Watch out for that log on the port side; No! The other port side…
We have been home for over month since the western road trip and our activities have mostly consisted of lawn and garden torture. I love pulling weeds and cutting grass as much as the next guy, especially when it is in the 90’s by 10 am with high humidity. Our neighbors, Terri and Joe, extended an invitation to spend the day cruising the Mississippi river in their boat. After considering all the chores still waiting to be completed, I jumped at the chance to postpone the work to another day. Princess approached the invitation with cheery anticipation as she envisioned working on her tan and eating fruit kabobs with First Mate, Terri.
The First and Second Mate hard at work
I have driven the Great River Road many times and have ridden the bike path that follows the river between Alton, Il and Grafton about a dozen times. It is a beautiful 15-mile ride either by car or bike. In a boat, this same road looks completely different. The limestone cliffs rise about 100 feet from the river and are quite impressive. The river is lined with trees that just had a hint of fall colors. Captain Joe and I joked about how the view and weather must have looked to Lewis and Clark as they explored the Mississippi. In the middle of a St. Louis summer.
Now which way is Grafton???
One of the duties of the First Mate and her assistant, the Princess, is to watch for logs floating ahead of the boat. The port and starboard thing was a little hard. Patient Captain Joe didn’t seem to mind too much when they just pointed left or right and shouted “log”!
Cap’t Joe let’n her rip
After arriving in Grafton, the First Mate insisted we find AC and lunch. The Princess agreed that it was time to eat since her fruit kabobs ended up consisting of only cantaloupe and she didn’t think to pack them in a cooler.
Grafton, est. 1836; Guessing it has only flooded 150 times or so…
The selection of both AC and lunch went a bit smoother than the figuring out what side of the boat the floating log was approaching on! The Ruebel Saloon supplied both. The food was good and prices reasonable.
We happened upon ARRRBAR at the end of the pier and thought this was a perfect spot to enjoy some live music and watch the other boats pulling into and out of the dock. The spot was a perfect a match for needed refreshment and a view. We rehydrated and resumed our trip.
On the way back to Alton we passed Our Lady of the River Shrine in Portage Des Sioux, MO. I have seen pictures of the shrine many times and generally every summer the local TV news runs a spot on the “Blessing of the Fleet” in Alton Lake. The Shrine, constructed of fiberglass by Monsanto Chemical Co. in 1956, looks a lot bigger on television than in person. But, It was a bit more interesting to see the Shrine from the water than on TV.
Not a bad way to spend a September afternoon.
Dennis
