Two LONG travel days, Beardstown to the Key West of the Midwest and a trip through town

amflyr
Sep 30, 2022
2 min read

Updated: May 3, 2023

September 26 through September 29 (Click on the images to see and scroll them in full size)

Our first long travel day took us to Beardstown, a small town that has seen better days. We rafted up next to Cavu and off of some barges at the Langston Tug Company. The people were great and we got some excellent bakery. Being the history buff that I am it was cool to learn that Beardstown is where Abraham Lincoln tried a murder case 2 years before he became President. In fact you can even see the courtroom where he tried that case.

After we left Beardstown we proceeded through our last lock on the Illinois River and headed out on our longest day to date, 10 hours and almost 80 miles downriver. We passed some amazing sights, including graineries, abandoned power plants, ferries crossing the river and did I mention Bald Eagles? We saw at least 8 or 9 that circled right near the boat.

After 10 hours on the river, it was every bit of 5 PM before we got into Grafton and got docked safely right in front of Cavu, the 52 foot Kadey Krogen in our group who looks MUCH bigger when tied up 5 feet behind you!

We stopped in the office to register and guess what? They had the perfect end to a long day, a bourbon tasting. After that, we headed up to the oyster bar and had, what else would you eat at the Key West of the Midwest? 10 oysters and an amazing seafood lasagna for Christine and red beans and rice for me.

After a big dinner, we headed back to Patriot and collapsed for the night right after another thrilling episode of "The Great British Baking Show".

Thursday, we took a rest day and went into Grafton. We saw some great shops and rode a chair lift to what they call the Aerie, where the have a winery, gift shop and as of Thursday an awesome alpine coaster. I got lucky enough to be there for the soft opening, which meant I rode for free! (Christine passed as she does not like hills, OR coasters. It was a blast and I rode twice. We also stopped into the most amazing wood shop that I have ever seen. I am definitely planning a road trip to come back here, after we get home. I am afraid that I can't fit all of the wood that I wanted on Patriot for the duration of our trip!

After we got back from our tour of the town, we met with the crews of the other boats we are traveling with to talk about the plan for the next few days. This will be some of the trickiest boating and the longest days we have seen yet.

2 Comments

Bo Harper

Sep 30, 2022

Did you plan this trip with the group or , basically find yourselves along the same route and time ? Where are they all from ?

amflyr

Replying to

The group just kind of assembled itself and the crews are from Michigan, Florida and the Carolinas, some are just starting out and some will be finishing their loops in the next few months. Some evenings we have docktails and everyone discusses their background and plans for the next several days. The group kind of grew out of that discussion. Boats that travel about the same speed with compatible crews tend to hang together, it makes getting through the locks and passing barges on the river much easier when you know who you are working with and extra sets of eyes and brains make the boating much safer.