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