WTGB-105 Neah Bay was the first vessel I saw along the Chicago shore . . . and thanks to a friend,

I decided that I needed to see the vessel beyond the lighthouse close up.

Previously, I’d seen it, but just imagined it was a replica.

Indeed not.  As it turns out, Abby has been Columbia Yacht Club ship since 1983.

Abegweit has a such noteworthy history that I wonder if

photos exist of her transit from the Maritimes to Chicago in 1983 . . .

Along the Chicago River, this classy wooden boat begs me to find out more info.

I then turned inland, where this poster lured me into the Chicago Cultural Center.  I knew of Alexis Rockman’s “Manifest Destiny” in the Brooklyn Museum.  I’d heard that among his many projects he was doing a well-researched series on the Great Lakes…

Six huge 5′ by 12′ panels and twice as many slightly smaller watercolors made up an exhibit.  As testimony to Alexis Rockman’s research, each panel had a key

or caption like this.

All photos by Will Van Dorp, who is satisfied with just seeing northern and central Chicago.