Hardin to Grafton, IL. Illinois Waterway completed!

This morning I enjoyed watching the barge traffic and light mist on the river burn off while Kathleen went for a run. When she returned, we said goodbye to our buddy boats then went to breakfast at Mel’s Illinois RiverDock Restaurant. Kathleen took us off of the dock at a civilized 10 AM on a perfect sunny morning, with a light breeze and no waves. The shoreline  was mostly undeveloped and scenic, as we traveled through multiple fish and waterfowl management areas and we only encountered a couple of tows on our last leg of this trip. At 12:50 PM, we entered the Mississippi River and crossed our wake from two years ago (post link: 9/28/23: Port Charles Harbor, MO to Alton, IL), then pulled into Grafton Harbor, where we had dropped off our truck and trailer on Tuesday. We achieved our goal of completing the Illinois Waterway this season and enjoyed a payback of nearly ideal weather after our miserable, sweaty experience two months ago. 

Grafton, IL

We got Dragonfly settled at the marina and hopped in our truck for a bit of sightseeing. First was the National Great Rivers Museum at the Melvin Price Lock and Dam in Alton, IL. Also known as Lock 26, the Mel Price Lock was where we had to wait five hours to get into the lock in 2023, our longest wait anywhere on the Loop. Today the lock was idle for most of our visit, despite heavy commercial traffic on the river, although a 15-barge tow did pull in as we were leaving. The lock has two chambers to increase throughput, but as in 2023 when we were last here, there are repairs underway and only one chamber is operational. The museum had excellent exhibits on river wildlife, the history of locks and dams on our rivers and the story of the Cahokia, who first settled this area around 700 AD.

Melvin Price auxiliary lock under repair

This is river debris that has collected and grown into an
ecosystem upstream of the cofferdam (bottom left)
constructed during lock repairs.

After the museum we stopped by the life-sized statue of Robert Wadlow in a pretty park on the campus of the Southern Illinois University Dental School. Born and raised in Alton, Wadlow is the tallest person in recorded history. Upon his death at age 22, his height was recorded at 8 feet 11.1 inches and his weight was 439 pounds. Wadlow required the use of leg braces and a faulty one irritated his ankle, leading to infection and blood poisoning—he died in his sleep in 1940. 

Robert Wadlow with his 5’11’’ inch father

We dropped off the truck at the marina and walked around town a bit, deciding to have dinner at the Aerie’s Resort at the top of the river bluff. To get there we took the Grafton SkyTour, a chairlift that takes you 300 feet up the hill to a restaurant, winery and lodge at the top. Kathleen is not a huge fan of heights, but she hung in there on the ride up and we had a lovely dinner on the terrace overlooking the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, where we had boated just a few hours earlier. After descending back down, we had ice cream at Gogo-May’s Sundae Scoop, then walked back to the marina just after sunset. It’s Saturday night on a beautiful late-summer night and Grafton is partying. As I write this, loud music and shouting are coming from the marina bar and several others across the parking lot on Main Street. We love the energy here, but hope that it quiets down soon so we can get some sleep.

Bonus Question: What is the longest mountain range in the world? (Answer at end of post)

Photo Journal: 

Most of the cabins on the river are on tall stilts

These two guys were working on a duck blind.
Their boat is inside. The birds in the water are decoys. 

Group of kids paddling a voyageur canoe at
Pere Marquette State Park

Bonus Question Answer: The Andes in South America span 5,500 miles, 67 degrees of latitude (10N to 57S) and pass through seven countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Argentina. They are the source of the Amazon River and home to the world’s highest navigable lake (Lake Titicaca) and the world’s largest salt flat (Sala de Unuyi).

Beardstown to Hardin, IL

Today was an early start and a long day—we got underway at 6:15 AM with Pelican and Morning Sun to catch an open window at the LaGrange Lock, eight miles away and the last lock on the Illinois River. We arrived an hour later and went straight in and straight down with no waiting. All three boats “floated” in the lock—meaning we drifted freely in the chamber without tying off to the lock wall via lines, pipes, cables or bollards. Upon exiting, the two larger boats sped up, with a plan to meet at the end of the day. We traveled 67 miles in 9 hours, passing a few tows, a few towns, a lot of beautiful river scenery and dozens of white pelicans and bald eagles. At 3:15 PM we tied up behind Pelican and Morning Sun at the Illinois Riverdock Restaurant in Hardin, IL, population 765. The restaurant allows overnight docking for customers on its no frills, no services floating dock and is a popular stop for Loopers before reaching the Mississippi River. After securing Dragonfly, we met our new friends for drinks and an early dinner at the restaurant, commonly called “Mel’s” after its retired owner, who rebuilt twice after a flood and a fire. The food was excellent, the portions huge and the locals friendly and excited for this weekend’s Calhoun County Fair. The restaurant staff were working on fair preparations in between customers and our server is a contestant in tomorrow’s Miss Calhoun County pageant. 

