Victory, Milwaukee, Chicago and Homecoming

The last race in the Challenge went well for us. We got out of Sturgeon Bay and had some roaring good sailing with the other ships nearby for the first night, and stood the evening watch (1800-2300) with a beautiful sunset and the Pride of Baltimore II framed against it. (Note new heading picture; unfortunately Blogger isn't working with me at the moment and I can't change the writing's color....yet.)
Over the night our wind died and came from the wrong direction, so we ended up tacking past the finish line and then back to cross it fourth or fifth (not sure exactly) and then deployed our sea anchor and had a swim call.
Though we didn't cross the line first, we did win the race once the times had all been corrected and handicapped.
We then made our way to Milwaukee, where we hunkered down for maintenance and rest. The first day I spent meandering around and getting delightfully lost in the art museum and then making my way over to the Irish Fest to catch a few performances and dance a few sets.
Second day I had maintenance all day and in the evening got to see one of my favorite bands, Gaelic Storm. It was rainy and gross weather and an outdoor stage, but it was awesome.
The rest of the stay there continued in similar fashion, painting and partying.
Milwaukee is the homeport of Denis Sullivan so after a few days they showed up and we had another crew to hang out with.
We left Milwaukee and sailed some more, headed for Chicago. One night we anchored near the Roald Amundsen and had their crew over to watch Blues Brothers projected on one of the royals.
Chicago was huge, crazy and awesome. Tours were from 10 to 9 at night, which meant we set to work at 8 and ended sometime around 11 in the evening. (0800 to 2300) Long, long, exhausting days.
I didn't get very far into town, mostly I spent my time on the ship working or in the crew lounge that Navy Pier provided for us.
On Saturday Jadestone and Kiki the Great, two Musers from Chicagoland came to visit, and we spent the day talking, taking pictures and hunting down WiFi.
We left Chicago and booked it straight to Erie, since the powers that be decided to give us some time to rest and get ready for Tall Ships Erie, which happens next week.
Since we got off after work yesterday I've been lounging and following a very strange schedule. Last night was one of those times when at 4am it seems a great idea to run around the parking lot and have crabapple battles.
It's going to be an interesting adjustment going home, but I'm ready.