Alton, Illinois

We decided to leave Port Charles today, Tuesday, to go down the Mississippi to Alton, Illinois, so we would be 20 miles closer to the locks. Alton Marina is at mile 202.9, just 2 miles before lock #26. The Chain of Rocks Lock and Dam #27, that is under emergency repair, is at mile 185. We haven't heard anything definite about an opening date....there are at least 10 boats waiting here, ready to move when notified.

                                                                  

These marinas are ready for HIGH water. Look at the height of the black pole....the floating docks are able to float to the top of the pole!!!


All along the shores there are dead trees that will become dangerous flotsam if and when the river rises a few more feet.

 The limestone cliffs remind us of home!

The scenery along the Mississippi so far is more interesting than along the Illinois River.

We had a really good AT&T signal today while coming down the river so I used our free app that shows commercial traffic. We are the blue bubble at the top left. All the magenta and white pins are commercial tows and barges "parked" and waiting for Lock 27 to open. These are only the ones around Alton, where we were heading. I can only imagine how many are down river of the lock waiting to come up!

 But do we look like we are suffering from the lock delay????? NO! The harbor hosts here at Alton, Robert and Patty Mitchell, took about 20 of us to Mac's where we enjoyed a wonderful meal and a fun time sharing our boating experiences.

On the way to the restaurant, Robert gave us a tour of the town and told us that Alton was settled by wealthy families prior to the Civil War when a yellow fever epidemic erupted in St. Louis. At that time St. Louis was surrounded by swamps, and people believed yellow fever was spread by swamp gas, not by the real culprit---- mosquitoes!  Alton is high on a hill with no swamps. So they moved their families here and built beautiful houses, many of which still exist today.

In the background of this photo is a Queen Anne style playhouse that was built for 5 year old Lucy Haskell in 1885. She died at age 9 of diphtheria. In the 1930's the family gave all their property to the city of Alton to be used for educational and recreational purposes, saying that Lucy's name should remain with her playhouse. Since 1974 it has been on the National Register of Historic Landmarks. Children today can have their birthday parties in Lucy's playhouse!