend and before her arrival I tried to think of something different and fun we could do. I had thought about driving up north to Wisconsin to see the fall colors, staying in a Chicago hotel overnight (the Chicago Marathon took care of that idea with participant's occupying hotel space all over the city) and then on Friday; with a unseasonably warm weather forecast looming I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Susie agreed to it and on Saturday morning we drove into the city and I accomplished:

KAYAKING ON THE CHICAGO RIVER!

Instead of looking at the gold, crimson and orange colors of nature, we were humbled by looking up at steel, glass and concrete skyscrapers created by men who dared to dream. Being on the main branch of the Chicago River and looking up at those building's is something I always wanted to do; being propelled through the water by my own strength - alone- just me: the water and the city, I call home and love, will be an experience I will always covet.

We paddled south off the north branch of the river through what use to be a very industrial part of the river. That part of the river is now being transformed from industrial to residential/commerical. The quality of the once polluted water is improving to the point that wildlife (even beavers) and fish are returning. It was very quiet; you could hear birds chirping, ducks floated past us as well as a big barge being pushed by a tug loaded with stone, a crew of young, strong rowers as well as some kayaks.

As we started to approach the main branch of the river we could hear my favorite Chicago sound..." The L", weaving it's way through the loop, metal tracks hitting metal wheels and the cars rocking and swaying. When we were away from the L and the tour boats you could not hear all the hustle and bustle of the city above you. It was really very quiet and peaceful considering you were in the middle of city of how many million people??? On the main branch of the river were tour boats filled with tourist who would wave and take pictures of us as if we were part of the city's attraction's. Additional river traffic consisted of the water taxi's, some private pleasure boats and of course other kayaks.

Besides seeing the towering skyscrapers on both sides of you, you are paddling under the street's that are so synonymous with Chicago: Madison, Chicago, Kedzie, Michigan, Clark, LaSalle and on and on. Looking up and around the bridges provide you a perspective to appreciate their engineering accomplishment's as well as architectural beauty. Stopping along side the newest Chicago skyscraper, The Trump Tower, which is built on the river just a stone's throw east of Michigan Avenue, we could not see the top of the building which soared into the sky.

For those of you who are not from Chicago, the Chicago River probably has two claims to fame. One is, that in the 19th century civil engineer's were able to reverse the flow of the river to flow south, away from Lake Michigan therefore keeping sewage and waste out of the lake, which is the water source for Chicago. Secondly, the river is dyed green each St. Patrick's Day by the Plumber's Union. When I say it is dyed green, I mean GREEN. The Plumber's Union has guarded the secret of what they put in the river and will not share it with the public or any other municipalities. The Union sends out a power boat and throws out the dye into the water and immediately with great cheering from the Wanna-be Irish crowd along the banks of the river the water is green.

Susie and I spent three hours on the river and I can only hope that she enjoyed the experience as much as I did. I'm happy I got to share the day with her, like most of what we do in life, it is much nicer to be able to share happy, fun time's with people you like and love. Susie, I thank you for sharing yesterday with me. What next???? Let me see - there is The Amazon, The Nile and oh so many things on that list of mine. I better get busy trying to reach that summit.

If you are ever interested in this unique way to see, my beloved Chicago contact:

www.kayakchicago.com
A terrific young man and entrepreneur, Dave Olson is the owner. The telephone number is 630 336 7245