Gateway Arch

 Hoppies

Our cruise out of Alton and farewell to our guest Marc on Monday October 3rd was 44 miles with Hoppies as our destination. The trip took us past the famous Gateway Arch in St Louis on a beautiful bluebird day. Getting our picture on the boat with the arch in the background was another incredible boating moment. Unfortunately we did not get to St. Louis. Believe it or not the city does not have a marina or even a dock that makes access convenient. We put that in the, “can’t do it all” bucket. The current on the Mississippi was quite brisk allowing Next Chapter to cruise between 12 - 13 mph.

Just out of Alton we did have to transit a large commercial lock but fortunately it was ready for us when we arrived. As you recall from previous posts sometimes the wait can be multiple hours. Once past St Louis it became pretty desolate except of the industrial fixtures along the banks which also meant we had to negotiate passing a couple of tows along the way. We arrived at Kimmswick, Mo where a famous Looper stop is located called Hoppies.

It is called that because that is the owners name who is now in his 80s. He and his wife Fern have run the place for decades. It is a rag-a-ma-tag place but strategically located as being the last stop for fuel for the next 250 miles. They also give a river briefing every night covering current river and anchorage conditions. Fern used to deliver the briefing while smoking cigarettes, one in each hand.

The dock is really not a dock. It is small rickety barges that are cobbled together with chewing gum and duck tape. Well not quite that bad but you get the idea. The small town of Kimmswick is just about a mile from the marina. Unfortunately begin Monday everything was closed. We did get to see some old hand hewn timber log buildings dating back to the 1800’s. The docks are located right on the Mississippi which is actually quite scenic. After the docktail/briefing from Hoppies daughter a group of 10 of us piled into a Uber and went to a nearby town for dinner. We were all surprised we could get an Uber but sometimes luck prevails.

Kaskaskia River

On Tuesday morning Sue and I delayed and had a leisurely morning enjoying the view from the dock. We pulled off about 11 in the morning headed for a short 40 mile cruise to the Kaskaskia river where we would be mooring on the lock wall for the night. Being able to average 10 miles per hour meant we would be there by 3 pm. When we arrived there was room for only two more boats on the wall so we took one of them. By 5 pm 5 more boats arrived so some of them rafted up to boats on the wall. The rules of staying on the wall are that you are not allowed to walk or hang out on the wall. Well this was a clear example of how rules are written to be broken. I think at last count there was 20 loopers all sitting on the wall at Docktails. Fortunately the lock master turned a blind eye. 

Cape Giardeau

Wednesday morning we planned for a 6:30am departure as our next destination would be 68 miles down stream. Remember with the push of the current we could easily average 10.5 mph. Well when boating Neptune loves to smash plans. When we woke up we were fogged in. so we delayed. By 7:30am the fog had started to lift so we could see out to the mouth of the river. Off we went into a bright sunny sky, or so we thought.

About 2 miles down river we turned the corner and there was a wall of fog. We nosed into it to see how thick it was and within about a 1/2 mile we could not see the flag on our Sundeck. About face, retreat! We pulled back out of the fog, tossed the anchor and enjoyed the sunny morning. Listening to the tows chatter we learned that they don’t even mess around in the fog.

The minute they get into it they pulls over on the bank and beach the barges until it lifts. One of our Looper friends thought with his radar he could push thru. Well they crawled down stream for about a half hour when they got to a break in the fog. They immediatly dropped the hook to wait it out. He said to me, “That was the scariest thing I have ever done.” By 9:30 the fog lifted and we were on our way. 

We arrived at our anchorage at 3:30pm and got settled in. It was a beautiful warm day with temps in the low 80’s. We launched the dinghy and went into town. Cape Giardeau, MO is not a typical looper stoop because there is no convenient place to tie up a boat in town. That was especially true due to the river now being over 10’ below pool. We managed to find a flat rock shelf where we could pull the dinghy up and secure it.

After a bit of a rock scramble up the bank we were in town. Turns out it was a really nice town and actually on the upper scale. There is also a state University located right in the town. We managed to find a local brewery and had a great conversation with one of the owners about life in the town. It turns out that many of these river side towns chronically have to deal with devastating floods from time to time. The town has a sea wall to try to protect the area when the Big Muddy runs over it’s banks. They even have high water marks recorded on the wall at one of the gates. It was hard to imagine it could get that high and everything not get destroyed. The people in these towns are the definition of resilience. They love their communities and will do anything to preserve them. This is truly the heart of America. We are happy to report the fabric that binds this country together is alive and well. 

Zoom in and you will see the high water marks. 

We no more than say goodbye to our South African friend when at the very next port we run into this Looping couple that is from the same town that Marc lives . Hat are the chances? 

Bridge outside of St Louis. We can’t begin to tell you how many different types, styles, colors of bridges we have passed under. 

Log structure for the 1800’s in Kimmswick

View from the top of the bank at Hoppies. Yes the water does come over the bank. I would say where I was standing was at least 30’ above the current water line. They have had water in their house more times than they can remember. 

