The Great Loop

After a few weeks of prep work we are finally under way and on our adventure. This should be a year long experience up the Atlantic Coast, over the Great Lakes, and down the inland rivers. Leggi altro

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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Frankfort
9 settembre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F
We came into Frankfort late and left very early the next morning. Thus I didn’t take many photos. I did manage to get some ice cream, visit the bookstore, a rock shop, and saw a theater.
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Ludington
10 settembre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F
We came into Ludington and had some time to explore. It’s a Midwest town with most stores closed due to it being a Sunday. We did find a bookstore and admired the murals on the buildings.
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Muskegon
11 settembre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ 🌧 63 °F
We spent a few days in Muskegon with the first day on anchor. The next couple of days we stayed in the Safe Harbor marina. Nearby was the submarine museum and town.
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
South Haven
14 settembre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F
South Haven was a delightful resort town. The marina was located right in town. Town included cute boutique shops, wineries, breweries, a farmers market, and jazz festival.
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Michigan City
17 settembre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F
This town is a Midwest town with a lighthouse museum, outlet mall, restaurants, and sculptures. We stayed on the free dock and enjoyed dinner together next to the park. Annette also got some needed shopping in at the outlet mall.Leggi altro
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Six Flags
8 ottobre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F
Matt, the kids, and I went to six flags for the day. They were hosting a Boofest and Oktoberfest so it was the perfect time to
Go. Kids got a little trick or treating in and we hit the rides. The park was well decorated for Halloween.Leggi altro
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Chicago
10 ottobre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F
We spent nearly 2 weeks in Chicago and saw many things including the museum of Science and Industry, planetarium, and Field Museum. We also stayed at the Chicago Yacht Club which was located downtown in the heart of the city allowing us an easy walk to most of the sights. We also visited the navy Pier and took a photo with the anchor from the ship my dad served on.

The food was also delicious including Croatian food, pizza, and Chinese hot pot,Leggi altro
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Marine Services
11 ottobre 2023, Stati Uniti
We left Chicago a little early and headed into the rivers. Lake Michigan is about to get rough and we want to get off of her. Luckily Marine Services had space for us so we made our way up the Illinois River, under a few bridges, and through a lock. We stayed for two nights as we waited for our flotilla to arrive.Leggi altro
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Marine Services
11 ottobre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F
We’ve left Chicago and headed into the river system. The next leg of our journey has begun. We are positioning ourselves for easy locking down the river with many other Loopers. There wasn’t much at this marina. We had to pass through numerous bridges and one very large lock.Leggi altro
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Joliet
13 ottobre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ 🌧 55 °F
Half of our flotilla left Marine Services early in the morning while the second half left Hammond. We passed through many more bridges and one lock. Arriving in Joliet, we waited for the rest of the Flotilla and got situated. There wasn’t much in Joliet and the weather was rainy so we just stayed on the boat.

To get here, we had to pass over an electric fish barrier. We heard of a few other boats encountering electrical issues after passing. Thankfully we were fine, but we did turn off our inverter just in case. The giant Asian carp are an invasive species so this helps keep them out of entering the Great Lakes.Leggi altro
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Heritage Harbor and the locks
14 ottobre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F
We arrived in Heritage Harbor for the night and prepared for our river adventure. We had a long day of locks with half of our flotilla. The weather predicted high winds so many people were worried about leaving. We’re fine with winds, but thankfully, we didn’t experience anything major.Leggi altro
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Peoria
15 ottobre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ ⛅ 54 °F
We stayed at the public docks in Peoria. The town has a sculpture walk which we enjoyed. The docks were small but worked well for the evening. Walmart was close by and delivered.
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Quiver Island
16 ottobre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ 🌙 55 °F
It was a very long day of boating around tugs, barges, and bridges. We encounter jumping Asian Carp with one landing in our boat!

