A few final pictures of Hoppies Marina before we departed:
It was a nice day of cruising with only a few tows and no locks!
A tow pushing 18 barges
We arrived at Kaskaskia River Lock and Dam with Barefeet and Blue Moon where we will anchor for the night. Never Land joined us later in the day as well as two other boats. Normally, boats can tie up to the lower guidewall rather than anchor but they are doing some dredging below the dam and that wall has been removed for dredge access so that was not an option for us. We went around to the left in the photo below and anchored in the area just in front of the dam.
It was pretty windy when we first set the anchor so we were swinging quite a bit. It calmed down around dinnertime and the temperatures were in the 60’s and 50’s overnight which was pleasant although the dredging operators worked all night long so it was pretty loud!. There were a total of six boats anchored by the end of the day.
We traveled through two locks with nine other Loopers today and passed in front of the Gateway Arch. It was a slow start waiting at the locks and then getting behind a tow on the Chain of Rocks Canal but once we passed St. Louis we were able to move along a lot faster.
Our first lock was the Mel Price Lock where 30% of the world’s grain passes through.
The flotilla today
We saw a couple of bald eagles:
Our second lock today was the Chain of Rocks Lock which allows boats to bypass an unnavigable portion of the Mississippi River known as the Chain of Rocks. There is an 8.4 mile canal leading up to the lock. There were not enough floating bollards for all ten boats to tie up to so a couple of us had to raft up to another boat.
After we locked through, we all had to go slow for a while and stay behind a tow through the narrow canal until we were back on the Mississippi.
We finally made it to the Gateway Arch and were able to take a screenshot from a webcam of Perfect Match as she passed in front of the arch:
Hoppies Marina is an iconic Looper stop for several reasons. One, it is the last marina and the last place to get fuel on the Mississippi for 250 miles, two, the owners provide a route briefing for the rivers, and three, it is just so unusual! The marina is actually just several barges that are tied to the shore with chain and cable.
Hoppies MarinaThe daily river briefing, given by Debbie, outlining several anchorages where we might stay on our way to Paducah.
The small town of Kimmswick is a half a mile away and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at LaChance Winery with Kay and Don from Never Land. On the way, we passed the Anheuser Memorial Estate which was built on the banks of the Mississippi in 1867. The Anheuser family purchased the estate in 1945 and it was bequeathed to the city of Kimmswick, along with $1.5 million for the upkeep of the estate, when Mabel-Ruth Anheuser passed away in 2000.
Anheuser Memorial EstateKimmswick, IL
LaChance Winery is located in The Old House, a 1700’s era log cabin. The second story and wing were added in 1831 and it was moved to this location in 1973. Ulysses S. Grant frequently visited the tavern.
LaChance WineryDinner with Kay and Don from Never LandFive Loopers tied up for the night at Hoppies
It was SO tough saying goodbye to Misty and Darrel! They were having Star Dust pulled out and surveyed for the sale as we were pulling out of the marina. We sure hope that our paths will cross again in the future, possibly on the road next time rather than on the water!
We had lunch at the legendary Fast Eddie’s Bon Air in Alton. Anheuser Busch first opened the small town bar, Bon Air, in 1921 but had to sell the tavern ten years later when statutes changed and prohibited breweries from owning drinking establishments. It was sold and continued to operate as a tavern for 50 years until “Fast Eddie” purchased it in 1981 and later his son purchased it in 2008 when “Fast Eddie” retired. The two men expanded the bar over the years but it still sells quality food at cheap prices. A 500 seat patio was added as well as a large stage for live music.
We had the best tenderloin and peppers on a stick, peel & eat shrimp, a cheeseburger and fries between us, along with a couple of beers (required by the bar!). The food was so good we had to go back for seconds on the tenderloin and fries!
We found this beautiful mural painted on the side of a building in town:
We took an Uber the following day to St. Louis to visit the Gateway Arch National Park. Interestingly, while St. Louis sits on the Mississippi River, there are no marinas in St. Louis so the only way for us to visit the Arch was by car but we will cruise past the Arch when we leave Alton.
The Arch is a memorial for Thomas Jefferson and his role in the westward expansion set forth by Lewis and Clark and the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. It also celebrates St. Louis’ role as the “Gateway to the West”. It was completed in 1965 and measures 630 feet wide and 630 feet tall making it the tallest national monument in America.
