History with a Maine Connection

We experienced the Arch by land and...

Anytime we travel, whether by boat or car, Molly and I always seem to be more conscious than we would be at home of the history around us.  The confluence of two mighty rivers, the Missouri and the Mississippi, is such a place.

by sea.  We traveled with two other
boats and took turns taking each
other's picture.

In 1803 the residents of St. Louis started the weekend as citizens of Spain, slept as citizens of France and woke up as citizens of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase.  We learned that overnight women lost the right to buy and sell property, and blacks lost the right to buy freedom from their masters.   The stage was also set for St. Louis to become the gateway to western expansion.  President Jefferson got Congress to agree to fund the Lewis and Clark expedition with the goal to explore and catalog the new lands, seek the Northwest Passage (that didn’t exist) and claim Oregon for the US.

The white line shows the Lewis and Clark Route while the darkened area is the Louisana Purchase.  Note that Oregon
was still unclaimed by any world power.  Of course, little thought was given to the Native Americans there and elsewhere.

Monument to Lewis and Clark at the
confluence of the Mississippi and the
Missouri Rivers.

Cohokia Indian Mound.

Along the Lewis and Clark trail there are over 50 museums commemorating their journey, and while in Alton, IL, we rented a car and visited three of them.  In our travels, we also stumbled on the Cahokia Mounts National Monument where a thousand years ago the Cahokia Indians built large earthen mounds of several acres and up to 4 levels raising 100 feet over the otherwise flat terrain.  The parking lot here was filled with school buses signifying, perhaps, the importance of exposing school children to one of the few examples in America of the existence and capabilities of Native Americans who lived at a time called here “prehistory.”

The expansion of the United States brought to the forefront the Slavery Question, would a new state be slave or free?   The Missouri Compromise of 1820 brought in Maine as a free state in 1820 and Missouri as a slave state in 1821.  Abolitionists and slave supporters began flocking west in hopes of influencing the future direction to slave or non-slave. 

Monument to Elijah Lovejoy in Alton, IL.

One such person was Elijah Lovejoy, born in Albion, Maine and came to Alton, IL as both a Presbyterian minister and newspaper publisher.  He preached in nearby St. Charles, MO, and was run out of town for his abolitionist views.  Three times his Alton printing presses were dumped in the Mississippi River following his antislavery commentaries, and on the fourth time this happened a mob killed him as he tried to protect his press. This happened in 1837, and Lovejoy has been called “the first casualty of the Civil War.”

We visited St. Louis, touring the impressive Anheuser-Busch Plant,  seeing the Cubs-Cards game at Busch Stadium and visiting the national park with the Arch and the nearby Old Courthouse.  The recently named The Arch National Park was very impressive, both at dusk and in the morning.  The Old Courthouse was the site of the Dred Scott case which petitioned the courts to allow his family freedom since they had lived for a time in a free state.  This famous case took a decade to pass through the courts until the US Supreme Court ruled in 1958 that the word “citizen” in our Constitution only referred to “whites.”  This further inflamed the tensions of the day, leading to the Civil War.

View of the Old Courthouse from the Arch.

We toured the Clydesdale stable at
the brewery.

Their were many Cubs
fans in town for the game.
They were greeted at
our hotel with this.

Depiction of St. Louis waterfront  in 1850.

 While touring Alton we visited the square and statues commemorating the last 1860 presidential debate between Lincoln and Douglas.  Lincoln had an antislavery platform (“A house divided cannot stand”) whereas Douglas promoted states’ rights to decide the question. While Douglas had defeated Lincoln in the 1858 US Senate race,  Douglas only carried two states in the 1860 presidential election, Missouri and New Jersey. 

Robert Wadlow was still growing
at the time of his death at age 22.

Another local landmark was the 8’ 11” life-sized statue of Robert Wadlow, the world’s tallest man.  He was born and lived in Alton and died at the age of 22 from an untreated infection.  He was still growing at the time of his death.  Finally, we could not depart Alton without eating twice at the very popular Fast Eddies, where $3 will get you a half pound burger and fries. 

At Fast Eddies with Looper friends Jay and Barb Morrow.

This institution was started by Anheuser-Busch before breweries were prohibited from operating restaurants and retail establishments.  The restaurant was sold in 1931 during Prohibition, and has been owned by only 2 families since then.

We were in a covered slip for the first time at Alton Marina.

While at the Alton Marina for four nights, we met and/or reacquainted ourselves with fellow Loopers, often over docktails by the pool.  Early on September 29^th we departed with two other boats to make the 200-mile trip down the Mississippi to the Ohio and then 50 miles up to Paducah, KY, the next available gas stop.  Fortunately, the 5-6 mph current in the Mississippi helped ensure that we would arrive with gas to spare.