Bonus Question: When was the last time humans were on the moon? (Answer at end of post)

Photo Journal: 

Sunrise on the Illinois River

We had to pass close to this dredge

The scenery is lush and green

Lift bridges are a regular sight—we think they’re beautiful!

Wing dams are less beautiful—they are used to divert the
current into the main channel but are sometimes just
below the water and damage the unsuspecting boat.

Southbound Looper parade.
Dragonfly is the blue, unnamed
vessel at the top

Kampsville, IL, car ferry crossing in front of us

Bonus Question Answer: In December, 1972, Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Hernan and Harrison Schmitt were the last humans to walk on the moon.

Havana to Beardstown, IL

It was a beautiful but brisk morning in Havana, IL, and we slowly got ourselves ready in the 50-degree chill, letting the sun come up to warm us and dry the dew off of Dragonfly. We had an easier day planned, with a 32-mile run and no locks; about 4.5 hours of  travel. We left Tall Timbers Marina at 10:00 AM and motored through a busy industrial area for a few miles, then the river was scenic and interesting.

Three other Looper boats passed us (one throwing a big wake), and we met up with other two at Logsdon Tug Service in Beardstown, IL. Logsdon Tug is a commercial towboat operator that has an old barge and tugboat that they allow transient boaters to tie up to. The barge is strewn with rusty stuff, footing is tricky and you have to climb a long, steep stairway over the town’s flood wall to get ashore. There is no electricity or water, the bathroom is iffy and nobody dared try the shower. Tugs came and went all afternoon and when we arrived there was a construction barge aft of us running a pile driver. But we loved most of it and tried to go with the flow, knowing that this was one of those places we would talk about long after we quit boating. As one online reviewer put it: “it’s a five-star experience with one-star amenities.” And we appreciated that they don’t have to offer this to pleasure boaters and it’s a welcome stop on a stretch of river without many places to pull over and stretch your legs. Map link: Beardstown, IL

A nice pic of Dragonfly taken by Pelican

Named after Thomas Beard, who built a log cabin here in 1819, Beardstown (pop. 5,950) appears to be another aging riverfront town. Two grain terminals and a pork slaughterhouse keep things going, and there is some tourism from hunting, fishing and other outdoor recreation. Beardstown’s courthouse was the site of a famous trial that helped build the reputation of Abraham Lincoln—he used a farmers almanac to challenge the credibility of a key eyewitness and got his client acquitted of a murder charge. It is the only courtroom still in use where Lincoln once practiced law.

The Beardstown Ladies were a group of local women in their 70s who formed an investment club in 1983 in a church basement. They attracted media attention with the publication of multiple books on how to beat the stock market, claiming annual returns of 23%. An audit by PriceWaterhouseCoopers found errors in their calculations and reported that actual returns were 9%, underperforming the S&P 500 for the same time period. The club issued an apology, but still became minor celebrities in the investment world and sold more than a million books. 

Bonus Quote: “I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met” — Stephen Wright

Peoria to Havana, IL

This morning Kathleen went for a run along the river while I flushed our outboard with fresh water and checked it for proper operation. Everything looked okay to me, so our next hurdle was getting through the busy Peoria Lock, six miles downriver. I called the Lockmaster and was told that they were just finishing a split tow, with another one in the queue. However, they had another pleasure craft waiting, and if we got there right away, he would lock us both down ahead of the second tow, which would take at least two hours to break, lock and reattach. I said we’d be there as quickly as possible and we did a hurried pre-underway checklist, deciding to find out sooner rather than later if our outboard was gummed up. The engine ran fine and we arrived at the lock with a green light and open door, with a sailboat already in the chamber. We floated in the lock for the eight-foot drop and 20 minutes later we were continuing on downriver. Our outboard did alarm once while idling in the lock, but a shutdown and restart cleared it. 

