Day 99
Thursday, August 28, 2008
5:20 AM CDT
Location: Alton, IL.
Weather: 72* with 70% humidity; no wind...predicted to be 91 and sunny today with a 50% chance of rain tonight.
Up at 4:45 this morning in order to be prepared to leave early...plus I just love this time of morning sitting on the back of the boat. One of the first things I did was call lock #27 to see how things were going and if they could lock us through. I reached a very nice lady who said to come on down...it might be slow going, but we would get through. Which is what I hoped for because they have been working on that lock and only using the small chamber (these locks have 2 chambers, one big one and one small one...different from most locks on the great loop). So that is good news for us.
Yesterday we had a lazy day. Deb went to the botanical garden with her cousin Karen and I worked on a few boat projects. After doing outside cleaning, I did some caulking on a hardtop leak we are dealing with. Not a big deal...just a drip, that is a pain, and I have been trying to locate the source of the problem. I also went in the engine room and checked all fluid levels and gave everything a good inspection. (I don’t check the fluids as often as some say you should (which is daily) because this does not make sense to me. Who checks their car fluids each day, or before each use? If the temperatures are all normal; the engines are running fine and no smoke; and there are no fluids under the engines then my theory is that the fluid levels should be fine, and a daily check is not necessary). After that it was about 11 and I decided to take a walk into Alton and find a cheeseburger. I talked to a local and he pointed me to a “billiards bar” that was about a 20 minute walk. It turns out they had a $1 cheeseburger special (1/2# that was good) so I had that and walked back to the boat. Deb got back to the boat about 3 from her trip with Karen and we decided to head over to Fast Eddies. This is a local tradition and quite a place. It’s like going back in time because the place has not changed in years...lots of years. In fact, the food prices are the same as they were when they first started serving food over 15 years ago. $1 cheeseburgers; 29 cent shrimp; 99 cent French fries. We had chicken on a stick (7 chicken wings) for $2.29 and beef tenderloin on a stick (6 big pieces with green peppers) for $2.29. We were stuffed and spent less than $8 on food. The beers were $2.75 a piece...so even that was not bad. All in all a great stop...and we walked back to the boat (a 30 minute walk) to help digest the dinner.
Today the plan is to leave the slip about 7 and go a little over a mile to the first lock (Mel Price). Then we head right through St. Louis and right next to the arch. The next lock is about 14 miles south (lock #27...the one they are working on). Our destination is Hoppie’s Marine Service at mile marker 158.5 near Kimmswick, MO. This is a very unique stop, which I’ll describe in more detail tomorrow...assuming we can get internet service because we are going to be in the middle of no where for a few days now.
Well it’s starting to get light out now, and the sun will soon be coming up, so I need to end this log and get the boat ready to leave the dock and go into the lock. While I have been writing this I have been monitoring the lock traffic on the VHF radio and I think we will be able to go right in as traffic seems very light. Let’s hope so.
I’ll keep you posted.
BK.
A local hero in Alton...this is a lifesize statue of him...over 9 feet tall.
The outside of Fast Eddies...the place was originally owned by Budweiser and called Bon Air
The highlight inside is the kitchen...right out in the open of the bar.
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