We are now into our 4th consecutive day of 90+ degree temperatures.  Fortunately, Paducah

Just one of many outstanding displays at the
 National Quilt Museum.

 is a wonderful town with many restaurants and shops along with the National Quilt Museum and Hancock's of Paducah.  October 2nd was Molly's birthday, and we celebrated with visits to the Museum and Hancock's.  The Museum was unbelievable.

Molly was overjoyed to be at
Hancock's of Perducah to
purchase her birthday present.

This was one of the fascinating
quilts at the Museum as the face
can only be seen in small images
and is best viewed through
a camera lens.

At the Paducah dock.  We are the 2nd boat from the left and
most always the smallest boat around.

Illinois River, Locks and... its the little things

We were the only boat on the Chicago River.

Bill and I left Chicago on 9/15 after an amazing few days in this glorious city.  So I humbly confess that I have been an ocean snob.  Wrong!  Chicago is laid out along Lake Michigan, and the Lake and Chicago River are integral to life here in this “inland” Midwestern City.  Thousands of boats line the waterfront, sailboat races are almost nightly, and the waterfront parks attract walkers, runners and bikers.  We leave the Great Lakes with so much respect and admiration.

A fellow Looper captured our boat
on the Illinois River.

So we set out early on a foggy Sunday morning and for ten or so minutes, faced the wildest waters we have yet seen on this trip. We safely made it through the Chicago lock and the entrance to the Chicago River which took us right through downtown, under 18 bridges, past historic buildings and glittering sky scrapers. The fog finally lifted as we passed the Sears (Willis) Tower.

There is a section of the Illinois River electrified to keep
Asian Carp out of the Great Lakes.  

As the skyscrapers fade away, huge industrial facilities begin to come into view in notable contrast. The river is no longer green blue, but is now a dark, opaque brown.  It is known as the Illinois Waterway with several named rivers before becoming the Illinois River.  We have 5 locks to get through before the locks close for two weeks for repairs.  Many fellow loopers are in the same race.  We are in communication with these boats by VHF radio and with an app called NEBO.  We have this last race to run before we can finally slow down and not be in a rush.  We got through the Lockport Lock, the first of these 5 locks,  and then spent the night rafted to another Looper boat against the Joliet wall. The wall has a capacity of only 12 or so boats, but we are doubled up since no recreational boats were allowed through the locks today.  Getting through the next four locks is now a challenge, as we are competing with river barges which are also trying to beat the lock closures.

Thus was the view from our roof of our Looper caravan
of boats in the Brandon Lock on the Illinois River.

The next morning, 2 of the Looper boat captains have taken charge of this caravan. They are in communication with the lockmasters and with each of us and are organizing how we can fit efficiently into these 600’ x100’ locks, the first one being Brandon Lock.  We have a green light for a 6:30 am departure.  Kudos to these two captains, as they calmly repeated instructions multiple times to these sometimes nervous pleasure boat captains. Our little boat was called to the front of the pack. Ultimately, about 28 boats fit in beautifully, rafted together in rows of 5 or 6 boats. This whole process took about 3 hours. Then on to Dresden Lock.  We got to the dam and had to wait on anchor for an hour or two to be called for passage. This time, the lockmaster only allowed 12 boats in, leaving the remainder of the boats to wait another few hours for the next opening.  We went through in the first group because our small boat allowed us to be right down front in the lock.

We didn't take this picture of Asian Carp, but I wanted to give
you an idea of what these fish can do,.

That day we made it through 1 more lock, Marseilles Lock, with Bill being the 12-boat convoy contact with the lockmaster.  We  finally tied up at the town dock in Ottawa, Illinois.  We had done 3 locks and 48 miles in 11 hours.  Coming into this dock, we turned up into a rapid current of a small river dumping into the Illinois.  As we are coming in, and I am outside the boat preparing the lines, I hear something huge fall off the top of the boat.  As I am trying to figure out what fell, I then see a huge fish leaping about 8’out of the water next to our boat. Maybe I screamed? Anyway, we get tied up to this rickety dock with the help of the couple already tied and he explains that we have seen an Asian carp, an invasive species that is a terrible nuisance in the Illinois. Look this up on YouTube and you will understand why I might have screamed.  Apparently they were stirred up by our outboard motor, and it is not uncommon for these fish to jump into boats.

The lower half of the Illinois River is serene and sparsely populated.

