We spent three nights in the lodge at Pere Marquette State Park on the Illinois River near Grafton, Illinois. On Saturday morning, we drove two miles south to the Brussels Ferry, a free ferry operated by the Illinois Department of Transportation. The ferry barge was pushed by a towboat named Belle of Calhoun. The boat was attached to the barge by a hinged bar that swiveled, allowing it to pull the barge away from the landing, then turn and pull up next to it to propel it across the river.
Ice chunks floated in the river, and we could hear the boat hitting them during the short crossing. Four cars were on the morning trip, and I was the only passenger that got out.
We spent part of the day in St. Charles, Missouri and part in Calhoun County, Illinois (between the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers). By the time we got back to the ferry, it was dark. That’s the landing on the east side in the distance.