                                                                    Gateway Arch

Industry

                                                       More fog 

Cape Giardeau Bridge

  Just another one of the countless tows we have passed. 

Last town on the Illinois River and the Big Muddy

 Grafton

So the last town on the Illinois was a winner. We knew the minute we pulled into the marina. The good news was it was Friday and we had two days here. It’s funny how sometimes when you get that feeling it’s almost always spot on. This time was no exception. We arrived after a short 30 mile cruise so it was barely noon and we could hear music playing from the nearby bars. 

The town was not very big but it had plenty to offer. We started by taking a ski lift up to a local winery where the owner had quite a vision. In addition to the winery there was a zip line course and one of those downhill luges. You know the ones on wheels where you control the brake and basically take as much as you dare. Well we had to do that and fun it was. No brakes for me baby!

Of course what winery would be complete without the token girly shop attached run by no other than the owner’s wife. The deck of the restaurant had sweeping views of the Illinois river a couple hundred feet below.  Back down in town there was numerous bars and restaurants all with their own special vibe. One we found had $1 & $2 beers, seltzers and can mixed drinks. They said they had too much so they needed to lighten their inventory so wanting to show Marc that we were good citizens we helped them out. On Saturday we walked down to the Hawg Pit where they were having a Rat Rod car show. Some of those vehicles are wild looking. We decided to have Lunch there which after the fact turned out not to be such a good idea. Marc and I ordered the Home Wrecker. It was a 16” hot dog covered with BBQ and Queso cheese. What a gut bomb. Well it tasted good going down. That night we were at docktails when another Looper came over and invited all of us to the back deck. Turns out they were ending their Loop this year because their house in Florida got pretty tore up in the hurricane. They took all their food out of the fridge and cooked it up for everybody. There must have been 20 folks there. It was sad but a fact of life. 

Alton

Sunday morning we left for Alton just about 15 miles down river. However leaving Grafton meant we were entering the mighty Mississippi. Grafton sets right at the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. This was the section most talked about with Loopers due to the swift current, underwater gear destroying wing dams and plenty of barge traffic some five wide and 9 deep.

Time to earn another boating stripe. We were forewarned that the river was down 9’ and going lower by the day. It turns out the weeks of never ending sunshine we have been blessed with has a downside. No rain in the entire Mississippi River valley. When we arrived at Alton we got a pump out and went to our slip. Sue and Marc headed off to resupply while I tended to some boat chores. They never end just like house chores. I guess because they always occur on the water they don’t seem so laborious. After lunch we headed into town to see what we could see. Now Alton was more 

Marc in Grafton

                      Rat Rod Show

Another Rat Rod

            Really cool wood shop in Grafton. Guy get trees from arborist that cut yard trees down. 

Cool cliff formations along the Mississippi

View from Winery

Not the one in Cuba

 Havana

It was a 43 mile cruise down the Illinois river to our next destination which was an anchorage on the left descending bank called Quiver Island. We delayed our departure in the morning on Tuesday which allowed us to see the Caterpiller Museum. We also had Peoria lock to get through just about a mile from Peoria itself. Once we arrived at the anchorage it was a bit of a tricky entrance to tuck in behind the island as it got a bit shallow but we made it in without incident. We arrived about 5 pm so not much happened after that. We didn’t even make it into the small town. We were treated to a brief celestial show when I noticed a weird object in the night sky. It appeared on the horizon just above the trees. It was a long white line with white dots on it moving at a pretty good clip. Just so you know I was not hallucinating due to too many beers Sue witnessed it also. Turns out it was the Starlink satellites. Really cool looking. There is an AP that will allow you figure out when to see it in the night sky. 

Big Blue Island

Wednesday morning we were up and at it headed for Big Blue Island for another anchorage about 60 miles down river. We had another lock to get thru called LeGrange. Fortunately that went smoothly and we had almost no wait. We continued down river to our anchorage at Big Blue Island. It was about 60 miles so it took us most of the day to get there. The good news was it would make our next day of  travel only about 40 miles to reach the tiny town of Hardin. We were excited as we would be meeting Marc Lindsey Rey from South Africa. We warned him that we would be in the river system and both getting to us and getting back to an airport would be a challenge. Being a world travel guy he scoffed at the challenge. 

Mel’s Illinois Riverdock Restaurant

We got underway at 8 am and had a beautiful cruise down to Mels. The Illinois became a bit more narrow and the banks became more elevated. There wasn’t the same concentration of industrial encampments along the banks but no shortage of tows working up and down the river. We arrived at Mels about 1 pm and promptly got settled in. Now Mel’s restaurant is an establishment about 50 years old famous for the fried chicken and homemade desserts.