The next morning, we get through the last of the 5, Starved Rock Lock, with little difficulty.  We immediately turn on our 10 hp motor and raise our big motor.  We had been speeding along so far to stay up with the pack. We can finally slow down, stop racing the clock, or the tricky waves on Lake Michigan, or the lock closures.  As a fellow Looper put it, we feel like we have broken out of prison. Now, everyone can pass us. Our focus on the Illinois had been getting through, and we had not been terribly focused on where we were or what we were seeing. This all now changed.

Here I am in the courtroom where
Lincoln (see painting) argued the
famous Almanac Trial.

Many houses in Hardin were
surrounded by sandbags but still
severely damaged by the flood.

Our eyes were now opened to our surroundings. We hadn’t gotten off our boat in our lock race. We now got off most every day to see the little river towns, see the sites that the locals are proud of, eat the local fare and meet a few very kind people. We can tell you that Abe was everywhere along the Illinois. He won the famous Almanac Trial in Beardstown and represented clients throughout this section of Illinois.  There will be more on Lincoln in our next post.

The donuts were the best!

We had amazing fresh doughnuts from the Mexican Bakery in Beardstown. We had the best dinner of our trip at Mel’s Illinois River Dock Restaurant  in Hardin.

Houses up against the river are on stilts.

We talked to the locals about last spring’s flooding and levee breech resulting in the River rising 40 feet.  The bridge that services this close-knit town was closed for over two months, and the main road through town was only passable after it was raised many feet with gravel. 

Logsdon Tug Service rents out dock space amongst all its
gear and commercial activity.  Salty Paws is dwarfed by
its surroundings.

The ramp to the dock at Mel's Restaurant is not something
that we crossed in confidence, but we loved the town.

We tied up to a barge operation in Beardstown that words can’t describe. We will just say that this dock would have been condemned in Maine, and probably most anywhere else.  People we talked to were so friendly and welcoming. Some of the accents we heard (We don’t have accents in Maine!) were almost not interpretable.

Fortunately, the barge traffic was very light.  Here we
moved to "left descending bank" to await the middle
barge to pass between the two stationary barges. 

The River winds gently downstream. It is remarkable what you can see when you are cruising at a slow 7 mph. We saw countless birds, including eagles, white pelicans, white and blue herons and ducks. Trees come right up to river, with an occasional opening where we could see what was either rich farmland or grass growing in the levees no longer filled with water because of the breach.  We saw almost no houses or other buildings along the River.

We passed an occasional barge, but the traffic seemed to be slow, perhaps due to the lock closures. We always reached out to the tow captains asking if we could pass them on our  “ones” (our port) or the “twos” (our starboard) and they were always kind and respectful.

One of the most magical times of our cruise happened as we were about to leave the Illinois River to join the Mississippy.  We passed throug a migration of white pelicans.  There had to be thousands of them.  They fly in V or line formation and were filling the river and banks ahead of us.  Absolutely breath taking.  Now, on to the Mississippi.

White pelicans in flight.  60% of the migrating birds in North
America are said to follow the Mississippi south.

More white pelicans, or pellies as we call these beautiful, distinctive birds.

Time seems to stand still in many of these small communities.

I got a little nervous when this tug pulled up and stopped just
a foot or two shy of hitting Salty Paws.

The barges are all 35' by 105' and 15 can be rafted together,
3 across by 5 long.  The ones here are empty and secured to
the shore waiting new assignments once the locks re-open
on October 5th.  We passed hundreds of these stationary
barges.

There are few houses right on the Illinois River, and those
that do exist are on stilts.

Let's Get to Chicago!

Our boat at sunset in Leland, MI Harbor

The forecast called for 20 knot winds out of the west with gusts to 25-30 knots and 4 to 7 foot seas.  This is a day to stay in harbor.   Over the last two weeks we have repeated this multiple times as Lake Michigan hasn’t been particularly cooperative.  Originally, we wanted to cross the Lake to experience Door County in Wisconsin, but that is now out of the question.  We are sticking to the eastern shore of the Lake in Michigan.  We feel under a little time pressure as we want to reach Chicago in time to enjoy the City and still make it through the Illinois River locks before they close for two weeks of maintenance on September 20^th.  Schedules aren’t good on the water.

Fishtown shop.

Fishtown boat and nets.

We used our extra time in Leland to explore this summer community.  Leland is home to Fishtown, the last surviving commercial fishing port on Lake Michigan as declining fish stocks wiped out all the others.  To maintain its viability, about two thirds of the numerous wooden fish houses now house various tourist shops.  Another Leland draw is Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, one of the most beautiful spots in Michigan.  The Park is twenty miles outside of town, however.  How could we get there?

Walking up Sleeping Bear Dune.
Glen Lake is in the background.

Are we there yet?

