Mile 0

The Illinois River has been very enjoyable with many different experiences - the tows, the barges, waiting 4 hours to pass through a lock, a night tied to a barge, new friends.

Our last night on the Illinois, only 20 miles to Grafton (mile 0) we stopped for the night at the popular Mel's Riverdock Restaurant. We are tied to the restaurant's dock, put out all our fenders.

Big decision - frog legs, buffalo fish, chicken, or pie?

Pierre and Grant laugh at the waiter's wine list, which was passed on to him by a previous server.  He carries it in his pocket, just a little frayed. 

  Some had frog legs-I passed on them. I'm sure they tasted like chicken!!

Against my recommendation, King ordered Buffalo Fritters.  The look on his face says it all, what is this kind of fish?

 But we all had pie!

Now we are at Grafton Harbor Marina, mile 0, which is the end of the Illinois River as it meets the Missouri River and the Mississippi River.

Grafton Harbor Marina has LOTS of Loopers because of the bottleneck caused by flooding on the Mississippi . The first stop after leaving Grafton is usually Hoppies Marina, about 60 miles downstream on the Mississippi.  Hoppies can accommodate only six boats a night, so reservation are a must.  Fern, from Hoppies assigns each boat its night to come.

We organized a bonfire and 'somemores' to introduce Wild Raven to the other loopers.

King is roasting marshmallow for somemores.

Paper lanterns to cap off the evening.

 Visiting until "Loopers Midnight" - about 9:00 p.m.

Todd, from Ocean Breeze - he wants a to go bag for somemores.

Next morning the group took the courtesy van to Pere Marquette State Park for brunch. Grant holding the door  - always the gentleman.

Looking inside the beautiful lodge which was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Pere Marquette Sate Park was named for Jacques Marquette, a French missionary who was a member of the European expedition led by Louis Joliet in 1673.  

A group photo.  Do we look full?

The tall ships, Nina and Pinta, were our dock mates for the night.  We had seen them several days ago in Peoria.

We sadly said good-bye to Pierre, Jennifer and Jasmine.  They are stopping in St Louis for speaking engagements.  We plan to see them on down the river.

We are staying in Grafton for a week, to work on the boat.  We are not getting too much done, for visiting, sight-seeing and going out to eat.

What a night to remember! Jeff Pritchard, national fiddle-playing champion, gave an impromptu concert here at Grafton Marina.  Wish I had one of Cindy's special occasion paper lanterns.

Fast Eddie's is a 1950 style restaurant, with 1950 prices.  Lots of fun and the food was good, too.

Dinner and dancing with Todd and Paula on Ocean Breeze at the Loading Dock Restaurant.  We first met them at Leland, Michigan and it was good to get together again.  Paula took our picture with the Spirit of Peoria in the background.

A good dance band for Todd and Paula.

Under a Blue Moon..

El Nido, Bob and his dog, Duncan, are here in Grafton.  We have not seen them since Joliet, IL.  We enjoyed a tour together of the National Great Rivers Lock and Dam Museum.

Looking at the log debris that has collected at the Great Rivers Lock. When heavy rains cause the river levels to rise, this all goes into the river.

The museum had an interactive display.  Here King is the tow captain and successfully got the barge into the lock.  

A display that showed barges are economical to move goods.

Dinner marking our last night on the boat (for a month) at Grafton Harbor Marina with Andy and Julie on Fruit Cakes. We traveled the Trent-Severn and visited Chicago together.  Great times. 

We have Gone To Texas to visit family  and friends, plus King has jury duty!  Gary and Vicki (front left at table) are continuing the loop on Blue Moon.  We will see you in November back on the boat somewhere between Columbus, MS, and Mobile, AL.

Enjoying the River

Leisurely, we moved on down the Illinois River, leaving Hennepin, headed for Peoria.

We had a long day and arrived at IVY Yacht Club. They accept transient Loopers.  The club is very friendly and we enjoyed our stay here.

Wild night of dominoes with Grant and Cindy.

Up early, 9:30 headed for Peoria.  But, will it play?
We had dinner at Joe's Crab Shack on the Peoria riverfront and next morning King made breakfast for everyone.

Enjoying the sundeck

As The Crow Flies secured for the night in Peoria at the town free wall.  We love free walls.  

Peoria did not have a City Park near the riverfront, so Wild Raven rafted the canoe up to us and spent the night on our boat. 

Leaving Peoria.

The Spirit of Peoria

We see many different plants, grains elevators and buildings.  This one reminds us of "Cat in The Hat".

"Mad Max Visits Thunderdome" as As The Crow Flies enjoys the Illinois River.

Choices of marinas are limited, but we did find one of our favorites at Havana, IL - Tall Timbers Marina, small, quaint and superb service.  

As The Crow Flies, in a calm morning at Tall Timbers.  See the hanging mums - Cindy is quite the decorator.

Cindy liked the big sunflowers.

Wild Raven stayed in a park nearby and we had a picnic dinner in the park.  Can we believe they can paddle and keep up?

King firing up the Weber Grill, for burgers, beer and tomatoes (that we picked in Ottawa, IL at the free garden).

A memorable evening on the Illinois River.  Jasmine looking for a treat!

A magical ending to the evening, a Japanese lantern.  Cindy has a box of them for special occasions.

Next stop would be Beardstown, IL and Mile 88 Logsdon Tow Service.  

Blue Moon and As The Crow Flies spent the night tied to the barge.  It was a different experience for sure.  We were awakened abruptly that morning when a large piece of debris (a dead tree or log) floating down the river bumped into our boat.  Grant was awake during the night worried that a barge would break loose and crash into us AND King and I were awake all night with food poisoning. Hint: Do not reheat food in a crock pot.

We walked to the grocery store with Grant and Cindy, not realizing we all looked a little windblown, or maybe homeless.  The checker took one look at us and said "you all are from the boats, aren't you?"  We thought it was funny.  The checker probably thought we were crazy boaters.

Wild Raven stopped and looked for us in four different bars, couldn't find us so they went on.  We fooled them, we were having dinner at a Mexican Restaurant.

This is the size of the logs on the river. The water is high and the current is strong.

We are flying down the river at 8.6 knots and getting 3.5 miles to the gallon of fuel.  

Next stop: pie