Boats

Last night, I went to Venetian Night as an extra chaperon for one of the summer programs here. Why a group of mostly-18 year old incoming freshmen need 4 chaperons is beyond me, but them's my orders. I had never heard of Venetian Night before. According to the City of Chicago:

Approximately 35 boats will be decorated with lights and props as they sail along beautiful Lake Michigan, between the Shedd Aquarium at Roosevelt Road and the Chicago Yacht Club at Monroe Street. People of all ages stake out spots along the lakefront as early as 9 a.m. to ensure a good view of the event. With an expected attendance of 675,000, public transportation, walking or biking to Venetian Night is suggested.

675,000 people. Wow. That's nearly 12 times the capacity of Shea Stadium, and (according to the Facebook group) 1849 times the size of GULC's Class of 2011. And all for boats? Apparently you can also enter your boat in this parade, but you have to send a letter to both the Commodore and the Rear Commodore. I wonder what qualifies you as a Rear Commodore?

The river was as packed as expected, and our seats were as awful as you'd expect, getting to an event nearly twelve hours after people started lining up. The boats were uninspiring at best, and the city somehow thought it was a great idea to not do anything for 45 minutes between the boats and the fireworks, as well as randomly not running the only bus that takes people down to the South Side. I believe that I could run a city more effectively, and I would work for less money too. Too bad my last name isn't Daley.

Around 3 weeks till home, and a month till G'Town. Get Psyched!

May all your hits be crits,
B