We woke up real early this morning – we had a pirate flag hanging from our boom and when the wind picked up during the night, it started making a racket. Linda tried wrapping it around the line to keep it quiet and Gerry finally got up and took it down around 1:00 this morning.
About the same time, a huge tug went by us in the darkness – it was hard to count the barges, but it looked like it was 3 wide and 10 long, by far the biggest one we have seen on the rivers. We thought we were quite a ways off of the channel, but it didn’t look far enough for this guy to get past, but he made it look easy – even with the wind blowing hard.
We got up for real about 7:30 and got ready to leave the anchorage. It wasn’t a peaceful night for any of us, but we still got off to an early start. We had a relatively peaceful trip down the river until we got to our planned stop.
We were going to stay at the docks for the Illinois Riverdock Restaurant and the Vineyard went in first. The current was flowing southward about 1 knot and we had 25 knot winds blowing us off the dock. The attempt to dock with the current didn’t work too well, so we headed into it. That didn’t work too well because the wind kept blowing us off the dock. We eventually were able to tie up when Linda was able to lasso a cleat and hold us to the dock. It took us a while to put her where we wanted to, but soon all was OK. Then, we helped the other 3 boats dock. Each had its own challenge, but those with twin engines had a much easier time of it.
Once everyone was tied up, we headed to the restaurant to pay our slip fee ($25) and have a little lunch. The owner teased us with a sample of his smoked brisket and pork chops. It was terrific, so we both ordered the brisket philly cheese steak. We also had some alligator fritters as an appetizer. It was all very tasty. Then it was back to the boats to do a little planning for our jaunt into St. Louis and clean up before going back to the restaurant for dinner. The dinner menu looked very interesting and the desserts even better.
We spent the afternoon doing a few chores and then Linda took a walk to explore the town. Later we met up with everyone for dinner at the restaurant. The proprietor, Mel, can really cook up some great food. His specialty seems to be anything smoked … brisket, ribs, chicken. All got rave reviews. Also, the desserts …. all homemade and delicious. Everyone left with doggy bags.
We plan on leaving mid-morning for Port Charles Harbor in Missouri. We are going to stay there a couple of days and rent a car and run into St. Louis
There is a lot of debris in the river. Here is a tree adorned mark. The marks really take a beating here with all the stuff floating around.
Here's the gang on the road again .... on the way to Hardin
We started to see a few houses along the way ..... here's a house on the hill
A couple of deer along the shoreline
A ferry operating on the river. It's a tug attached to a barge. The cars drive onto the barge, the tug starts up and off they go. It only took a few minutes to load up and cross the river and then they do it again.
A shot of the river. It really is quite pretty in spots.
The sign at the Riverdock Restaurant in Hardin
The restaurant .... not much to look at, but it was good home style cooking
I guess Hardin is too small for a town hall .... instead they have a village hall
A small park in the village
.... and one of the main streets
The boats at the dock 
About the same time, a huge tug went by us in the darkness – it was hard to count the barges, but it looked like it was 3 wide and 10 long, by far the biggest one we have seen on the rivers. We thought we were quite a ways off of the channel, but it didn’t look far enough for this guy to get past, but he made it look easy – even with the wind blowing hard.
We got up for real about 7:30 and got ready to leave the anchorage. It wasn’t a peaceful night for any of us, but we still got off to an early start. We had a relatively peaceful trip down the river until we got to our planned stop.
We were going to stay at the docks for the Illinois Riverdock Restaurant and the Vineyard went in first. The current was flowing southward about 1 knot and we had 25 knot winds blowing us off the dock. The attempt to dock with the current didn’t work too well, so we headed into it. That didn’t work too well because the wind kept blowing us off the dock. We eventually were able to tie up when Linda was able to lasso a cleat and hold us to the dock. It took us a while to put her where we wanted to, but soon all was OK. Then, we helped the other 3 boats dock. Each had its own challenge, but those with twin engines had a much easier time of it.
Once everyone was tied up, we headed to the restaurant to pay our slip fee ($25) and have a little lunch. The owner teased us with a sample of his smoked brisket and pork chops. It was terrific, so we both ordered the brisket philly cheese steak. We also had some alligator fritters as an appetizer. It was all very tasty. Then it was back to the boats to do a little planning for our jaunt into St. Louis and clean up before going back to the restaurant for dinner. The dinner menu looked very interesting and the desserts even better.
We spent the afternoon doing a few chores and then Linda took a walk to explore the town. Later we met up with everyone for dinner at the restaurant. The proprietor, Mel, can really cook up some great food. His specialty seems to be anything smoked … brisket, ribs, chicken. All got rave reviews. Also, the desserts …. all homemade and delicious. Everyone left with doggy bags.
We plan on leaving mid-morning for Port Charles Harbor in Missouri. We are going to stay there a couple of days and rent a car and run into St. Louis
There is a lot of debris in the river. Here is a tree adorned mark. The marks really take a beating here with all the stuff floating around.
Here's the gang on the road again .... on the way to Hardin
We started to see a few houses along the way ..... here's a house on the hill
A couple of deer along the shoreline
A ferry operating on the river. It's a tug attached to a barge. The cars drive onto the barge, the tug starts up and off they go. It only took a few minutes to load up and cross the river and then they do it again.
A shot of the river. It really is quite pretty in spots.
The sign at the Riverdock Restaurant in Hardin
The restaurant .... not much to look at, but it was good home style cooking
I guess Hardin is too small for a town hall .... instead they have a village hall
A small park in the village
.... and one of the main streets
The boats at the dock and the gang of loopers at the restaurant
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