We took the tram ride to the top for spectacular views of both the city of St. Louis and the Mississippi River where we will travel the next day.
The door to the tram car is only four feet high!
There is a museum at the Gateway Arch which covers the 201 history of the westward expansion from the founding of St. Louis in 1764 to the building of the Arch in 1965.
The Old Courthouse is also part of the National Park but, unfortunately, it was closed for renovations the day we were there. The courthouse was built in 1839 and served as the site of several landmark civil rights cases including the Dred Scott case in 1846 which hastened the start of the Civil War and Virginia Minor’s case for a woman’s right to vote in the 1872. The building is one of only two buildings that survived the Great Fire of May 1859 which devastated 15 city blocks and 23 steamboats along the riverfront.
Situated in front of the courthouse is a sculpture of Dred and Harriet Scott who as the inscription reads, “filed suit for their freedom at this courthouse in 1846. Their case reached the United States Supreme Court and was decided in 1857. The court ruled that the Scotts and all African Americans were not citizens of the United States. Opposition to this decision was one of the causes of the Civil War and led to the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution. The Scotts’ struggle for freedom stands as a defining moment in the history of the Civil Rights Movement.”
Once back in Alton, we walked around town and stopped at the local family-owned grocery store who gave us a ride back to the marina.
STAR DUST CROSSED THEIR WAKE TODAY AND EARNED THEIR GOLD BURGEE!!!
Loopers fly a white AGLCA burgee and, once they have completed their Loop, earn the privilege of flying a gold burgee. Those that complete the trip a second time fly a platinum burgee.
Misty, Darrel and Roy started their Loop on September 4, 2021 from St. Charles, MO just ONE DAY after they purchased Star Dust! We first met them in May, 2022 on the Creech’s porch in Southport, NC and then saw them a couple of times on the Hudson River before meeting up with them again in Waterford, NY the end of June and have been traveling with them since.
We cannot say enough about these two wonderful people who have become very dear friends after spending just about EVERY DAY with them for the past three months! They have added SO MUCH to our trip and they will be sorely missed when we leave in a few days to continue our Loop. We are so excited for them for their achievement but we are terribly sad that we will no longer be traveling together.
We will SO miss the laughs, our dining companions, the laughs, our travel companions, the laughs, our tourist companions, the laughs, the docktails, the laughs, our laundry buddy, the laughs, consistently leaving a marina 30 minutes before the agreed upon plan, the laughs, the wealth of advice they shared with us, the laughs, keeping up with who is on the “injured reserve list”, the laughs, our planning partners, the laughs, the stories, the laughs, the jokes, the citizen’s arrests, the laughs, never knowing whether Darrel is telling the truth but always knowing Misty is, the laughs – did we mention the laughs??!!
We have had SO MUCH FUN with these two! The Loop is an awesome adventure but our Loop was made even better for the time that we got to spend with Misty and Darrel! They were the BEST BUDDY BOAT EVER!
Twelve Loopers locked through LaGrange Lock together after waiting for a tow to lock through. Once we exited the lock, there were four large tows waiting to lock through upbound. This is quite unusual as commercial traffic has priority over pleasure craft but we were all mighty glad we did not have to wait for all of that traffic to lock through as it would have taken HOURS for them all to get through the lock. We waited long enough that several Loopers had dropped their anchors until we got the green light to proceed into the lock.
Some of the Loopers waiting to lock through LaGrange LockTen boats tied up to the restaurant dock. Perfect Match rafted up to Star Dust again.
We had a wonderful dinner of slow cooked brisket and vegetables at the restaurant and enjoyed talking with the owner.
We had planned to anchor at Quiver Island but decided to keep going to our next destination due to opposing wind and current.
Logsdon Tug Services is not a marina but simply a place to tie up for the night. There are a couple of barges where boats can tie up to and there is no power or water. Star Dust tied up to a barge so that they would be able to get their dog, Roy, off and we rafted to them because there were several other Loopers that were planning to tie up there as well. At the end of the day there were a total of 11 boats tied up to the barges and some were rafted three together!
