Hammond, Indiana

So much beach glass on found on the beach.
Jodie and I had coffee after our haircuts!

Bulldog Brewery- we spent a few days.









Docktails

Me, Pam (Sea the USA) and Jackie (Sidetrip)

“AGLCA looper beer”
      This is Sue from SunDancer. We finally met! At their
 home port, they were on the same dock with  our friends,
                                Smile With the Risin’ Sun.

                              Full moon over the marina.

 We made it to The Hammond Marina in Hammond, Indiana. This is where we sit to stage our entrance into the river system again. This marina is at Horseshoe Casino - and they smoke in there. We’re not big gamblers and even if we were, I wouldn’t be able to stand the smell.

The marina itself was nice. Great showers, laundry and lots of dock space for nightly docktails. We were told to go only one direction when leaving the marina - parts of the town in Hammond aren’t safe. A nice bike trail was close, that went along the beach  to the town of Whiting. We walked it several times!

One thing we didn’t like about the marina were train tracks close by. We got used to that; but a couple of nights, it seems that the trains would set car alarms off! That was annoying!

Whiting had restaurants, boutiques, bars, etc. The downtown area was ok but not as nice as the towns in Michigan (imho). It wasn’t as clean, with a lot of trash alongside the bike path and roads. Also, it wasn’t as manicured - grass needed to be mowed, etc.

Whiting also had the bigger stores, Walmart, local grocery, strip mall, etc.and a beauty shop. I finally got a haircut! The marina would take you to provision and bring you back. That was a nice feature. 

Lots of loopers at Hammond! You could count on nightly docktails, around 5pm. We enjoyed visiting with friends and meeting new loopers, a bit overwhelming with so many people. At one time, I saw 63 boats in Hammond. Boats have bottlenecked, in Hammond, waiting for three locks, Brandon Lock, Dresden Island and Mersailles Locks to reopen October 1. They have been closed for repairs since June 1. AGLCA (American’s Great Loop Cruising Association) has been making plans with the Corps of Engineers to transition the boats through the locks. They have approximately 275 boats headed down the river system and through the locks with 17 flotillas and around 16 boats in each flotilla. We’re in Group 1and our leader is Capel and Karen on Arabella. However, the initial date was scheduled October 1. Then, the date was pushed back until October 6, due to delays with the middle lock. They’re open but still having issues. Loopers have started going regardless, leaving the first. They are getting through but it’s taking a while at the locks. We’re considering leaving too. Eli and Anna are coming home at the end of October and we need to get home, clean the boat and get ready for their arrival! We will see… We’ve been talking with our friends, Marco and Karen on Navigator. They want to heave too.  So, we will see what we decide. Kim Russo, AGLCA Director, is strongly advising against leaving early. 

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