Day 353/354 Port St Charles, MO & Rockport, IL

Now we have are own Burgee!






Jim & brenda Hampton off "Dream Catcher" just starting their adventure!




Clarksville, MO





Wide open rollers at the dam



















A little current on the Old Mississippi!






These were pictures when we had dinner at the Aeries Resturant in Grafton. It was located high high up on a bluff.












Great new friends Heidi & Kelly York





Grafton IL is a happening place on the week-end due to the many waterfront Pubs that provide music all week-end. A stand on Main Street provides fresh vegetables, canned products and more important is fresh baked pies daily. The staff at Grafton Harbor (AGLCA sponsor) is very efficient and friendly. I spent hours on the bridge of Noah Genda watching all the traffic coming in and out of the harbor. It is the busiest marina I have seen with boats getting fuel, coming in to eat at the restaurant or local boaters leaving or coming back to their slips. Those dock boys ran their behinds off catching boats that come in with no lines or fenders ready.
While we wait for the flooded river to go down, we chose to spend 6-nights at Grafton Harbor and take advantage of the pay 4 and get 3 nights free. We enjoyed the harbor swimming pool, on site restaurant, courtesy vehicle and spending time with several “Loopers” coming and leaving Grafton Harbor.

Our friends Brenda and Jim Hampton from the Quad Cities started their “Great Loop” journey Thursday 8/26 and arrived in Grafton yesterday. We spent some time catching up on their first 3 days traveling down the flooded Mississippi. We are so happy for them, starting out on a new adventure to enjoy the beautiful American and Canadian waterways. They will meet so many new wonderful friends on the journey.

We both departed Grafton, IL this morning in a light shower and headed across the river to Port Charles Harbor (St Charles MO). This is where we had our first boat repair done. (You remember the rock story after our first anchorage, don’t you?)

We had our 2nd Gold “Loopers” Burgee sent here to Port Charles Marina since we crossed our wake a few miles ago and wish to display our celebration flag the rest of the way home. We also filled up with diesel fuel here for our last leg heading up the flooded Mississippi River. This has been the most reasonable fuel cost per gal for the last year. $2.68 gal. Entry in to Port Charles Harbor has changed from a year ago. Call the Marina on channel 16 or cell for harbor entry instructions. The previously used channel entry has been filled with dredge spoils and is no longer a safe course of entry. DO NOT Use the old routing from main channel south of the harbor or you'll find yourself aground.

Jim and Brenda Hampton “Dream Catcher” came to our boat with champagne to celebrate our completing the loop and the beginning of theirs. We borrowed the Harbor courtesy car and with map in hand headed out to find the restaurant “LOCO”. We were a little turned around on the country roads (I had the map but hey, we only missed 1 turn) After flagging down a pickup truck and following their directions we finally made it for a bite to eat. It was worth the long trip because we didn’t stop laughing the whole way. Jim wondered if the meal was for breakfast. We had the mgr print out specific directions for the return.

Port Charles Harbor is also an AGLCA sponsor and an absolute pleasure to stay at their facility. Fuel and dockage is very reasonable and the staff is just plain first class. Huge accolades for Paul Hopkins, family and staff. They offer a full service yard and their workmanship is extremely professional.

We departed Port Charles Harbor at 6:15 to reach Two Rivers Marina 61 miles and 2 locks away. We drove right into both locks so that was a plus but it still took us 10hours traveling at 6-7 mph fighting the horrendous current and watching for floating logs and debris. The dam rollers/gates were all of the way out of the water at locks 24 and 25. The river is flowing fast with absolutely no restrictions. Anyway we’re here now at Two Rivers Marina in Rockport, IL and in the air conditioned boat so we’re happy campers! Quincy, IL tomorrow is our goal.

Day 350 Grafton, IL

Pot luck at dockside, Grafton Harbor







Us dining at the "Mississippi Half Step" restaurant in Grafton








The Mississippi Half Step Restaurant







Main Street Grafton, IL








Our view of the Illinois Bluffs along the Mississippi River from our boat located in Grafton Harbor.







We are holding up here in Grafton Harbor in Grafton Illinois with several Loopers waiting for the Mississippi River to recede from flood levels. This is a junction point of the Illinois River meeting the Mississippi River. The river is running very fast both north and south from here from the elevated water levels. We anticipate departing north the Monday or Tuesday of next week although water levels are falling very slowly.

This has been a fun lay over with all of the Looper vessels coming in and out of this marina. We have enjoyed meeting new friends as well as rekindling previous friendships. This is very small community that has taken advantage of the tourism opportunities offering a few restaurants, specialty shops and bicycle riding. Grafton Harbor is a nice facility and a great place to rest up from the trip down the Illinois River before starting your next venture north or south.