We had dinner on Perfect Match that night with Misty and Darrel. Misty made Cole Slaw and Corn on the Cob and Ellen made BBQ Ribs. There was a beautiful sunset after dinner!
It was pretty foggy when we left Ottawa but looked like it was lifting so we decided to go ahead and leave. It did clear up some once we got out on the river but then it got very heavy for a while. We were glad when it finally lifted! We went through one lock today, Starved Rock Lock. We will need to stay in Peoria for three nights as the Peoria Lock which is downriver from where we are staying has scheduled closures.
Star Dust leaving the marina behind another Looper
The fog starts lifting:
and then, BAM!
The fog finally lifted completely and we locked through at Starved Rock Lock:
Below is a large tow with 3 barges across and 5 barges long. They are HUGE!
We saw several Bald Eagles.
Perfect Match and Almost Home on the Illinois River
The IVY Club has the friendliest bunch of locals whom we enjoyed talking with in the bar.
Misty went with us to a wonderful musical, “Little Shop of Horrors”, at the Peoria Players Theatre. The singing, acting and set design were all spectacular. This was the best play we’ve seen at a community theatre!
We went through two locks today, the Dresden Lock and the Marseilles Lock. We rafted up to Star Dust in the Marseilles lock as there were other Loopers wanting to lock through and only two floating bollards. We passed several barges and saw several bald eagles along the way. Heritage Harbor is a wonderful marina! They had a couple of loaner cars and we took one with Misty and Darrel to go to town for lunch. The DockMaster at the marina gave an excellent overview of the route from here to Paducah (about 360 miles) and provided several options for overnight stays. The water level on the Illinois River is currently low so several of the anchorages listed in the books are not viable options.
Dresden LockRafted up to Star Dust in the Marseilles LockKevin impatiently waiting for a Looper that was a good bit behind us to make it to the lockDuck House at the marina
Add cruising through downtown Chicago to our ever-growing list of favorite things on the Loop! It was truly spectacular!
It was a very long day and rained most of the day after we had cleared Chicago. We went through three locks and had to wait a very long time at two of them for tow traffic to clear. We had planned to stay overnight at the Joliet free wall but were concerned there may not be room for both Perfect Match and Star Dust so we decided to go further to Wilmington. In all, it took us over 11 hours to go 55.5 miles!
Leaving the Columbia Yacht Club at 6:21AMEntering Chicago Harbor Lock
Since many of the buildings on our cruise down the Chicago River were also posted in the previous post, we will just post the photos of our cruise through Chicago here with no comments or captions. Interspersed throughout are pictures of Perfect Match taken by Star Dust whom we were following. There was also a rowing race going through the city.
Once we got through downtown Chicago, we passed the St. Charles Air Line Bridge and the Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge which both had to be lifted for us to pass.
St. Charles Air Line BridgePennsylvania Railroad Bridge
Next up was the Lockport Lock where several of us tied up to a barge to lock through – in the rain!
Misty throwing a line to a tow operatorStar Dust leaving the lock and the barge we were tied up to.
The next lock was the Brandon Road Lock which had floating bollards that we put one of our lines around and, as the water level went down, the bollard went down with us.
We are starting to see a lot of tow traffic. The tow below is one of the smaller tows. Usually, the tow is moving 15 barges (5 long and 3 across) which can carry 1,500 tons each. On these, the entire tow and barge is 105 feet wide and 1,100 feet long. They move at eight miles per hour and can take a full hour to come to a stop. Tow boat operators live on the tows while working and generally work 21 days straight and then have 21 days off.
We arrived at Harborside Marina and had dinner with Misty and Darrel at the Big Fish Grille. We stayed another day due to rain and Misty and Darrel taught us how to play the card game “Pitch”.
Columbia Yacht Club is the most unique marina where we have stayed. Columbia Yacht Club has been in existence since 1892.The clubhouse is now housed inside a 1947 Canadian icebreaker ferry, Abegweit, which means “Cradled on the Waves”. Columbia Yacht Club purchased Abegweit in 1983 and moved her from Nova Scotia to Chicago.
We enjoyed a delicious lunch on the veranda outside of the dining room.