There were 9 boats total and we anchored next to Quiver Island for a nice evening.Leggi altro
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Beardstown
17 ottobre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F
There’s a barge you can tie up to for the night in Beardstown. We all came in and started exploring. First objective was to get a tour of the tug boat. Then we all went out for ice cream and $2 margaritas. The town is small and has a lot of old buildings and remnants of the past. A dog park is near by which the kids enjoyed. But the real fun for the kids was the barge.Leggi altro
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Anchoring next to Willow Island
18 ottobre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F
We cruised all day and found a little spot to drop anchor. There was just enough room for all of us.
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Grafton
19 ottobre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F
We stayed in Grafton one night. It’s known as the Key West of the Midwest. There were a few wineries, a pool with hot tub at the marina, good restaurants, but our favorite was the alpine sled. We headed up the hillside on the gondola for a great view of the Mississippi and then enjoyed the sled a couple of times.Leggi altro
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The Hodaks
20 ottobre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F
In the 1960s, Boris’ great uncle moved from Europe to St Louis and started a restaurant. It has been known as the best fried chicken in St Louis. The decor was awesome and the shirts funny. The food was also incredible!Leggi altro
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Budweiser Brewery Tour
21 ottobre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F
We took a trip to St Louis to visit the brewery. Starting with lunch, we had some tasty food and I enjoyed the mango cart beer. Then we left for a 1.5 hour tour that showed us the horses, barn, bottling station, and tanks. Throughout the tour we had tastings and ended the tour with a fresh bottle of beer to take home and a cup of beer to enjoy.Leggi altro
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Purina Farms
22 ottobre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F
We took the kids along with two other families to the Purina Farms. They had animals to pet, a huge cat habitat, and a dog show. The kids were even able to milk a cow!
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
St Louis and thr Arch
22 ottobre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F
We drove into town to explore the area of St Louis with the primary focus being the arch. The entire family went up the round elevator to the top and enjoyed the sights. It’s quite a view and interesting history. Nearby we also stopped for dinner by the ballpark and headed to Union Station for the light show.Leggi altro
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Alton
23 ottobre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F
Alton is as close to St Louis for us to put the boat while we explored the surrounding areas. The town it self is fascinating with a bit of history.

It’s considered haunted so we went on a ghost walk to the old prison. All that remains of the prison is the wall. We also passed the grain silos where there were markers of the water height from previous floods.

There was a nice museum and tour of the lock nearby that had a tug simulator. Boris and Michael really enjoyed that one.Leggi altro
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Hoppies Marina
24 ottobre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☁️ 77 °F
In an effort to not boat for over 10 hours, we made reservations to stay at Hoppies. Hoppies is a couple of barges strapped together for people to tie up and stay. About half a mile up the road is the town with many cute boutique shops all decorated for Halloween. The highlight, however, was the candy store and bakery. The bakery had the levee high apple pie which included 18 apples baked inside the dome pie crust.Leggi altro
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Anchoring in the Mississipi
25 ottobre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☁️ 77 °F
We are traveling great distances with limited places to stop as we make our way south. The usually anchorage in this area is closed due to dredging. We found a spot to tuck in that was off the main channel that provided some protection. The river current is strong so we have to make two attempts at anchoring, we we managed and rafted three boats together.

The excitement happened when Tonia noticed a huge log stuck on their anchor. We tried everything to dislodge it but it refused to budge. Finally, we took down the dinghy, used a line to pull it off the chain, and walked it down between the boats.

That was enough excitement for one day.Leggi altro
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Little Diversion Channel
26 ottobre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☁️ 81 °F
We traveled for 6 hours along the Mississippi finally arriving at Little Diversion Channel which offered a perfect spot to anchor. It was calm with minimal current. There were a few other boats rafted up in this location. We settled in for the night and took the kayak out for a little paddling.

The trip here was pleasant with the shoreline full of fall colored trees.Leggi altro
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The Great Loop Viaggiatore
Anchoring near the lock
28 ottobre 2023, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☁️ 52 °F
It was a slow day going against the current. We arrived near the Olmstead Lock and prepared to drop anchor. There were other boats in the area but they didn’t raft up. The beach to the side is sandy an nice. The current was a bit strong so we just stayed put.Leggi altro
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