We drove south along the Mississippi for a couple miles to Elsah, Illinois, a small village founded in 1853. Not much has changed since the late 1800s and the entire village has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. There really isn’t much to do in the town except look at the town, so that’s what we did. We drove the roads and even got out and walked a bit. The only people we saw were heading to church — but not the church in the photos. That one was empty.
Grafton wasn’t being attacked by giant bats. There’s a spot on my camera lens that I can’t locate. This shot was taken from the bank of the Mississippi River lest than half a mile from the confluence with the Illinois River, right in downtown Grafton. It’s looking downstream (south), with the cliffs along Route 100 on the left.
As we drove through Grafton, we looked for interesting stores. We found only one — Iron Decor & More. The yard was covered with interesting metal sculptures. The inside was pretty sparse, with smaller pieces of metal art on the walls and some glassware. We bought a roadrunner — it’s standing on the chair in this photo.
We ate lunch at the Fin Inn, not because we were hungry — we weren’t — but because of the novelty. Each booth had its own window into one of several large aquariums filled with fish and turtles. In our tank, a large, colorful catfish swam back and forth, back and forth.
Saturday was warm and sunny. For much of the day, I was walking around without a coat. Sunday was overcast and windy. The temperature at the start of the day was around 35. By evening, it had dropped about 20 degrees and the windchill made it miserable. But we didn’t let the weather keep us from our adventures. We started by taking the park road up to the overlooks. But I will admit we didn’t stand in the wind for very long.
That’s Calhoun County across the Illinois River. The river is the narrow slit of silver just visible through the trees. The wide patch of water is Swan Lake, part of a National Wildlife Refuge.
By afternoon, it was nasty outside, especially where the howling winds had a run down the Illinois River. I dropped my wife at the lodge and set forth in search of further adventure. I drove down along the river and saw several cars parked in the marina lot right underneath a Bald Eagle. I pulled up about 30 yards away to get a better angle. I slipped the chair out of the car and laid on the cold parking lot to get these photos.
Bald Eagles are billed as one of the chief attractions along this stretch of river, and we saw a bunch on Saturday and again on Sunday. As bad as the weather was, I saw several people standing along the water with binoculars and cameras.
I could see this small tower along the river from almost every window on the west side of the lodge. I parked and walked to it and was immediately seriously cold. I have no idea what function the tower served. The upper floor is unlocked and full of junk furniture.
This cross sits on a rock along Highway 100 right where the Illinois River empties into the Mississippi. The plaque on the rock reads:
At this place in early August 1673 Marquette, Joliet and five companions entered Illinois dawn-heralds of Religion, Civil Government and Consecrated Labor.
Dedicated September 1, 1929 Rt. Rev. James A. Griffin D.D. Bishop of Springfield, Illinois
Really. That’s what it says.
This being Illinois, the steps leading up to the cross were closed for safety reasons. I ignored the sign and climbed up anyway for another shot. And I survived to tell the tale.
We drove home on Monday. We took our time and stuck to back roads until we got near Bloomington. I jumped out of the car and took this photo a couple miles north of Pere Marquette State Park. This is the name for Route 100 from St. Louis north to this point because it’s along this stretch that the Illinois and Missouri empty into the Mississippi.
The lodge at Pere Marquette State Park was built by the CCC in 1939. Most of the material was produced locally, including the limestone used in the walls and fireplace. The furniture in the lobby was built by prison inmates. A new wing was built in 1988, and that’s where our room was.
The giant chess board in the lobby of Pere Marquette Lodge was crawling with kids every time I walked through. To get these photos, I had to get there at 7:30 in the morning.
This statue of Jacques Marquette stands in front of the Pere Marquette lodge.
Before it empties into the Mississippi River, the Illinois River runs parallel to it for several miles. The peninsula formed by the two rivers is Calhoun County. You can drive into the county on a handful of roads at the northern border, you can cross the Illinois River at one bridge about halfway down the county, or you can enter by ferry.
We chose the third option, catching the Brussels Ferry, the landing of which was just a couple miles from Pere Marquette Lodge where we were staying.
We drove into the small town of Brussels. The list of attractions in the county is short, but it does include this building, the Brussels Jail, built in 1876 and last used in 1952. It was mostly used for drunks.
We bought pops at this nearby store.
We drove around a bit, then took another ferry across the Mississippi into Missouri.
We ferried back late in the afternoon and decided to tour the county. There are 82 barns on a barn quilt tour. We made no effort to find them, but noticed them when they came along. The rolling farmland reminded me of central Wisconsin. It was rural, but the roads were busier than I would expect. I got the feeling that some commuters from St. Louis have found the county, only about 30 miles away via the ferry. (What they do when the ferry shuts down during floods and when the river freezes, I don’t know.)
We arrived back in Brussels at sundown and went to the Wittmond Motel for supper. The business was started as a trading post by Conrad Wittmond, a German immigrant, in 1847. In 1885, the family built on to the structure and opened a motel. It’s now a restaurant — they no longer rent rooms because of building codes that require sprinklers.
The dining room was almost empty, but for some reason they put us right next to the only other patrons, a huge family that was celebrating an anniversary. We didn’t let it bother us. (The couple in this photo came later.)
The food was family style — we ate what was given to us. This night it was chicken-noodle soup, coleslaw, applesauce, rolls, pork sausage, celery, carrots, pickled beets, candied apples, corn relish, corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, fried chicken, roast beef and dumplings. All of it was good, and we both tried some of everything. We split an amazing piece of blackberry cobbler for dessert. All of it only cost us about $30.
The old store is now an antique store.
We got in the car to leave, then decided to go back inside and buy a large peanut jar.
The owners are very aware of the historic appeal of the place, but they didn’t overdo it. We got the feeling they were just doing things they way they’d always done them. If we ever get back to the area, we’ll be back to this place.