We took a short bike ride on the Lakefront Trail which runs between Lake Michigan and Lakeshore Drive. We stopped at Buckingham Fountain, one of the largest fountains in the world and also stopped at Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears.
Buckingham FountainSoldier Field
We took panoramic night tour of the city with Misty.
The Chicago Water Tower is Chicago’s most treasured landmarks. It was completed in 1869 and is one of the few buildings to survive the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
The Chicago Water TowerPumping Station for the Water TowerChicago TheatreChicago Board of Trade BuildingField Museum
Below is Ellen’s favorite nighttime photo. Much to the dismay of Kevin, she and Misty risked life and limb to get to the other side of the bridge to take this picture!
The next day we had delicious Chicago Deep Dish Pizza at Giordano’s:
After pizza, we hopped on the Big Bus again for a daytime tour of the city.
Wrigley BuildingTribune TowerWrigley Building and Tribune TowerThe Chicago Water TowerMarina City – condos on top, parking on bottom and a small marina underneath. One of these buildings was used in the opening of the Bob Newhart Show!Chicago TheatreMural by Eduardo Kobra of Muddy Waters, one of the city’s best known musiciansWillis TowerGlass boxes at the top of Willis Tower where you can step out on the ledge 1,353 feet in the air – “No, thank you!”Flag flown at half mast in honor of Queen Elizabeth who passed away on September 8.The Art Institute of Chicago – we wish we would have had time to tour this museum!Hilton ChicagoThe St. Regis Chicago, the world’s tallest structure designed by a woman, has open floors near the top to prevent the tower from swaying.Boats waiting to enter exit the Chicago River to Lake Michigan at the Chicago Lock
Windmill Island Gardens is home to De Zwaan windmill which is the only authentic windmill operating in the United States as well as the last windmill to leave The Netherlands. De Zwann (the Swan) was built in the Netherlands in 1884. The dismantling of the windmill began in 1964 and its seven thousand pieces weighing sixty-six tons were brought to the U.S. and reconstructed over a period of six months. The Gardens still grind flour in the windmill from wheat grown in Michigan.
De Zwaan Windmill
In 1947, the city of Amsterdam gifted the city of Holland a 1928 organ which had played in the streets of Breda, Rotterdam and Amsterdam. The organ, as well as a hand painted Dutch carousel, were given to the city of Holland in gratitude for the role of the United States in liberating The Netherlands in World War II.
De Vier Kolommen (The Four Columns) organ
Windmill Island is also home to several Fresian horses. Fresian horses originated in the Dutch province of Friesland. The breed dates back to medieval times when they were used to carry knights in battle. They are one of the world’s most expensive breeds and they are often used in Hollywood movies. There are only about 8,000 registered Fresian horses in the U.S.
Dutch village with replicas of buildings found in the Netherlands from the 1840’s.Downtown HollandDowntown Holland
We drove over to Saugatuck as this was a town where we had intended to stay but were not able to as we could not get a slip reserved. It was quite crowded as it was Labor Day weekend. We enjoyed sitting on a bench and watching all of the boat traffic, had lunch and walked around the town.
The Saugatuck Chain Ferry crosses the Kalamazoo River. The original chain ferry was built in 1857 and used until the 1940’s. The Chain Ferry is powered by a crew member or passenger cranking a handle at the center of the vessel. The chain is attached to each river bank and fed through a sprocket which pulls the ferry through the water. Saugatuck’s chain ferry is the last hand-cranked ferry in the United States.
Fricano’s Pizza, opened in 1949, is touted as the original and most famous pizzeria in Michigan.
We took a week off and flew home to Atlanta to visit family!
Back in Grand Haven, we went to the beautiful Musical Fountain. The Musical Fountain has been playing nightly from Memorial Day through Labor Day since 1962.
The show was interrupted for several minutes while this huge freighter passed through the harbor. We couldn’t even fit the whole thing in the picture as it was about twice this long!
Manistee North Pierhead LighthouseBig Sable Point Lighthouse, 1867
The S.S. Badger was originally built to ferry railroad cars across Lake Michigan and did so until 1990. It has provided passenger and vehicle ferry service between Michigan and Wisconsin since 1953. The trip is 60 miles and takes four hours. The Badger is the last coal-fired passenger steamship in the U.S. and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2016.