It is good old fashioned country cooking. The docks are there floating steel boxes right along the river with no services. It is an iconic Looper stop. About 2 pm our South African friend arrived. When we met he immediately quipped,” I see you picked a really choice spot to pick me up.” I immediately replied, “Hey, last time we met in Africa you drug us out to a remote camp in the bush. This is the remote American bush!” We all had a good laugh and the fun began. There happened to be a parade in the little town for the High school Homecoming. It was replete with marching band, fire trucks and floats not to mention the candy toss. Marc said he had never seen anything like it. He scurried to pick up as much candy as he could to take back to his two beautiful daughters. Well no small town visit is complete without a visit to the local bar. This place was called Big John’s. And John was a big guy. Marc found the characters in the bar quite fascinating. We made our way back to the dock and shortly after docktails broke out. We all went as a group to the Mel’s restaurant and had a ton of laughs. Yes the fried chicken was great as was the pumpkin chiffon pie. 

Everybody loves a parade. A local woman who was watching her grandkids in the parade offered to come pick us up to go see the JV Homecoming game. How nice is that?

Our South African visitor. So what is your excuse to not come join us on the Loop???

Heartland of America

 How did that name come about?

After Ottawa we really entered the land of towns that you simply wonder why they exist. Henry was one such place. On Sunday September 25th we cruised 44 miles to an anchorage just below Henry behind a small island appropriately named South Henry. It was a beautiful anchorage and protected from barge wakes. It was here we met back up with a young guy from Alberta Canada trying to single hand a 50’ Cruiser Yacht.

What is worse is he is way over his head. We felt bad for the guy at first when we first met him at a lock. He wound up rafting up to us to lock thru. When he came up on us I asked him to toss me a stern line. When he did he gave me the whole line!!! I can only imagine he must have been stressed. Well he was there and I went over in the Dinghy To say hi. He shared with me that he spent the night aground on a sandbar because he cut the corner to sharp to enter the anchorage. 

Remember, the Illinois is 9’ low. So he followed me into town in his Dinghy as he wanted to get supplies. When we got there the poor chap had forgot his shoes. He tougher it out and we made our way into the nearly nonexistent town. It turns out that the only reason the town is there is due to the construction of one of the first locks on the Illinois back in the late 1800’s. Well let me tell you nothing much has changed.

On Monday we headed 35 miles to Peoria home of the corporate center for the heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar. There presence is everywhere in the small city. They have a neat museum that we were able to go to and is where we learned where Caterpillar got it’s name. Back in the 1800’s one of the founding fathers called to photographer from the local newspaper to take a picture of his newly designed track style tractor.

When the photographer saw it he said it looked like a giant caterpillar. So the name stuck. The city also had a really nice baseball stadium. Downtown Peoria seemed like another one of those towns that is still trying to figure out what to do next. There had been some reports of boats being boarded in the night but fortunately we did not experience any of that.

This giant earth moving dump truck weighs 1.2 million pounds and has 14’ tires. It can only operate on certain ground or it will sink into the earth. This model of one has been setup as a movie viewing area. 

Town Hall

Mel Price lock

If there wasn’t ugly how would we recognize beautiful?

 The Not so Pretty Section of the Loop

We had a feeling that the river system going down the center of the country was only going to be but so good. First the waterways. The trip thus far in the Illinois river has been heavy industrial with many barges some three wide and 16 deep being pushed by tows that have 16,000 horse power. The river is lined with silos and elevators that load materials onto the barges bound for northern and southern ports.

 

This section appears where all the dirty work of America gets done. Moving things like stone, cement, grain, petroleum, chemicals, well you get the idea. The trick is to be able to pass the big tows without running out of the channel and going aground.  Oh by the way the Illinois river is not straight and also happens to be 9’ below normal pool. Guess where you meet most of the tows? So far so good though.

We have been told that these tows are small in comparison to the ones on the Mississippi. Oh joy. On Friday we headed to Heritage Harbor in Ottawa, Illinois about 46 miles down stream but two commercial locks to pass. The first one right outside of Jolliet was quick and efficient. The second which was just 4 miles from our destination was not so much. We waited almost four hours which put us into port at 5:15 pm meaning we were late for Docktails.

After getting settled we quickly remedied that situation. We were invited to tag along with two Looper families to go into town for dinner at a Sushi/Burger joint. They had a 10 passenger van so we jumped in. Turns out the Sushi was pretty dog gone good. 

We had only planned one night but decided to stay an extra as the dockmaster gives a briefing on boating 500 miles south all the way to Kentucky. We thought that might be useful as he is also the local Tow Boat US captain. Think he might know a thing or two??? Saturday I did some early morning planning and Sue some boat chores like laundry and such. We borrowed the loaner car after lunch and went to town and a state park called Buffalo Rock. Crazy enough they have a small herd of Buffalo there. We had a good hike and made it back to the 4pm briefing at the marina. Sue decided to sit that one out which was probably a good thing as it lasted over 2.5 hours. It was packed full of valuable information that really raised my level of confidence. As the story goes, “you don’t know what you don’t know.” Everybody has guide books in one form or another that make all kinds of recommendations about anchorages, marinas and alike. Well when the river is 9’ below level the books are not worth the paper they are written on. So it worth the hours of being in river school on a Saturday evening. I caught up with Sue at the marina restaurant where we met up with another boating couple, Dog House, we had not seen in a couple months. We had a night cap aboard Next Chapter and called it a day.