Day 104 Alton to Hoppies Friday August 31, 2018

Day 104 Alton to Hoppies Friday August 31, 2018

The temperature cooled for a nice sleeping night. The day was cloudy and then partly cloudy with predicted thunderstorms but we saw none - not even a distance thunder rumble.  Temps in high 80s.

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Today was Mississippi Lock day.

There are only  two locks that we must pass on the Mississippi but they are notorious for delays to commercial and pleasure craft alike. Well we did great getting through both of them. The Mel Price lock (see yesterday's post) was just below us at the marina and we only waited about 20 minutes for a northbound tow to clear and then the next one, Lock 27 Chain of Rocks,we drove right into the lock. Each one we floated in rather than tie up and the drop was only about 10 feet. Great start of the day,

The next order of business was to get a photo of the Arch as we passed by - check.

This was not all that easy given the great number of barges moving and being moved around and stored on the river. But about ten miles below the city the river became much more attractive and being so wide passing of tows was much easier.

We arrived at the famous Hoppies river barges - set up as a stop on the river for us pleasure craft. Here we are tied up as a tow that is SIX barges wide goes by us.

The Town of Kimmswick I had read was a nice little town. And my information was correct. There were several restaurants in town but the best one was only open for breakfast and lunch. So as it was around 1:00 pm we decided that another "linner" would be a good idea at the Blue Owl.

It turned out to be a good choice.

And they are famous for their bakery - "A piece of the chocolate chip pecan pie please."

 The town is only about five by five streets but has it has apparently become a nice "destination" from St Louis. There are a number of nice looking shops.

 This has become a pedestrian bridge and was saved when the new one , seen to the right, went in service. It has a unique surface of boards on edge that I found interesting. The white "lines" are spacer blocks between the long boards.

The ancestral home of Fred and Mabel Ruth Anheuser, affectionately known to many as Fredmar Farms, is located in Kimmswick   It is just before Hoppies. We walked the grounds but it is only open to go inside on Thursdays.

A beautiful view of the river

We came back to the boat and I did some planning to figure out where we are going over the next several days.

As the night has surrounded us and the air has begun to cool, it is time to say........

Good Night and May God Bless