Tug Calypso's Great Loop Adventure: Resting on the river

After a couple of long days motoring down the Illinois River, we decided to take a day off at Grafton Harbor Marina in Grafton, Illinois. We are less than 1/2 mile from the Mississippi and can see it from our slip here. To back track just a minute, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the IVY Club in Peoria Heights. Mark was there for five days while I flew to Atlanta to visit Mother. Bob and Mary Pratt, friends from Punta Gorda, maintain a residence in Peoria and took good care of us during our stay. Bob is retired from Caterpillar, which has a major presence in Peoria. He was also commodore of the IVY Club a few years ago when the second story dining room was flooded when the ice started breaking up and flowing down the river. On Friday the Pratts took us on a tour of the area, which included some breath-taking scenery. We stopped for "happy hour" milk-shakes at Steak 'n Shake right on the banks of the river in East Peoria. According to Bob and Mary, there used to be a dock there and they went there by boat many times. We had dinner with them at the IVY Club, where we met many of their friends and were warmly received. Many thanks also to the Pratts for providing transportation for me to and from the airport.

We left the IVY Club early Wednesday morning, transited our one lock for the day without delay and tied up for the night at Logsdon Tug Service in Beardstown, Ill. This is a small tug outfit that allows pleasure craft to tie up to a barge overnight. There are no services there, but we were glad to be there after a long day on the water. Beardstown, itself, was quite small, but there was an Elks Lodge where we had a couple of drinks before dinner. The Cafe from Yesterday offered an AYCE pork chop special for $8.99 which we could not resist. Two pork chops, cole slaw, applesauce, green beans, real mashed potatoes w/ gravy and biscuits!

Another early morning departure on Thursday with many miles to go before we slept. Our destination was Mel's Illinois Riverdock Restaurant, which offers overnight dockage. We were under a severe storm warning when we docked, but never got any lightning. The wind did pick up after we were safely docked and we got about five drops of rain later in the evening. Dinner at Mel's was another interesting experience.

Yesterday, we were able to sleep in as it was only about 20 miles to Grafton. We enjoyed exploring the town yesterday, which is full of gift and antique shops and wineries. We'll probably check out the wineries this afternoon.

The plan is to start down the Mississippi tomorrow with Alton as our destination - another short day. We're doing a lot of research right now to figure out where we can stop on our 200 mile stretch down the Mississippi. Most of the recommended anchorages (which are few and far between to begin with) are too shallow for our 3.5 ft draft. For our last 160 miles down the Mississippi there are no services, so it should be interesting. Hopefully, by this time next week, we'll be enjoying a respite at Green Turtle Bay on Barkley Lake.