We saw a fair bit of barge traffic for the next five miles, then the river became very scenic. There was a 15 mph west wind that kicked up whitecaps in several sections, but for the most part it was a beautiful day of river travel. Along the way we saw gulls, cormorants, geese, pelicans, buzzards, herons, osprey, bald eagles, hawks and are pretty sure that we saw a couple of golden eagles, whose wingspans can reach seven feet. We were also treated to one of the loudest cicada symphonies that we’ve ever heard, with their buzzing heard over our thrumming outboard for many miles. After the sailboat from the lock dropped behind us, we only saw one other pleasure craft on our 44-mile journey. About 3:00PM we pulled into Tall Timbers Marina in Havana, IL, where Bob, the owner met us, helped fuel up our boat and gave us the lay of the land. After wordlessly docking in our slip, securing and stowing the boat (the routine came right back to us), Kathleen and I walked into town, toured the five-block Main Street, then ate  dinner at Los Charros. We finished our delicious Mexican food and raced back to the marina to avoid getting caught in an approaching line of thunderstorms that looked ugly but turned out to be a bust. We played cribbage in the cabin, then relaxed in the cabin, finishing off a pretty good day back on the water! Map link: Havana, IL

Bonus Question: What common language’s name consists of four consecutive U.S. state postal abbreviations? (Answer at end of post)

Photo Journal: 

Sunrise at Peoria Boat Club

Illinois River scenery

Old lock on the river

Dragonfly at Tall Timbers Marina transient dock

Tall Timbers Marina fuel dock, office and restaurant.
Note how steep the gangway is to go ashore,
due to low water.

On the marina bulletin board

Bonus Question Answer: With over 950 million people speaking it as their native tongue, Mandarin (MA-ND-AR-IN), is the official language of China and has more native speakers than any other language in the world. Fun fact: Compared with the 26-letter English alphabet, everyday Mandarin uses about 2,500 characters. 

Illinois Waterway: Take 2

We’re back on the Illinois River after a two-month pause. On Labor Day we drove from St. Paul to Peoria, IL, stopping for lunch in Mason City, IA, and in nearby West Branch, IA, to visit the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. Our 31st president and the first one born west of the Mississippi River, “Bertie” was orphaned at age nine and sent to live with relatives in Oregon. He never forgot his Iowa Quaker roots, and brought the values of honesty, devotion, responsibility and industriousness to his work as a mining engineer and later into politics. Elected in 1928, President Hoover’s popularity evaporated during the early years of the Great Depression, when it was believed that he wasn’t doing enough to relieve the suffering of average Americans, and he was defeated by FDR in 1932. Hoover’s service work after the White House, including as Chairman of the Boys Clubs of America and co-founder of UNICEF, redeemed his place in history, reminding me of the late Jimmy Carter. Map link: West Branch, IA

Herbert Hoover’s 1874 birthplace. His father’s
blacksmith shop is the brown building on the right.

We picked up a rental car at the Peoria Airport, then arrived at dusk at the Peoria Boat Club, where we quickly unloaded our gear and got settled aboard Dragonfly for a night on the trailer. The weather was lovely, with temps in the 60s and comfortable humidity—such a big change from when we were last here at the end of June. Map link: Peoria, IL

First thing on Tuesday we launched Dragonfly at the public ramp next to the boat club and motored through the shallow, muddy water about 200 yards to our slip. All went well except for a series of an intermittent high temperature alarms on the outboard, and I was worried that the cooling passages were fouled with river muck. 

The boat club had some excitement last Thursday night, when a visiting Looper boat caught fire from a faulty shore-power cable. The fire was extinguished and the boat appears to be salvageable, but the owners’ journey is on hold while they settle with their insurance company. Sadly, they were to cross their wake and complete their Loop in Grafton, just 165 miles away.

Fire damage on the transom (I blacked out the
vessel’s name and homeport).

We drove southwest to Grafton, IL, to drop off our truck and trailer. We’re trying something different this time—having our rig at the endpoint ready to go when we arrive, rather than leaving it at the start and then going back to retrieve it. After our drop-off, we ate lunch at Grafton Pub, then drove the rental car to Springfield, IL, to visit the Illinois State Capitol and the Abraham Lincoln Home National Historic Site. Abe and Mary Lincoln’s house from 1844-1861 was restored and surrounded by an entire block of period structures that depict life in that era. Guided tours are available, but we arrived too late in the day. Map link: Springfield, IL

Bonus Question: (I love presidential trivia!) Who is the only U.S. President to earn a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree? (answer at end of post).

We returned to Peoria, grabbed dinner at Jimmy John’s, dropped off the rental car, Ubered back to the boat club, ate our sandwiches, met the marina manager to settle our bill and crashed after a whirlwind day.

Bonus Question Answer: George W. Bush, our 43rd president, graduated from Harvard Business School in 1975 and is the only president with an MBA. Fun Facts: Bush was a solid C-student as a Yale undergraduate, finishing with a 2.35 GPA (out of 4.00). He applied to the University of Texas Law School but was rejected.