September 9 - 20 / Day 111 - 122 / Grafton to Alton

Sat. 9/09 beautiful morning in Grafton. This is a 1969 Chris Craft in beautiful condition that pulled in next to us last night.

We hung around til 'Art in the Park' opened to check out the offerings of local artists. Left the dock about 11:30 and made our way down the Mississippi River 15 miles or so to Alton, IL.

This is a very large (180 boats or so) marina. We have a covered slip which keeps us out of the sun and rain.

We topped off our fuel and got a pump out at the fuel dock and later joined Betsy & Steve on Heaven to Betsy at the marina restaurant for lunch. We took a walk over to the amphitheater where they were setting up a Jazz concert / wine event / art show but there was no relief over there from the sun. On the way back we stopped by to see some Loopers we had not seen since Meldrum Bay, Ontario - John & Sandy of Sea Scape. We made plans to get together tomorrow evening.

There was a large family party going on just outside of the marina with a great band. We enjoyed the music from our slip (under cover). Alice went up to the party later and tried to buy a CD from the band (they were that good). She left empty handed but with some contact info.

Sunday 9/10- took a bike ride on yet another great bike trail - up to and past our next lock: Mel Price Lock and Dam. It is considerably larger than anything we've come across thus far. We took a long walk around town with Millie.

A shaded garden outside a church where we stopped to cool down during our walk

You won't die of thirst in this town; lots of restaurants and bars but not much else in the way of commerce. We joined up with John and Sandy for dinner at Morrison's Irish Pub and caught up with them on their travels since we've last seen them. Great food and company

Dollar bills signed by customers on the ceiling at Morrison's

Local patrons who get together weekly to sing Irish shanties and folk songs

Monday 9/11 Betsy & Steve from Heavens to Betsy rented a car for a couple days and offered to share it with us. We all went into St. Louis and did some some tourist hit list things. First stop, The St. Louis Arch:

View from the top

Another view looking out at Busch Stadium, home of the Cardinals

I liked the reflection of the arch on this building

Cathedral of Basilica of Saint Louis:

Part of the ceiling

Missouri Botanical Garden:

It was all great!

Tues. 9/12 we used the rental car to pick up some oil for the next oil change at NAPA and then did a run to the grocery store. We joined Betsy & Steve for another trip into town for the Cardinals / Reds game at Busch Stadium. Our tickets were $35 each for the lower section just beyond 3rd base (a bit more reasonable than Fenway). It was a great night to enjoy a game.

Notice the St. Louis Arch behind us

Great seats!

Fredbird, the Cardinal's Mascot

9/14 – 9/20 Tim left early this morning to catch a plane home for a week to catch up on work and attend some important meetings. This left Millie and me to brave the 90+ degree heat and heavy humidity while he was gone. Our days were filled with boat chores, catching up on computer related tasks, reading, and baking in the air conditioning interspersed with quick walks outside. I did go to the farmer's market and thehairdresser's as well as the dog park a few times, but that was about it. The evenings offered a little relief and I attended a poolside pizza party, helped organize a large looper docktail party, and enjoyed a few dinners out with friends.

Tim returned on the 20^th and we joined Hour Plan, Shell Belle and Goldin for a fabulous meal at Gentelin’s. We said our goodbyes after dinner as we will be heading out down the river in the morning while these folks won't be leaving until Saturday. We will look forward to seeing them further downstream.