Day 8 - Great Rivers Museum

Saturday was our third day in Alton and we took it slow, still fighting the intense heat and humidity.  The marina gave us a ride to the nearby Melvin Price Locks and Dam for a tour and visit to the National Great Rivers Museum.  It started with a movie about the importance of the Mississippi to the country’s food and transportation system.  Then we walked over the 2 lock chambers, one smaller for recreational boats and the larger for commercial traffic.  We watched a tug and small barge “lock through” as the control tower raised the water level about 22 feet.  Very interesting and educational.

 

When we returned to the marina, we went straight to the pool to cool off.  Several other loopers were in the pool and we spent some time talking about their experiences on the loop.  Randy called ahead to Hoppie’s Marine Service – our next stop (several barges in the Mississippi) – to make sure they had room for us and to see if there is anything we should be aware of as we travel there (there have been a series of barges running around and sinking so there are some salvage operations on the river that we have to be aware of).

We finished the day at a busy restaurant in downtown Alton, Bossanova, with an eclectic menu combining Spanish, Italian and American cuisine.  The tequila lime mussels were excellent! 

 

Tomorrow is Randy’s family reunion and his brother has graciously agreed to transport us back and forth, and stop at grocery store so we can stock up because we will not have another chance before arriving at Green Turtle Bay later this week.