Toxic to Merely Polluted

With less than 60 days before departure--and after nearly 14 years of residing in this wonderful city--we have developed a list of Chicago "things to experience" before leaving. One list item was to kayak on the Chicago River, which we accomplished today!

A little kayak rental shack is hidden just east of the river near Roscoe Avenue, a mere mile walk from our house. So we kissed our loved ones goodbye (dogs, mostly), tracked down the shack, strapped on the life vests and shoved a bright yellow, tandem plastic kayak out into the torrent. Actually, the water was smooth as glass. Green glass, that is.

Formerly the sewer of Chicago, the poor river hasn't quite bounced back yet. Yet progess is being made: in 1990, the EPA upgraded its status from 'Toxic' to merely 'Very Polluted.'

Capitalizing on Todd's recent 40-mile sea-kayaking experience (as featured on my brother's blog and yes, we all blog instead of speaking to each other), we quickly took control of the rudderless kayak that "tracked like a bathtub," according to the guy who outfitted us. He was correct, as we constantly headed too far left, then too far right, then too far left, etc. We worked northward against the slight current for two miles, seeing several el trains pass on bridges above us (kinda cool) and also a close-up inspection of the old Chicago Sanitary District structure.

The trip back south with the current was easier, as we dug in to set an all-time Chicago River speed record of 5.5 mph (yes, Todd the geek brought his GPS). Finally stepping onto solid mud again and breathing the fresher air, we felt decidedly accomplished and celebrated with wieners, beer and pretzels at a local German establishment with friends Tom and Tobin.