On the Road (River) Again - Day 13 - Alton, IL to Kimmswick, MO

Leaving Alton we embark on the more primitive part of the journey; a 351 mile multi day run that will get us to the next full service marina; Green Turtle Bay Marina in Kentucky Lake.  Today's segment  covered the first 44 miles and ended at "Hoppies" a unique stop on known to all Loopers.

We departed to our 13th perfect day; sunny skies and warm temperatures.  Our initial destination was the Mel Price Lock that we had visited as tourists the day before.  Recall that the lock was only two miles south of the Alton Marina and the view from our front window.  We called the Lockmaster from the marina to check for traffic.  He said "come on down and set up for a port tie."

Ten minutes later we entered the lock, tied up to another floating bollard (real easy) and nine minutes later we had dropped another 23 feet.

A large abandoned riverboat casino

An hour later we arrived at Lock 27, the last lock on the Mississippi for us.  After a 43 minute wait for an upbound tow to exit the lock we entered the lock and dropped another 12 feet.  This time the lockmaster let us float making the transition absolutely painless.

The Tom Saywer, a paddle wheeler, waiting for Lock 27

We passed St. Louis just after noon.  St. Louis is a major commercial port and we observed hundereds of barges and tugs as we passed through.  Noteworthy is that St. Louis does not have a marina.  Back in Chicago we found it strange that a big city would not have transient facilities to attract tourism.  However, once you see the barge traffic you quickly understand that pleasure boater would just get in the way.  Further, it is not a particularly pretty area.  Below are photos on the St. Louis waterfront.

After St. louis we observed sppeds of 13.5 to 14.0 MPH, indicating that we were getting a 4.0 MPH push from the river.

We docked at Hoppies at 2:15PM.  Hoppies is a series of barges linked together to form a 300 foot dock.  We were the first and only Loopers to dock that day.



Hoppies as viewed from the river.  The docks were empty

Hoppies is run by Fern Hopkins, an 80 year old woman who shares her knowledge of the river with all Looper at her daily captain's briefing, which was at our convenience since we were the only Loopers that day.  Fern talke about the hazards along the river and the "unofficial" anchorages for the next 307 miles.  Those are my charts on the table (Upper Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee and Cumberland).
Note: Fern gets her knowedge from Loopers going up and down the river.

Fern Hopkins.  She shares her knowledge of the river

Since today's article was written two days later, I can vouch for the value of what she shared.  Except for the missing town dock at Padukah, she was dead on and what she shared really helped.

Now the fun stuff.  Hoppies is located in Kimmswick, the 4th oldest city in Missouri.  Founded in 1859 it has a population 102. Think of Kimmswick, approximately 20 minutes from St. Louis, as their version of Long Grove. 

We walked the half mile into town and discovered the Blue Owl Restaurant.  Founded 25 years ago it attracts hundreds of people each day.  The place (and parking lot) were full and we got there at 3:00pm.  We decided to return for dinner at 4:55pm (the close at 5:00).

The Blue Owl

This is a big place

For the second day in a row, we had a accomplish several tasks with limited time.  This included stocking up of food, as we would be anchored out for the next two or three nights (read as no three star restaurants), and getting our briefing from Fern. 

So, I launched my bike and rode a mile and a half to the local grocery store.  Then I returned, stored the food and sat down with Fern.  Then I jumped on my bike and met Diana at the Blue Owl at exactly 4:59pm.  They tooks us and we enjoyed soup, sanwiches and fabulous off the chart deserts.

The photos below were taken on our walk through town after dinner.  What a charming place.  Note the log cabins, which were relocated due to contruction of something from another town.

City Hall

See photo below for historic details