The awards ceremony was on Tuesday and after getting my stuff on the boat, I was running a little late for the party. As I'm walking across the field I hear, "Beneteau 36.7 class will line up next." That's my class! Then they had to check my ID and give me a bracelet! So I ran as Weather Edge was called to the stage and made it just in time for the photo.
I still can't express how thankful I am for the Weather Edge crew, all the people who stuck their necks out to get me on a boat, and everyone who helped me gear up for the race.
The party was pretty fun too, but after only 4 hours of sleep I was absolutely pooped. As soon as we got back to Fast Tango I took a nap.
The delivery was a lot different than the race. We motored the whole way, blasted
tunes, and drank beer. It was a blast. We waited for a storm to blow over before we left and the whole first night the water was still all churned up like a washing machine. We had 5 foot waves crashing over the bow. Seasickness medication was a must. After that, it was smooth sailing (well,motoring), which makes time for things like selfies. 
In case you hadn't noticed, neon hoods are totally in this season. We're rocking the latest trends in foul weather fashion.
Pick up a neon hood for yourself at www.linehonors.com and be the talk of the town. All the cool kids are doing it. Thanks for the hookup Erika! We finally made it to Chicago early afternoon on Thursday. It turns out that Chicago is the 3rd largest city in America. It's big.
After arriving, we got signal and all the sweet photos from the race were getting posted. If anyone would like to know what sailboat racing looks like, it's basically this...
Mix hours of sitting on the rail with moments of hectic intensity, where being a photographer would be inappropriate, and you get the idea. (Also being cold, tired, hungry, and wet, lots of that too.)
We went to dinner at an itialian restaurant. It was apparently enjoyed by Al Capone, and we got the private booth that he always requested. Talk about living the high life. The interior looked like the Moulin Rouge. (Yes that waterwheel on the left is spinning.)
I decided to go out for a night on the town while everyone else went to bed. I assume there are cool parts of Chicago, but the part within walking distance was ALL martini bars (not exactly my scene). But as soon as I got a little lost, I found Buddy Guy's "Legends" bar. I got to see some live blues and complain about how lame this district of Chicago was with another out-of-towner. The live blues made the evening with it though.
We went to the "best BBQ in Chicago" on Friday with the Fast Tango crew. Of course being a vegetarian at a BBQ joint is like being behind enemy lines, but they had better blues than Legends.
The yacht club party was also on Friday night. The Chicago Yacht Club is a pretty ritzy place. I dressed the part with my killer wool blazer and tore the place down. Let's just say I'm glad to not be on a boat after a night like that.
We sent off the boat in the morning and headed off to Detroit. I'm definitely glad to be back in The D. Big cities just aren't for me.
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