Chicago, Indiana, Michigan & Wisconsin: What do we do next?
 

St. Joe Sunday August 25th? How does this date sound? BK posted about a fun run on the 24th out of Diversey Harbor. This is the link. http://www.offshoreonly.com/forum/sh...threadid=30701

Could we possibly use that run as the start of ours? Michigan City has its in water show that weekend also. And no I haven't forgotten about all the LOTO guys that won’t be here. This Run is for us unfortunate ones who won't be there with you.

How do we improve on the Racine trip? I heard a couple of commits it would have been nice to had more stops. Sort of the bar hopping idea! The restaurant was nice but is that what we would want again. I would have been happy with the pizza delivery guy delivering food to the dock in Racine. It would have given us more time to socialize. I know there wasn't nearly enough time to do all the original ideas we had. What kind of trip do we want this time. The more ideas the better.

We could use the C.O.P.S run as a start on the 24th. Spend the night at Diversey Harbor. That could be some party! And then do a run somewhere on Sunday or just raft up in the playpen on Sunday. The playpen is just north of the water filtration plant, which is next to Navy Pier. Let’s hear all of your ideas and plan another great day on the water.
Dan

BTW, I am just thinking out loud. :D

I like the idea of heading up to StJoe and maybe staying the night at the new marina that KAAMA talked about. But that would interfere with the COPS run. Unless we do it later in the day.

Dan,
Well, we have plans the 24th, but on the 25th, we'd be game to meet you maybe in like New Buffalo or MI City and run back to St Joe with you. I dunno, it's a thought. MIght be some others interested too. KAAMA, Rocketman, Thumper, HyperActive???

If it turns out that's what you want to do, and you need any help with any plans, email me. If you want to do the bar hop thing, well, not a LOT of choice. Pump House, Shu's, Silver Dollar are about it in St Joe, I'm not sure if the Trolley goes to Barney's or Clementines, but if you wanted to dock at the muni, you can pick up the trolley to down town. Or tie at the wall. The marina KAAMA talks about is not close to any food really. Barney's and Clems is across the river. The marina is nice, but more for the pool type of thing.

If you just want to sit and hang out, well, if you have a boat count, maybe can figure out where to do so if that is the preference.

Mark

Payton,
I just wanted everyone to know the option of the COPS Run. I have plans for the 24th also. But I can get out of them for the right reasons. The Indiana- Michigan shore makes a great backdrop for a cruise. We could do a one-day run or an overnight up to St. Joe. Maybe forgo the restaurant thing to give us more time on the water.

32fever,
I'm just throwing out some ideas to get things going. Your whole area has great beaches we could hang out at. The Michigan City boat show is that weekend. I know some members were running up there for a while. It would be good to get over to your side of the lake to meet some of you guys. We’ll see what happens.
Dan

The only thing I can add is that rafting up somwhere and ordering pizza would be better than securing a restaraunt. That room was too full and too loud to get to meet many people. Is there a place in St.Joe thats protected ? Another option would be meeting up at the state park/beach about 15 miles north of St. Joe. No protection from waves for rafting up though. A great spot for rafting would be the cove on the river heading off the lake into Saugatuk, but thats about 40 miles north of St. Joe. We will be in South Haven and looking forward to another get together.

Then there's the Hot Boat weekend at Hardy Pond near Big Rapids, MI. It's the weekend after Labor Day. Quite a few OSO'ers were there last year (tinkerboater, KAAMA, me, Red Stripe, etc...) Decent ramp so bring your big boats!!! The more the merrier!!!

Why don't we just continue the party for this weekend @ the Air & Water show?!?!?!
We won't be bringing the boat though.

All in all I think it went well, just too short of a day. We liked the restaurant idea. I agree it was a little tight in there but the food was acceptable. I think they could have opened up the other section. The suggestions I have are:
1. Start a little earlier, the day was too short starting at 1pm. I do understand the Hammond guys had a long trip.
2. Being tied at the dock was nice as it allowed everyone to walk around and checkout each persons boat. Needed more time for this.
3. Add multiple stops with docks for tie-up.
4. Include raft up area for those that want to get in the water.

Ya know life is just a ***** when you have to make tough choises like these. I will not miss the party this time. I would love to run to the Mich. side, hang at a beach. Makes more sence to through the hook at a beach and be able to walk around, check out the hardware, meet everyone, get the kids off the boat to the sand. Can we get a pizza guy at any of the beaches? The 25th is better, jr. just got a kx60 and I promised him a trip to Ottowa on the 24th, however like Candyman said for a good reason plans can change. What is the deal at diversey on Saturday night? that would be a cool way to get an early start on Sunday.

Russ

WEll, it sounds like many might enjoy what we do on most weekends when we don't travel elsewhere. We go to Grand Mere Beach (no alcohol on the beach) or a cove we hang out at (no rules there, well, just that men have to wear swim suits, but not the women if they don't want to...LOL!)

We just anchor in 3-4' of water and hang out in the water with some beverages and then people can check out boats, etc. If you get hungry, later in the day, everyone can dock at the muni and order a pizza as they'll deliver there. And there is a place to hang out. Then, you can all head back in your slower boats after being stuff with pizza. They're always faster BEFORE dinner. LOL!

You can do this in South Haven, St Joe, New Buffalo, or even farther north if you prefer. South Haven is probably the stingiest on transients. We've had more hassles there than anywhere else.

Mark