Just two boats heading to Alton today, us and Lucky Ducks. Another lovely sunny day.
Good thing so far since Chicago we haven't had to worry about wind or wave heights , makes a nice break from our previous trips.
But first we went off to the Third Chute Substation( where did they get a name like that from!) for breakfast This was Chica's crew choice .I think Alan was still hankering after those biscuits and gravy he didn't have at Tall Timbers! The price was right ,$8 per person for buffet breakfast and it was very close to the Marina. Ok food but not as good as Toni's. Noticed in this area there are lots of restaurants called Tony's or Toni's.
We set off with Lucky Ducks just after 9 am and headed to the convergence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. The mighty Mississippi and Mark Twain country! It is debatable , but The big Miss is either the third or fourth largest river in the World.The Nile, Amason and possible the Yangste rivers are longer. The Miss is 3, 710 miles long.The American Indian word is Misisipi which means big water.
We saw a large flock of white Pelicans resting on the river bank, shortly after we left, and then the large statue of Our Lady of the Rivers shrine at Portage des Sioux. The town was spared during the big food of 1951 and a statue was erected afterwards in gratitude .
She stands 50 ft high. As the saying goes , she blesses the river travellers as they pass by.
The next prominent sight which we had seen even from Grafton , was the Ameren UE Electrial plant with its smoke stack blowing a large white cloud into the blue sky.
Just before we arrived at the Marina we saw a painting on the bluff .
It was an American Indian design of a Piasa Bird a mythical creature which was supposed to frighten away European invaders .Guess that didn't work!
In just over an hour's ride , we arrived at Alton Harbor Marina.The depth was a little shaky as we entered in to the fuel and pump out dock. Once we got that done , we moved to our slip.
This time we had an outside slip even though they had many covered slips.
This is a Marina where there are lots of large house boats and many people live aboard here all summer, and have winters elsewhere , usually Florida.
Graeme and Erica went for a walk into the town which looked relatively depressed, several shops closed and being a Labor Day weekend , most others were shut. We saw a stair of Miles Davis , the famous jazz musician , who was born here and we did find the Mississippi Mud Pottery Store which had some lovely items for sale. We went onto the Quaker store with a lovely store front that included stained glass door panels. Inside lots of nic nacs for sale and good icecream
We bought our icecream's and sat outside on the porch in the rocking chairs watching the activity on the street and pondering what it would have been like to sit there back in the 1800's.
Finished the town tour with a visit to another statue of the dueling Lincoln and Dougals , still debating the slavery issue.Then back to the boat via the Argosy Casino which sits beside the Mississippi River.
Not something we fancied although we did look inside , and took advantage of the free shuttle back to the Marina.
Dinner onboard , then we went up to listen to a great live band play just above the Marina. It was organized by a visiting yacht club.The female singer and lead guitarist were both excellent and played 80's and 90's rock music .
Then back to the boat and bed.
Over and Out,
E and G
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