Well, we finally made it to Kentucky, at Green Turtle Bay on the "Land Between the Lakes"! It is Charlie's birthday, October 1. We will be here at least until October 5th, a nice break. Time and Internet access are now available to update the blog. Below is the first part in how we got here after the flood cleared.
On our last day in Grafton, IL we hiked up a steep road in town and visited the Piasa Winery. Many years ago, the Illinois Indians of the region told the story of a monster bird that devoured man. Their word for this bird was"Piasa" (pronounced Pie-a-saw). The story of the bird has been handed down from generation to generation. Although we did not get to see the attraction later when we stayed in Alton, we read about a huge cliff painting of the Piasa bird that had been carved and painted on a cliff outside of town. Back at the winery, we enjoyed a glass of a locally made Pinot Grigio and observed the panoramic view of the convergence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. We were about to leave our flood home of Grafton Marina to go down the Mississippi the very next day. Although we could not see the condition of the Mississippi River from up on that hilltop, we knew that the Coast Guard had just given the 'green light' to go for all pleasure boaters heading south.
We untied the lines of Freedom's Turn on Wednesday, September 24 and headed for the Alton marina; the other marina in the area with 12 stranded looper boats to our ten waiting to leave. Freedom's Turn was scheduled in the second wave of boats moving out of Alton. Along the way to Alton, Charlie and I finally got to see more of the magnificent cliffs we could only partially see from our Grafton slip. (See top photo) We ran this short 15 mile trip to Alton to meet up with three of those 12 boats and plan our strategy for leaving together the next day as river buddies traveling the Mighty Mississippi. As you can see by observing our attached hot tub photo, the strategy meeting went well! Charlie reported back to our friends at Grafton that the Mississippi River, with it's current moving us an additional 5-6 knots and debris definitely to watch out for, was doable.
It was here that Freedom's Turn experienced her first covered slip; being told ahead it had a clearance of 18 ft. We thought we were OK. Although we had calculated our overall height many times, it was impossible to know exactly until now what we cleared. We discovered we had about six inches to spare as we breathed a big sigh of relief. Before we left the town, we enjoyed a delicious meal in an Italian restaurant with our friend Linda from Etc. and then walked past the historical city square of the final senatorial debate of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. This debate actually drew over 6,000 visitors in 1858. The men's statues are life-like and keep the famous series of debates frozen forever in time. Of course, the Republican won the election!
Four boats went to bed early that night for a 7 a.m. departure the next day; our first day of five on an expedition down the Mighty Mississippi, up the Ohio and up the Cumberland Rivers without marinas or towns.
Love to all,
Linda