We make it to the Lake Michigan.

This part of Michigan is still rural.  There is no Uber or Lyft, and the nearest rental car is 25 miles away in Traverse City.  Fortunately, we found retired business owner Johnnie who runs a pickup service when he wants to work.  Johnnie picked us up in his Cadillac and served as our tour guide.  After a tour of town, he dropped us off at Sleeping Bear, telling us to take whatever time we needed.  We had no idea what to expect.  Walking barefoot and being misled by many false peaks, we trudged 2 miles, finally reached the shores of Lake Michigan.   Our round trip took close to two hours.  Johnnie must have taken a nap, and he was there waiting for us.  We have seen the large sand dunes on Cape Cod, but nothing compares to the dunes in Michigan.  They encompass most all of the eastern lakeshore and are often miles wide.  Sleeping Bear is the tallest, rising 450 feet about Lake Michigan. 

Sleeping Bear Dune from the water.

This is a beautiful state, but this Lake is beginning to wear on Molly.  Let’s just get to Chicago, and damn the gas mileage.  [Our boat gets 5 miles per gallon at 6 mph, 3 miles per gallon at 8 mpg and 1.2 miles per gallon at 20-25 miles per gallon.]  We leave all the Looper cruiser friends made to-date as they mostly have slow trawlers.  They will have to go down the Illinois River in October. 

Sunrise in the Les Cheneaux
Islands

We motored past  Mackinac Island
but didn't stop as we had visited before.

Our typical days on the water had been four hours to go 30 miles or so.  Now it is 5 or 6 hours to go 100 miles.  The pictures capture some of our stops, and now we find ourselves in Benton Harbor, 60 miles across the Lake from Chicago.  We anchor for two nights in the St. Joseph River, waiting for the latest gale to pass.  Finally, there is a one-day window opening on Wednesday (9/10) to cross to Chicago.

Finally got warm enough again to have cocktails on the bow
in Benton Harbor.

We are motoring out the River by 7 am, only to be stopped by the usually raised railroad bridge that is now lowered for a passing train.  After a 30 minute wait, we are finally on our way.

Happy to be in Chicago!

The Lake is cooperative, and three hours later the Chicago skyline towers over our boat.  What a sight.  We get a mooring in Monroe Harbor at the base of Millennium Park and the city center.  A call on our marine radio quickly brings out the launch boat to take us ashore.  Four days and nights later we have walked 30 miles and had a great sampling of the City - the River Walk modeled after San Antonio's,  the Art Institute, Lou Malnati’s Pizza, Adler Planetarium, Portillo’s Hot Dogs, Architectural Tour on a Chicago River cruise boat, the various city center parks, Navy Pier and the Centennial Ferris Wheel, Buckingham Fountain and the Red Line to a Cubs game.  Our pictures are below.

Chicago is the Windy City not because of its wind [although that would be fitting], but because its politicians a century or so ago didn't know when to stop talking about the virtues of their city.  According to legend that is why that got to host both the 1897 and the 1933 World Expos in the United States before many other cities hosted even one.

We just got picked up by the launch boat.

We are now starting down the rivers while our Looper friends remain stuck in various Lake Michigan ports due to the weather.  [One forecast had 13 foot seas in the open Lake.]  Today we entered the lock that separates Lake Michigan from the Chicago River, which used to flow into the Lake and now flows in the opposite direction.  As one tour guide noted, Chicago’s pollution used to end up in Lake Michigan.  Now it flows south to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico!  And, so will we.

While in Chicago we joined
24 other Loopers for Docktails.

Chagall's American Windows at the
Art Institute.

On the Architectural River Boat Cruise.

Everyone knows this -
American Gothic by
Grant Wood.

The game was a slugfest with Cubs winning 17-8.

Chicago's deep dish pizza.

Picasso's gift to Chicago.

Everyone calls it the Bean in Millennium Park, but to the
artist it is the Cloudy Gate.

Buckingham Fountain.

At the top of the Ferris Wheel.

The Cenntenial Ferris Wheel.

Candid shot of the Captain by the
Admiral in the Chicago River,

Willis Tower, still referred to by most as
The Sears Tower, was still in the clouds as
we left Chicago.

Salty Paws starting down the Chicago River.

Don't go swimming here.  Electric  shock is used to keep
invasive fish species like Carp from getting to the Great Lakes.

Here Salty Paws waits for the barge to pass between two stationary barges in the Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal
that connects the Chicago River and the Illinois River.

Piles of sand and other building materials and the barges that carry this material line the banks once we leave Chicago.

Recreational boats are given the lowest priority on the Illinois River locks.  Commerce is king.