Break Time

On Wednesday, September 23, we pulled into Port Charles Marine 14 days after our departure from St. Paul. We covered 625 miles in 13 cruising days. Thus our little "side trip" to St. Paul is essentially complete. We are a couple of miles upstream of the marina in Grafton, IL where we stayed last August when we were in this area, and are positioned to officially begin the final phase of our Great Loop after a short break.

On Tuesday, September 29, we will leave the boat to drive out to Washington, D.C., with an intermediate stop in Annapolis, MD. Sunday, October 4, is the wedding of our nephew Evan Wojtowicz (son of Lon's younger brother Guy and wife Jody) and Katie Bott at the historic Hay-Adams Hotel in Washington. We are looking forward to seeing family and to the opportunity to revisit places where we lived in our younger days. We should be back on the boat the evening of October 6. We will use October 7 to re-stock groceries and otherwise prepare C.A.R.I.B. II for departure on October 8, weather permitting.

Our marina is in the middle of farm country--we have to drive about 10 miles before we reach the first building that isn't associated with a farm.

This is our current neighborhood

Although a bit isolated from commercial and residential neighborhoods, there are other marinas immediately adjacent to ours, including a yacht club with a restaurant and pool that we are allowed to use. Port Charles has all the amenities a transient boater could wish for. We are taking advantage of this "wedding break" and the marina's good reputation for maintenance to complete a few minor deferred maintenance items while the boat is here. The only downsides to the marina are that the wifi is flaky and we are in a dead zone for Verizon phone coverage. There are a few other "Looper" boats here, so we are not socially isolated!

On September 25 we had lunch with Dennis and Shara Taylor, friends from our home port marina in St. Petersburg, "The Harborage". Dennis and Shara have a home in the St. Louis suburb of Chesterfield where they spend their summers. They took us to eat at a local institution--"Fast Eddie's Bon-Air" bar and restaurant in Alton, IL. It is famous for cheap eats (1/2 pound cheeseburgers are $2.39) and the volume of alcoholic drinks that it serves. The first bar to inhabit the site was started by Anheuser-Busch in 1921. A second owner had it for 50 years before "Fast Eddie" bought the restaurant in 1981 and expanded it greatly (sadly, Eddie Sholar, Sr. committed suicide in July 2015.) There are unconfirmed claims that the place is the #1 volume bar in the world. Whether that is true or false, the place certainly had character, a steady stream of customers, and decent food. (We do not have first-hand knowledge about the quality of the alcohol.)

Dennis and Shara Taylor, Pat, and Lon at
lunch in "Fast Eddie's Bon-Air"

Fast Eddies Bon-Air

We are not quite sure what to expect from our first few days south of St. Louis. There is only one marina in the approximately 275-300 miles between the river locks at St. Louis and the "Land Between the Lakes" in Kentucky/Tennessee. The Ohio River has two very busy locks that could go quickly for us--or not--depending on our timing and the lockmasters at the respective locks.  For certain we will be anchoring out at least three nights and will hopefully have a Verizon signal so that we can maintain our phone and internet connections. Interesting times ahead!