We started the day waiting for a front to pass by, and when it cleared, we moved Lucky Us to the fuel dock to fill her up and get the obligatory pump out. Once we finished these deeds we headed north to Grafton Harbor in Grafton, IL, which is a short jaunt of only 15.8 miles. The photo at the right shows the gray skies as we departed. The Alton Marina is behind the high stone breakwater. The breakwater provided excellent protection from current and debris, bit it blocked any view of the river from Lucky Us.
We went close to downtown Alton as we headed up our last stretch of the Mississippi River. The photo at left shows part of the downtown area that starts at river edge and goes uphill. There are numerous restaurants and bars along with some old warehouses (or manufacturing plants). There is a treed park that has statues of Lincoln and Douglas and commemorates one of their historic debates here in Alton.
Just to the left of the photo above is a casino with an old riverboat casino and other floating restaurants on barges(photo at right).
In the background at the left of the above photo and in the photo at the left there is a large complex of silos and a grain milling operation. Grain and or flour is transported out via barge and truck. I think that the dark splotches on the silos are just damp spots from all of the recent rain.
There is a very scenic road along the Illinois (east) side of the river. Part of the scenery is the river, but on Lucky Us we got a great view of these limestone cliffs that also tower over the road below. The water is deep right up to the road and tows take rest stops just feet away from the road, which would further enhance the scenic highway.
Kind of in the middle of nowhere there is this shrine of "Our Lady of the Rivers" that is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was erected after a flood failed to reach the town of Portage des Sioux, Missouri in 1951. Today the shrine is also used in the annual blessing of the fleet. It is quite a beautiful (and unexpected) sight right on the waters edge.
As we got close to Grafton, we got a nice panoramic view of the area. There are condos on the waterfront at the right and in the hills above the town. The large waterfront structure in the middle is the Loading Zone Restaurant and Bar. I am pretty sure that the name (Loading Zone) refers more to the bar than the restaurant... On the far left the long roofs on the waterfront
our the covered slips at out destination for today - Grafton Marina.
We had
several unsuccessful attempts at pumping out the holding tank before we left Alton, and we finally gave
up and headed for Grafton. When we arrived at the marina in Grafton, we tried
again, but again we were unsuccessful. So...yuck! We have to do some more serious trouble
shooting because our normal "cure" snaking the hose did not solve the
problem. In the meantime it will mean walking to the marina's restrooms - no
big deal. That is harder to handle when we are underway so we hope to get this
resolved while in Grafton! We will be taking advantage of the marina's special rate of 6 nights for the price of 4. We have been pushing fairly hard for the last six days, and we need some time to rest. As mentioned above, we have some delayed maintenance issues to deal with. Fortunately, Grafton, as indicated by all of the condos in the last photo, has become quite a nice little resort town without all of the "plastic" chain restaurants and souvenir stores. So, we plan to work, eat and sleep very well.
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