Last night, Liz Kemper, off “Shingebiss” assembled a dockside pot luck for seven looper vessels. This always a fun evening sharing tales, mishaps, funny experiences and just reliving the last year of great memories. What a fun night. Thanks Liz, you are the greatest.

Day 348 Grafton crossing our wake

Waiting to enter the Lagrange Lock on the Illinois River.








Diann and Liz






Leaving one of our anchorages






Some of the group









The gold burgee for crossing our wake






Liz and Steve Kemper




It is nice to have our computer back so we can stay in touch with everyone. Our good friends Jim and Brenda Hampton left the QC's today for their start of the "Great Loop". We are planning to connect with them somewhere in this area later this week. We are picking up our daughter, Dawn, and her family on the 3rd of Sept for a couple of nights and a 100 mile cruise with us on the boat. Our current goal is to reach the QC's by Sept 6th, Labor Day - We will just have to see how we do going north against the strong Mississippi current.

Grafton is where we came down the Mississippi River from home last Sept and crossed the mouth of the Illinois River. It just doesn’t seem like it has been a year! We still have 300 miles to travel north up the Mississippi River to reach home, however we have “Crossed our wake” here in Grafton which means we have completed the loop and you get to replace your white Looper flag (burgee) with a gold burgee. You take your picture with your gold burgee and send it into the Great Loop Assoc along with a recap of your adventure and it gets published in their magazine. Well, we could do that if I hadn’t screwed up when ordering our gold burgee! It was sent home to Hampton instead of to our current marina. Since our friends the Kempers also crossed their wake, we borrowed their gold burgee for our picture. Don’t tell – that may be against looper protocol! We’ll have ours in a couple of days thank goodness, since Tom has not been easy to live with!

This destination is certainly bittersweet since it seems close to the closure of our journey of a lifetime. We have met so many wonderful friends and seen so many beautiful parts of this magnificent country. At this junction of the rivers, you can turn south and head to Florida or north to the Quad Cities. We have missed our family and friends at home so we are turning north. We will make future plans for the next chapter of the cruising lifestyle that we have grown to love.

Day 347 Peoria & Grafton, IL

Our computer was stricken with a virus that completely blocked access for 4-days. Talk about out of touch, Wow !!

Just got it back out of the shop today, but it is going to take a lot of time to catch up.

We are in Grafton, IL waiting for the Mississippi River to recede from flood stage at Hannibal to St Louis. The Peoria Lock repair that has been going on all summer was extended into Oct 2010. They are open for locking all day on any Sunday, closed Monday through Sat, 7:00 am to 5:00 PM. Can you imagine the backed up barge traffic? We were granted passage at about 4:00 PM last Sunday and cruised to an anchorage about 15 miles below the Peoria Lock. There are very few Marinas below Peoria until you get to Grafton MM "0" on the Ill River. We were addressing a huge "push" down the river when we entered the Grafton area of the Illinois River. Several channels of the Mississippi River flow into the Ill River and create an incredible rush or current causing a very rapid push towards the Mississippi River. It will take a few days to settle down.

Day 341 Chicago and Joliet

Buckingham Fountain located in Grant Park, Chicago - Gorgeous !!







Cal-Sag Canal junction with the Chicago River








Looking west on the Cal-Sag canal







One of the dozens of industrial facilities on the Cal-Sag downstream from Chicago.









Coast Guard boat downtown Chicago on the Chicago River with 50 Cal machie gun on the bow. This will get your attention real quickly.




Fountain on Chicago River





Chicago Yacht Club, where we had lunch






Us at Grant Park, Buckingham Fountain




Also Grant Park








Bike path along the lake






The Chicago Park District provides miles and miles of well landscaped and groomed bicycle paths away from vehicle traffic and most are along Lake Michigan. There are so many very large beautiful parks including Grant Park and Millennium Park right in the heart of town. There are many artistic sculptures, fountains and waterfalls. It is so easy to travel this City by 2-wheels and of course parking is never a problem. There are many bicycle racks to park your bike, lock them up and continue exploring on foot.

This morning we completed some badly needed boat chores and then hopped on our bikes and headed to the Chicago Yacht Club for lunch. We sat outside under the covered patio adjacent to the Yacht Club harbor and enjoyed the view.

After lunch we continued riding along Lake Michigan to Navy Pier and along the Chicago River. Chicago tourism offers many opportunities to see the City by double deck tour buses as well as many site seeing water vessels on the Chicago River. It is so pleasant to sit on any of the well positioned shaded benches along the river and just people watch.

Today we departed Chicago via the Calumet Sag Channel. Tom decided he didn’t want to risk getting under the 17’ bridge. This narrow, very industrial route took us a little longer with 2 locks and 45 bridges and definitely not as scenic. There are dozens of barge terminals, coal yards, quarries and industrial plants along the Cal-Sag/Chicago River. Certainly not a great photo opportunity, however, the water is flat, no matter what the weather. Tonight we are tied to the free Bicentennial Park wall in Joliet. There is power available for air conditioning which I’m happy about because tonight it is pretty humid.

