minikipsahoy: October 11, 2022

Rockport, Illinois to Hamburg, Illinois

It is raining. We had to wait for the marina to open so we could get fuel and pump out, so Kip made breakfast. The manager of the Marina was super helpful and stood out in the soaking wet rain to help us. We asked her if she wanted a raincoat, and she said she was fine - it was no problem. We left Two Rivers Marina at 10:00. Diesel was $5.74 a gallon.

We went under the Louisiana Swing Bridge and had about 2 feet of clearance. We called Lock 24, and they told us that it would be at least an hour and a half wait due to a Tow. Kip mentioned several times today that he read in one of the river books that tugboats do NOT like being called anything but Tows, so we will call them Tows from now on.

The leaves are starting to change colors.

Because of the backup at the Lock, we determined that we will not make it to the original destination, so we found a city dock in the town of Hamburg at 3:00 p.m.

Kip walked around in the rain, while I chose to stay in the boat where it was dry. He came back and said he found some interesting stuff. After we took a short nap, the rain slowed down and we went on a walk. Hamburg is a very quiet town. Many of the houses by the river were marked to be demolished.

We walked around and took pictures.

I like to see the buildings, but the doors are never open!

We walked by a house with barking dogs, and a man came out of his house asking if we were from the boat on the dock. It turns out he was the Mayor of Hamburg, Steve Doerr. He was telling us how he is fixing up the town, getting rid of problem homes, and how most of the city dock was washed down the river because someone didn't tie it up correctly. He mentioned that up the hill was a cemetery, and the view is pretty, but be careful because the path is slippery due to the rain. He also said that the woman that lives on the hill might come say something to us but tell her that "Steve" said it was ok.

We walked to the hill (and by a really bad sidewalk) and started our climb. It was about a third of the way up when Kip slipped. He didn't get hurt, but he did get muddy.

We got to the top, and the mayor was right about the view. It was amazing!

At the top of the hill was the Tosh family cemetery. There was also a grave of a riverboat captain named Capt. Lewis Swarnes. He died in 1867 and wanted to be buried upright to command a panoramic view of the river.