We were up before sunrise to shower and catch up on the blog journal entries. Gale baited up a line while we went about our morning activities. We let the dinghy down and crossed over to the other side of the river where we noticed either a lot of rock or a lot of shells. It turned out to be an old clam bed filled with millions of shells – mostly broken – but we took some time to walk the beach and see what treasures we might find. By 9:30 we were back on the boat, bringing in the fishing line and pulling up the anchor. We headed downriver with a nice breeze and enjoyed a cool, leisurely float.
Because there were no more locks on the Illinois River, we knew that we probably could travel the remaining 62 miles to the Mississippi today, but we decided we were in no hurry and dropped the anchor at 5 pm at Twelve Mile Island, presumably named as such because it is at mile 12 on the river. The area along the river looked like it had been devastated by recent flooding and many of the dwellings were abandoned. We poured some wine, baited up a fishing pole, put our lawn chairs on the forward deck and enjoyed a beautiful sunset. While we were relaxing, Don from Ally’s Cat called to let us know that they were at the marina in Alton, IL, and if we were thinking of staying there, we should reserve a spot tonight. We made the reservations, grilled up some chicken and fish, and settled in for a quiet evening.
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