July 13 - 15, 2018, Two Rivers Marina to Alton, IL

OUR OHIO RIVER ADVENTUR BEGINS!!!

July 13 - 15, 2018, Two Rivers Marina to Alton, IL

At the insistence of good friend Randy Schmitt coupled with the promise Clay made to his mom for travel updates, I am once again writing what Clay calls his blog entries for the continuing adventures on the SaSea Sally. Please let me know if you wish to be deleted from the emailings; you won’t offend me at all/much (JK). I’ve reread a few of past recaps and find them quite humorous, but I’ll have to work up to that; thus far, not much funny has happened.

As boating goes, our trip’s beginning, fraught with challenges and mishaps, is progressing routinely; after all, what’s an adventure without a few challenges and mishaps? Clay and I delayed our departure from Two Rivers Marina till later in the week of July 8th to avoid anchoring in the intense head and humidity which Missouri has experienced much of this 2018 summer—wishful thinking! We moved the last of our household contents (frig and freezer items mostly) to the SaSea Sally Thursday night (July 12^th) and spent the night in port before launching our newest adventure bound for Pittsburgh on the Ohio River on Friday, the 13^th. There must be an omen here?

Destined for Grafton Harbor and departing at 9:13 a.m. on 7/13 (not making that up!), we radioed ahead to confirm an overnight slip and were rewarded with such and a blessing that we weren’t a day later. Grafton Harbor was hosting a KSHE 95 live broadcast party of all parties on Saturday, so the marina’s ‘No Vacancy’ sign glowed brightly Saturday night; actually, I’ve never seen a marina post a No Vacancy sign, but if so, it would have glowed brightly in Grafton! A long cruising day, we spent seven hours reacquainting ourselves with the various systems on the trawler, pleased that all came back with relative ease. It was a beastly hot day with extremely high humidity which made us doubly grateful that we had a plentiful supply of air conditioning at the ready once we were docked; well, ‘at the ready’ is somewhat of a misnomer as it takes quite a while for SaSea Sally’s ac system to claim victory over the intense heat produced by the two 440’s (diesel engines). Atta girl, though, she usually wins!

As with most marina pools, the Grafton Harbor Marina Pool waters were vivid blue and crystal clear and populated with water babies of all ages sporting colorful floaties and koozies. As well, it was a wee bit more than thimble-sized and crowded; thus, we opted out, preferring to enjoy the cool of the marina office and gift shop at check-in and our boat interior until processing for a fashionably late dinner at the Grafton Oyster Bar. We both slept quite soundly Friday night because, not only had we spent a full day in the fresh air and intense heat, but trip prep which involves stocking a mini home is extremely exhausting.

On our routine walk Saturday morning, we witnessed a multitude of worker bees in prep mode for the KSHE festivities. The posters advertised live music around the pool, food trucks and beer wagons, food and drink specials at the Oyster Bar, games and I’m sure a lot of fun and frivolity—in the once again intense heat and humidity. By 7 a.m., the neon-clad workers were drenched in sweat as were we. I think we were delighted to be moving on to Alton, a 1.5 hour cruise downriver where we found a welcoming marina and pool far less populated than that which we were leaving behind.

At the entrance to the Alton harbor on our way to the T-head of H dock, we stirred up so much mud that our depth finder blanked out. It does not put you in your happy place seeing a reading of - - - -! We aborted any thought of fueling and pumping out at the nearby gas dock, but proceeded without incident to snug in, connect power cord and water line, and receive a hearty welcome at the Alton Marina office at check-in. After lunch and tidying up, Clay and I made our way to the pool only to be chased back to our boat a short time later by a sudden, strong wind ushering in a fierce storm. My thoughts went immediately to the party scene in Grafton, making me doubly glad we weren’t there—and somewhat fearful for what could be occurring onsite in Grafton. Big glops of rain hammered the SaSea Sally and echoed off the dock roofs, making quite a clatter. We stayed in touch via text with family and friends in neighboring towns as to how their conditions paralleled ours. Sus and Alan were at a 3:10 p.m. Cards game; John and Kristen at home in U City; Walter and Cindy on their way to the STL Muny. We watched brave, drenched boaters enter the harbor, motor past our location, and admired their true grit in weathering the storm!

After riding out the afternoon storm, we processed for dinner and set our sights on Clay’s restaurant choice Tony’s for their enticing bill of fare…and their not-too-distant location (walkable). Our stay coincided with Alton’s Restaurant Week featuring numerous two-fers and, over a drink at the bar, Clay welcomed the suggestion of a duo of frequent diners that we try Tony’s house special, the pepperloin kebob. That makes the decision easy! And, the  price was right! Clay intimated that a few veggies strategically placed among the skewered beef chunks would have raised his 3* rating to a 4*. Not sure what was missing, but neither of us was overly thrilled with the meal. Note: The leftover beef became lunch tidbits for a couple days and was really much tastier as leftovers!

We moseyed back to the marina (about a 17-minute walk), passing the Argosy Casino (wonder what happened to the Alton Belle?), then making a beeline for the marina shelter house; an unexpected sudden downpour made us thankful that Clay had grabbed both umbrellas! Looked like the skies were dropping welcomed rain yet again, along with huge bolts of sky-to-ground lightning. We slept soundly again this Saturday night, lulled to sleep by the live band music at the nearby dock party (I use the term ‘lulled’ loosely!).

And, as the sun brightens the sky this Sunday morning in Alton, IL, I bid you the first of many goodbyes from the SaSea Sally as we depart Alton bound for Hoppy’s in Kimmswick.