Day 339 Chicago 8/17/10

Burnham Harbor




Chicago skyline on a cloudy day






Coming into our harbor





Skyline with Chicago River







Tom at the Viet Nam Memorial










The bean at Millenium Park - The 110-ton elliptical sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect the city's famous skyline and the clouds above. A 12-foot-high arch provides a "gate" to the concave chamber beneath the sculpture, inviting visitors to touch its mirror-like surface and see their image reflected back. Inspired by liquid mercury, the sculpture is among the largest of its kind in the world, measuring 66-feet long by 33feet high.







Stage at Millenium Park with orchestra playing





Before we left our slip, we checked 2 weather web sites for lake conditions and NOAA said 1-2’ and Weather Underground said 2-3’. Who do you believe? We left New Buffalo, Michigan with instant 3 footers out of the west and grew to about 4' to 5’waves an hour later. about 10 miles out of Chicago the waves decreased to about 2 footers but swung around from the north to catch our beam - little bit of a roll coming into Burnham Harbor. The heaving and pitching broke the stainless steel fender baskets on the bow of the boat, ruptured a spare fuel tank in the dinghy and spilled fuel, cupboard doors flew open, and dishes we thrown, but Diann salvaged them and got the doors secured. Anchor locker door flew open and anchor chain came out onto forward berth. Glad to be safe in slip, all damage is repairable. The dinghy was a concern of flying off the hardtop, it made lots of noise and strained against fasteners; however it stayed in place on its chocks. Lake Michigan can be rough and it was today.

Getting a confirmed slip in a Chicago Harbor is a challenge. When my messages weren’t returned, I kept calling until I had a live person. They take all your information plus your credit card # and put you on a waitlist. Okay, now I’m on 3 waitlists and only one called us back (Burnham). DuSable, the marina I really wanted, just called us at 1:45 to say we could have a slip. Sorry we’re tied up now! Thanks for the advance notice!

Burnham Harbor is near Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium, Museum of Natural History, McCormick Place and Soldier Field. We had a wonderful afternoon riding around the lake front and through the parks. The City of Chicago offers many miles of user friendly bicycle paths thorough out the City. It is actually easier to get around on bicycles than automobiles. And parking your bike is painless and easy on the wallet. The photo opportunities are endless, however today was mostly overcast with a light sprinkle thrown in. We hope to have a sunny day for photos Wednesday

We stopped in the Chicago Yacht Club to check out using our local LPYC yacht club privileges. Looks good to have lunch or dinner tomorrow.

Now for your history lesson - In 1885, a cholera and typhoid epidemic killed thousands when sewage was washed into Lake Michigan which was the source of drinking water for the city. By 1890 the Chicago Sanitary District succeeded in reversing the flow of the Chicago River to divert sewage away from Lake Michigan. Now the river flows west and south via the Sanitary and Ship Canal to the Illinois River. The Illinois empties into the Mississippi River and eventually reaches the Gulf of Mexico instead of Lake Michigan.

Day 338 New Buffalo, Michigan

"Noah Genda" in transient slip at New Buffalo Munincipal









New Buffalo City Beach









Diann at New Buffalo City Beach








"Noah Genda" in transient slip at New Buffalo Municipal Marina









We had breakfast here at "Michigan Thyme Cafe", very good.






Some of the 100's of condos here in New Buffalo





We are really enjoying these Michigan towns once we are off the water and into a slip. Our trip here yesterday was not the most pleasant with rough water and very hot & humid. The flies were severe and wanted big chunks out of our skin. We pulled into the breakwater at New Buffalo and went to Snug Harbor for fuel and met 5 or 6 boats coming towards us trying to get out. We were the only boat pulling up to the fuel dock but none of the 3 dock attendants were anywhere to be seen. Once they appeared, so did 2 other boats wanting fuel, and it was hectic in these narrow fairways!

Things improved once we were secured in our slip at the Municipal Marina and had the air cranked on. Again we seem to visit every port that is celebrating an annual event and this port was no exception. The Ship & Shore celebration was in full swing. Streets were closed off and live music was in store the rest of the day and evening.

With a tip from Mark, we tried upstairs at the Stray Dog Restaurant for a great dinner. Breakfast this morning was at the Michigan Thyme Café, then riding around town and spending a couple of hours at the beach. What a beautiful day, but windy with small craft advisory on the lake with 3’6’ waves. No one left the marina/harbor this morning, choosing to wait out another day for better weather.

