Day: 90
NM Today: 37
NM Total:
1833
Locks Today:
2
Locks Total:
80
Because we
wanted to lock through with Kat in the
Hatt, we left Alton at 7:30 to head for the Mel Price Lock. I have seen sunrise on this trip more times
than I have during the rest of my life. Their
beauty is the best part of getting up so early.
The trip to
the lock from the Alton marina was very short and because Kat in the Hatt called ahead, the wait at the lock was short. As we approached the lock, I saw a very long
barge that had just exited the lock. In
one of the Illinois River locks, the barge would have been broken down into two
parts to lock through. The Mel Price
lock on the Mississippi is large enough to take the barge as is. As a little pleasure boat we felt very small
in such a large lock. Two other boats
and a small-sized barge locked through with us, and there was still room for
more.
 |
| Mel Price Lock |
 |
| Bollard used to secure boat to lock wall - it floats up / down inside the wall and we go along for the ride |
Several
miles downriver, on the path to our destination for the day, we saw the point
where the Missouri River and the Mississippi River come together.
 |
| Missouri River Mississippi River Confluence |
 |
| Canal view |
At the end
of the canal we passed through the “Chain of Rocks” Lock and back into the
Mississippi River proper. You know you
are on the Mississippi when …
 |
| Riverboat on the Mississippi |
With heavy barge
traffic, debris in the water, and turbulence stirring the river, Clark and I
took turns driving the boat and taking pictures. I got my shots on my phone camera for
Facebook and then took over the helm, so Clark could get busy with the blog
camera.
 |
| St Louis, Missouri - Arch |
The 3 to 4
knot current downriver helped us arrive at Kimmswick, Missouri by 12:30. At one point I looked at the boat’s “Speed
Over Ground” on the display unit and saw 12 knots. Only about 7.6 knots of that speed was due to
our power, the rest was current.
The marina
at Kimmswick is called Hoppies and has been in business on the river since the
early 1930s. Every day at
this time of year, a number of looper boats line up along the barges that
comprise Hoppies marina. Our boat is tied
to a barge towards the end, so our walk to the off ramp takes us across
multiple barges with some of the most hazardous terrain imaginable. Carpets are draped over the connections
between barges to facilitate walking and the driving of golf carts over the
barge connections. Hoses and electric
cables litter the barges. In the middle
of it all is a phone booth, a coffee table, and a collection of chairs.
 |
| "Hoppies" Conference Room |
Upon arrival
at the marina, I asked Fern about restroom facilities, and she directed me to the
back of a shed. After walking the length
of the barges to the ramp and climbing up the steep driveway, I found the shed
and a metal bar propped against the door to keep the door closed. I moved the metal bar, opened the door, and
peered inside only to see a collection of marina equipment. I decided that I must be in the wrong place,
so I closed the door, put the metal rod support back in place, and walked around
the lot looking for the restroom.
Not a sole
appeared as I walked so I could not ask for further clarification. It did
not take long, however, for me to decide that I must have been right the first
time, so I bravely went back to the shed, removed the metal rod, opened the
door and walked in. This time, since I
had actually walked into the shed, I could see a small white room off in the
far right corner. As I made my way
across the shed, I saw the commode and sink hiding back there.
The
proprietress, Fern, gives a daily readout of what to expect on the remainder of
the Mississippi and the Ohio Rivers. She
told us that her council meeting would be held at 4:00, so because we had time before
the get together, Clark and I headed into town for lunch and a look
around.
First we ate
at The Blue Owl and had a great meal.
They only serve breakfast and lunch, but the food was excellent. The strawberry salad with candied almonds and
poppy-seed dressing that I ate was fabulous.
Clark had his heart set on a slice of their strawberry rhubarb pie for
dessert but left disappointed because they sold out earlier in the day. I was already full from lunch and I should
not have indulged, but when I saw “root beer float” as one of the ice cream
choices at the sweet shop next door, I had to have it. Surprisingly, it tasted just like a root beer
float in an ice cream cone.
Over the
past couple of weeks I heard several times that Kimmswick was a cute / nice
little town. It came as a big surprise
that it was a town capitalizing on its preserved history to bring in tourists
from all over the world. The town
population in 2010 was 157 people according to Wikipedia. It looked to me like every one of them had a
gift shop open for business. On each
street corner stood a sign listing the shops and businesses in each direction.
As we
strolled past the shops we found many buildings from times past in a variety of
architectures. The ones shown below were
among the oldest we found.
 |
| “Kimmswick c. 1876” |
On one street corner we found some interesting
workmanship in the form of a carved tree trunk showing a woman brewing apple
butter, a product for which Kimmswick is famous. Every year they have an apple butter festival
in town.
 |
| Apple Butter Tree Carving |
Even though it is still September, everywhere we looked we saw Halloween decorations. It would appear that everyone in town gets into the spirit and decorates for the seasons. For a town interested in tourism, it made a nice touch.
To make our
4:00 appointment with Fern to hear about the river, we headed back to the boat
around 3:30. On our way back we passed
by the Anheuser Memorial Estate (Anheuser Busch) and, although we didn’t see
Clydesdales, we did see horses on the estate.
 |
| Anheuser Memorial Estate |
Fern’s
meeting started somewhere around 4:30 with representatives from multiple looper
boats in attendance. We said hello to
some familiar faces and met some new loopers whom we had not seen previously. Clark and I took copious notes as Fern gave
her readout.
 |
| Fern (in black) holding her meeting |
After the readout we sat and talked to the other
loopers until almost dark which translates into 7:00 p.m. here in the Central
time zone. At that time the “party”
broke up so that we could go back to our boats and find dinner before full
dark. All the shops and restaurants in
the town closed by 4:00 so dinner on board was the only option available. Since we had a large amount of food to eat at
lunchtime, I kept it simple for dinner and we had hot dogs.
No comments:
Post a Comment