(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Take a trip to warmer days with palm trees, paddle boats, fishing, and boating at this weekend’s Chicago Boat Show.
With more than 150 vendors, the show at McCormick Place has something for all ages. New highlights include kid’s bumper boats and a mechanical wave surf simulation at the new Discover Boating Beach Club.
For people looking for the largest fish in the pond, the Queen of the Show is a 47-foot-long day yacht from MJM. This is the company’s first time back at the Chicago Boat Show in more than 15 years.
The company has roots in Chicago, and MJM CEO Peter Johnstone grew up in the area.
“So for me it's coming home and being around people I grew up with, which I love. MGM has roots here in the Chicago area, as well. Although most people don't know that -- we're based in North Carolina where we have our factory -- but the family has roots here in Chicago.”
The boat show has other Chicago connections. Many of the boats come from Illinois or Wisconsin.
Some of them are included in a display from the Blackhawk Chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society of America. Paul Miller displays an eye-catching, yet impractical boat named Prop Wash — for an eccentric designer in the 1940s who tried to power the boat with a prop off the bow (front), instead of the stern (rear).
The boat show runs through Sunday.
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