September 13, 2008: Chicago

Storms, yes, Storms. We awoke at 4:00 AM this morning with the boat seriously rocking, so much that a vase of flowers that Tom had bought me in New Buffalo turned over and spilled all over the floor. Tom went out and checked our ropes, but we were secure. There were 25 mph winds blowing across the lake and they are expecting 6 inches of rain today. We heard emergency flash flood warnings for the county. It really makes you aware of how much damage the hurricane force winds can do since these winds are small in comparison.

Hurricane Ike Update - Please pray for people who have been affected by Hurricane Ike. Pray also for NC Baptists disaster relief volunteers who are preparing to help them. Manna One, our largest feeding unit, is staged in Hammond, Louisiana. Manna One is capable of providing more than 30,000 meals per day. Manna One, along with a shower unit, laundry unit, tanker unit, generator unit and recovery volunteers are waiting out the hurricane in Hammond, LA before going to where they are most needed. Unit 3 feeding unit (20,000 meals per day) is also preparing to go to Texas along with another shower, laundry, generator, tanker, recovery units and volunteers. For disaster relief updates go to: www.ncmissions.org.

So today was a slow day for us, watching the rain and football. Tom listened to Tony Haynes call of the Wolfpack football game over the internet and we were sad to hear the out come as they fell to rival Clemson. Hurray for the generator so that we have power on board while we wait out the storm.

After spending all day on the boat in the rain, we do have plans for this evening - dinner on the Navy Pier and a musical downtown. The walk to the Navy Pier took us along the rain drenched water front and over the Lake Shore Bridge. There were lots of empty tour boats docked along the way and we passed the US Coast Guard station and the lock that we will pass through to reach the Illinois River. The lock was closed all day today because of high water, so it is a good thing we weren’t planning to go through. At the pier, we had fun watching a children’s marionette show by Dave Herzog who delivered a very professional performance (talented puppets www.herzogmarionettes.com) while we waited for a table at Bubba Gump’s.

We have tickets for the musical “Wicked” at the Ford Theater for the Performing Arts. The Oriental Theatre opened in 1926 on this location as one of many ornate movie palaces built in Chicago during the 1920s. It was rennovated in the 1990s, renamed the Ford Theater and had a grandeous interior. The musical’s plot was the story of the witches of the Wizard of Oz before Dorothy arrived on the scene. The vocals were wonderful with a lively and thought provoking story on what is really the truth. This musical has run in Chicago for the past 4 years, and the house was full tonight.