At the moment it appears in the morning we will depart New Buffalo for Chicago at Burnham Harbor Also we are investigating the possibility of navigating the Chicago River with a fixed bridge clearance of 17’. We can get the boat down to 16’10” but we do not know if the water is normal, high or low. It is a long way back around to the Cal-Sag if we cannot clear this 17’ fixed bridge plus we miss going through downtown Chicago.

Tonight we had a great Mexican dinner at the El Rancho Grande which is within a half mile from the marina. I bought guacamole at the farmers market in South Bend and I have a craving for more, hence, the Mexican food.

Day 336 South Haven Michigan

Our cruise through the Notre Dame Campus today.








South Haven Municipal Marina Office on the Black River







In dinghy looking up at live concert in South Haven Waterfront Park








In dighy, harbor hopping and overlooking concert.







Studebaker Museum, 1948 1/2 ton pick up





Vintage Studebaker







In Museum, 1924 Studebaker






Studbaker 40 room residence, constructed in 1898








Marc picked Tom up this morning and drove to South Bend, IN to visit the Stuabaker Museum. I’m sure you’ll get to see more car pictures on the blog.

I walked to the Phoenix Café for breakfast and ordered their from scratch corn beef hash that Susan told me about. I heard the waiting time was 40 minutes but since I was alone I sat at one of the 4 stools at the counter and struck up a conversation with another woman sitting there. As I waited for breakfast, I scanned the advertising on the place mat and saw The Hair Loft Salon at 251 Center St and I knew it couldn’t be very far away. I figured my hair couldn’t look any worse and it would grow out if it turned out badly. After breakfast I was lucky enough to get right in with Angie Bussing. She gave me an excellent hair cut and I walked out feeling much lighter and definitely more stylish. Good for the ego!

From there I walked to the Farmers Market and bought Michigan peaches and blueberries. For my friend Carollee, I checked out several stores and found one more top to add to my pile. I also climbed the hill to the outdoor art display but even though I am not looking for art, I was disappointed. They need to check out our “Renaissance” art show in the QC. I was in need of a rest so I sat on the back of Noah Genda and watch boat after boat go by.

Tom here. Wow where do I start with such an energy pack day. The other day, Mark Sandock overheard me state that if I ever had the chance to go through the Studebaker Museum I would like to do that. Mark graciously asked if he could pick me up in his vehicle and we would run down to his home town, South Bend Indiana, we would tour the Notre Dame campus as well as the Studebaker Museum. Now those that know me, know that I am one over the top gear head. I have to tell you this Museum was far more than I ever expected. What an incredible experience. The Museum was constructed new in 2005, and it is fantastic. This truly is an educational lesson in America’s industrial revolution, business polices, family relationships, politics, world economy, world wars and of course just plain timing. The (5) Studebaker Brothers were craftsman skilled in many fields and one of those fields was blacksmithing. They actually started out in the 1860’s constructing horse drawn carriages, fire wagons, and covered wagons. In the 1900’s they went from horses to horsepower. The display of meticulously restored Studebakers of many vintage years is rotated on a regular basis. This is one incredible display of vintage Studebaker’s from horse drawn carriages through their final years of vintage vehicles. If you are a car buff, and ever have the opportunity, do not miss a tour through this absolutely beautiful museum. You will not be disappointed. I was extremely impressed.

An additional high light of the day was a cruise through the well groomed campus of Notre Dame. We all have seen TV images of the famous campus, however seeing it up close and personal is a rewarding experience. I cannot thank Mark enough for his gracious hospitality and exposing me to a tour of huge Midwest history that I would certainly miss if it were not for him. What a wonderful memorable day in South Bend, Indiana.

The remaining portion of the day was another great fun afternoon. One of the programs of the South Haven 47th Annual Blue Berry Festival was a garden tractor pulling contest. Now I have never seen one of these events although I have heard of them. Unbelievable!! These guys take this serious. What incredible machines. Narrowed automotive rear-ends, automotive 4 or 5 speed transmissions, mag wheels, spoke front wheels, huge camber no less, can be supercharged, some are diesels. These guys are creativene; it kind of reminds me of my old drag racing days. One tractor was built using a 1-1/4 tube frame. Now these are Garden Tractors, not large farm tractors. Talk about good wholesome family fun. These guys are teaching their sons and daughters how to be creative, how to compete, how to win and how to lose. That was a fun afternoon that really put a smile on your face. Our visit to South Haven has really rewarded us with a fun time.

Now back to boating, Diann and I took the dinghy “harbor hopping”, visited with a looper on an Ocean Alexander we met back in Little Current, Ontario. Next we ventured over to the main stage area and listened to live country music. We did not bring navigation lights for the dinghy so we headed back to Noah Genda before dark. The water patrol was out in full force. Weather permitting we will head for New Buffalo MI tomorrow A.M., and maybe Chicago by mid week.