Tall Ship Windy Cruise of Lake Michigan

While on a recent trip to Chicago, my husband and I visited its historic Navy Pier. Click here to read that post. While there we saw that we could buy a ticket at the pier to take a cruise of Lake Michigan on the Tall Ship Windy--a 148-foot schooner /Tall Ship. It is designed in the tradition of 19th Century schooners but built of modern materials  It was a beautiful "blue sky and fluffy white clouds" type of day, so we knew a sail would be a special treat!

As we boarded the ship we were greeted by a crew member named "Red Beard," who gave us all the necessary information and instructions about Tall Ship Windy and our role as passengers for the next seventy-five minutes.

I found a comfortable (and safe) seat on board and was ready for the adventure to begin!

The views of both the Navy Pier and the Chicago skyline were spectacular as we sailed away from the pier.

In the distance, you can see Chicago's largest building--the Willis Tower! It is Chicago's tallest building and was the tallest building in the Northern hemisphere until the recent completion of One World Trade Center in Manhattan replaced it. If you missed my post about our visit "above the clouds" to this building, click here. It has an amazing view!

Didn't the clouds look magnificent this day?

Just look at how beautiful they appeared hanging over the city as we sailed further away!

As the Chicago skyline shrunk in the distance, the further away we sailed from the shore, the cloud's shadows kept changing the color of Lake Michigan from an aquamarine blue to deep sea green.

On the other side of the ship, we could see further out towards the very large expanse of Lake Michigan. Lake Michigan is one of the five great lakes of North America, and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. You can see the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse in the distance.

The Chicago Harbor Lighthouse is an automated, active lighthouse, and stands at the end of the northern breakwater protecting the Chicago Harbor, to the east of Navy Pier and the mouth of the Chicago River.

The lighthouse was built in 1893 for the World Colombian Exposition and was moved to its present location in 1919.  The lighthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 and later was designated as a Chicago Landmark in 2003.

As we enjoyed the 75-minute cruise, we learned about Chicago's historical maritime roots and legends through some unique stories told by Red Beard, and from the captain and his mates.

It was interesting to watch the crew raise and lower the Tall Ship's sails in order to navigate windy Lake Michigan.

We shared this part of Lake Michigan with many other vessels, and it was fun to watch them come and go.

Slowly we sailed back towards the Navy Pier.

We wanted to see more of the pier after we departed the ship, and in my next post, I'll show you some amazingly beautiful varieties of stained glass--some Tiffany glass--on exhibit at a museum on the pier.

As we slipped back into port we were greeted by a cacophony of seagulls that were resting on an abandoned pier.....

..they were a remarkable sight!

We wished a hearty "goodbye and return soon" by Red Beard before we disembarked.  Since we enjoyed this cruise very much I think we will definitely do a repeat sail on a future visit to Chicago--it was a wonderful time!

Come back next post to see the magnificent stained glass exhibits on display at two museums on Navy Pier!