Day 7 - "Head-Bangers and Hoopers"

We started our day downloading and sorting pictures, and writing the previous day’s blog post.  We ended up posting the entry at the marina office since the internet access on the boat is not great.  Help Me Rhonda and Mooring Dove arrived this morning from Grafton and we met another looper from New York. 

The Argosy Casino provides a free shuttle from the marina, so we took that to get to town.  The casino does not allow cameras in, nor do they check cameras, so we did not go in.  We stopped in the Visitor Center and got a brochure on Lincoln and Civil War sites in Alton.  Right across the street is the plaza where the final Lincoln/Douglas debate for the Illinois Senate took place in 1858.  Lincoln lost the debate and the race of the Illinois senate but the debates put him in the national spotlight for his successful run for President in 1860. 

 

 

Most of the shopping in Alton is on Broadway, which runs parallel to the river.  Lots of antique stores but not much else.  There is a pottery studio called Mississippi Mud whose specialty is clay fish.  They make molds from actual fish, cast the fish in clay, and then paint them.  The whole process takes months.  There was only 1 in the studio as the rest were taken to an art fair in St. Louis.  If there are any left on Sunday, we may be able to persuade one of the family members to take us over.

We had a very good lunch at Just Desserts, a casual restaurant in the Ryder building, which was used as a courthouse for trials.  Simeon Ryder was a client of Lincoln’s and Lincoln practiced law in this courthouse.  The specialty here was pie (same as at the Riverdock Restaurant – seems to be a southern Illinois thing).  Randy and I shared a piece of Ozark Berry pie, made from blueberries, blackberries and raspberries.  Out of this world!! 

 

From there we walked back to the harbor and headed to the pool to cool off.  The temperature set a daily record for St. Louis today of 102⁰ (it was the first time this summer that the temperature reached 100⁰ here – just our luck!).  This weather is taxing us as well as the air conditioners on the boat!  I call our cabin the “bat cave” as we have it dark to help keep it cool.

Alton has an Amphitheater on the shore close to the marina.  On Fridays during the summer they have $5 concerts.  Last night the concert was by a Led Zeppelin tribute band called Houses of the Holy.  The marina provided us with free tickets so we walked over after the sun went down and it cooled off a little.  An interesting part of the “show” were 2 hula hoopers with lighted hoops who spun them on their arms, legs and torsos.  Some of the female fans were also “hooping” near the stage – not sure if this is a southern Illinois quirk or just part of this band’s act.  We didn’t stay too long as the band played mostly Led Zeppelin’s “head-banger” tunes.  I am calling this show “Head-Bangers and Hoopers”.