We headed out of the Alton Marina about 8:30 after a call to
the Mel Price Lockmaster to see when he might be locking pleasure craft
through. We were told to come on down
and let any other boats in the marina know that he would wait 10 minutes after
our arrival for any other boats that might want to get through quickly. Otherwise, there would be a long wait. We alerted two other boats we knew were
planning on leaving Alton this morning and they hustled to accompany us through
the lock.
It was an easy ride with the four knot current pushing us
along. We breezed through the second
(and last lock) of the day before passing the St. Louis Arch. An awesome guy who we met in Grafton and works in St. Louis had offered to grab some screen shots of the live cam overlooking the arch as Observer went by. Thanks, Jim...very cool!!
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| Observer is in the lower left of this of the next 3 photos off the railing |
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| the man in the frame is a statue |
We arrived at the (in)famous Hoppies at 2:00. Wow, is this place a trip.
It reminds me of Logston Tow Service with a
healthy dose of Fern thrown in. Fern and
her husband, Hoppie, are the proprietors of this place which is essentially three old rusty broken down barges attached with rope and chain to the
shoreline. It is decorated with old engines, an ancient telephone booth and other interesting relics. They charge $1.50 / foot
which thankfully includes electric (hot electric, mind you) and no other
amenities. The price is well worth it,
though, because for the last 43 years, Fern has been holding court at 4:30
every afternoon for all the boaters to come listen to her river talk. She is a wealth of information for all things
“river” including the best anchorages, best marinas, water hazards, tow captain
etiquette, fuel stops, good restaurants, everything! She basically outlines the entire river
system from her place all the way to Mobile, Alabama. She is the ultimate river rat!
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| Fern's house, protected by a canon |
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| Fern in blue shirt mobilizes by golf cart |
We were able to hoist our radar arch back up onto its proper
position with the help of a neighboring boater and this allowed us to watch TV
for the first time in weeks. Dinner was
a satisfying meal of beef quesadillas and then into bed early anticipating an
early start in the morning.
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| Observer at Hoppies at sunset |
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