Our trip plan called for one of the shorter days in recent past. We would go only 20 miles to Grafton Harbor, one of the top 10 favorite stops of Loopers. We arrived Grafton, noting there was no cell phone service, and our NEBO functioning at a very low level. We had heard that Verizon was virtually nonexistent in this area. The time was only 10 am, we were on a roll, so we opted to continue to Alton, Illinois, another 20 miles sort of South and mostly East.
This barge (5 deep) was running 10 knots and it was all my little John Deere could do to get past. It took me almost 3 miles to get ahead of him. Note the size of the wake he’s pushing. These guys usually run 3-4 knots, but not the case on the Mississippi, with the swift current. 
Our first day of sunshine in a week made the colors more vivid. 
This floating dock is quite useful during the floods. Water was 1/3 up the levee in the background, I am told. 
Highway 67 Bridge by day 
…and by night
We arrived in Alton around noon and fueled up before heading to our slip. Laundry was the next mandate, so we knocked that out and took a little 30-minute snooze. We saw a guy walk up to the boat, all but looking in the window. A local, Dan was admiring our boat. He and his wife hope to do the Loop someday, so he was interested in the boat and how we reached the decision to buy this one. We invited him and Cherri over for a boat tour and they gladly accepted. They own a boat and keep it here at the Alton Marina, so he is far more advanced in experience than I was when we started our research. We enjoyed our time together. As they were departing, we asked about the town and for what the town is known. As he scratched his head, he remembered that Bon Air Fast Eddie’s is where everyone liked to hang out. Fifteen minutes later, we were in the back seat of Dan’s pickup on our way to Fast Eddie’s. A huge piece of real estate (Eddie bought 4 city blocks since his founding in 1981), we wandered into the place, ordered our peel-and-eat shrimp, hamburgers, shish kabob’s and wings on a stick. The cool thing is they still sell the food for the prices they set 19 years ago, when they added food to their drink menu. Our ½ pound burger was only $1.99! “Over 4,000 half barrels of beer and thousands of cases of cans, bottles, and liquor quench the thirst of our patrons every year. Some even say that Bon-Air is the #1 volume bar in the world.” So now, we have been to Fast Eddie’s, and even bought the T Shirt!
Cherri, Dan, Amanda, Wes
Dan and Cherri were great local hosts. Low key and full of conversation, they are the perfect twosome to make transients like us feel at home. We are so glad to have stretched our day to Alton, Illinois.
Tomorrow we see the St. Louis Arch…from the boat.