Posts tagged Clinton
Day 47 Mississippi River
Day 47 Mississippi River

After a great night spent with my cousins, I woke up with plans of meeting them for breakfast. Sandy and I drove to the Mississippi Cafe in Albany, IL to meet them. A delicious meal of ham and eggs filled me up, as did talk around the table.

After the meal Katie, Bart and the boys headed back home toward Genoa, IL. Sandy and I drove across the river to Clinton, IA to hit the nearest grocery store. I stocked up on food for the coming days.

We drove the 20 or so minutes back to Sandy's and began packing up the gear I had set out to dry, refilling my water bottles and loading the boat. With the sun shining for the first time in 3 days it was almost as if it was meant to be that I had taken the weekend off with Sandy and family and was set to hit the river once again. I gave a heartfelt thank you to Sandy for her extreme generosity in hosting both me and my family, and pushed off from shore. Sandy stood on the raised bank, waving as I coasted away. A few doors down I recognized one of the gentlemen who had throw his wife the 60th birthday party. He waved and gave me a shout - I returned it with a "Thanks for having me to the party!!".

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Illinois, Iowa, Good PeopleWill CollinsQuad Cities, Albany, ClintonComment
Day 44 Mississippi River
Day 44 Mississippi River

After waking up at the house in Sabula, IA, Lisa and Sue said their goodbyes and took off early. My mom, sister and I decided to hit the one restaurant on the island, the sandbar grill. Like much of Sabula, the building looked as though it had seen better days. We had been told however, that the food was great.

After ordering and enjoying French toast, hash browns, bacon and coffee we got talking with the only other patron in the place. The older fellow had grown up in Sabula and had a memory sharp as a tack, telling us the names of family's that's used to live in particular houses, and stories about his interactions with them as a kid. He also mentioned how buzzing Sabula used to be. 4 gas stations, 2 grocery stores and even a bakery. Today all of that was gone other than 1 gas station. I asked the fellow what caused the fall and he mentioned something I had never thought of before. Route 64 runs from Chicago right through Sabula. When interstate 80 was built folks from the city no longer passed through town. Traffic, and therefore business, now bypassed Sabula.

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Iowa, Good PeopleWill CollinsSabula, ClintonComment