With the weather forecast calling for lots of rain and continued cold (to us), we decided to push on southbound today. It was either sit on the boat in a strange town, watching it rain, or move on down the river…and watch it rain. We covered 57 miles and made it to Hardin, Illinois located just 20 miles above the mighty Mississippi. A long quiet, ride, we are finding the barges cause us less stress than when we first entered the river system. With virtually no boat traffic, we enjoyed the more relaxing ride. The terrain changed significantly from the past few days. Hills now instead of flat delta land seems to be the norm for this area. The landscape is much prettier.
A Marathon barge & tow. 
Marathon put lots of peas and cornbread on our table growing up. 
The hills make the landscape more interesting.
The milestone for today’s journey was the crossing under the I-72 bridge, which seems pretty insignificant, other than the fact it is the most Western point of the The Great Loop. From here on, we are either Easterly or Southerly until we round the tip of Florida.
Nearly the most Westerly part of our adventure 
Three wide x five deep.
With the push of the current, we were able to leave at 7:00 am and arrive just before 2:00, 30 minutes before kickoff of the LSU/Auburn game. The staff at Mel’s Riverfront Restaurant tolerated and served us well.
Mel’s Riverfront Restaurant is neither pretty or fancy, but their hospitality is down to earth and they genuinely care that you have a nice experience. Just keep Mike Hostillo and Jamie Casino away from their dock. That’s an accident waiting to happen.
They allowed us to tie up to their dock, sit in one of their dining rooms (where the TV is located), and enjoy the football game, all before ordering dinner. The wait staff and management could not have been kinder. I have grown to appreciate the core of Americans, the ones who, every day, hit the grind, do their jobs well, and trust that their hard work will ensure provision for tomorrow. Mel’s is the premier restaurant in this little town, which was one of the hardest hit regions during the flooding of the Illinois River this year. Sand bags were still stacked around numerous houses and businesses along the river.
The football game, a hard fought battle, turned out to be a relief, as an LSU fan, as opposed to a celebration. Thankfully, the game was in Baton Rouge. That was probably worth more than the 3-point victory.
After a quick walk to the Family Dollar store in the cold rain, we watched a little baseball and called it a night. We dozed off to the rain peppering down on the deck above our heads.