Clinton to Burlington

9/28/2018

After a quick overnight in Clinton, we headed on to Betttendorf. Stayed at the Isle of Capri, fueled up and got another great walk in along the river. Photo below is our view from the berm above the marina.

We took off from Bettendorf early yesterday morning. Our goal was to get to Burlington, 82 miles and 4 locks. The first lock was interesting. It's the oldest lock in the system, built in 1931 and has a rail road bridge directly on the south side. Once the lock doors opened we had to hold our position in the lock until the bridge lifted for us. We had a nice chat with the lock master and learned all about lock and bridge.

Luck was on our side yesterday. We got thru all 4 locks without a wait and made it the 82 miles to the Bluff Harbor Marina in Burlington by 1:30pm. The river got a little dicey between the last two locks with debris from flooding, so we slowed down, took our time and watched for deadheads.
Bluff Harbor in Burlington and Jim, Julie and Brenda were great. So accomodating and helpful. We got the bikes off the boat and toured town. Burlington is a beautiful river town and we enjoyed our time tooling around.
Julie told us about 'Snake Alley", which is a local landmark constructed in 1894. It connects the residentrial district to the top of the bluff. It's in Ripley's Believe It or Not! It consists of five half-curves, two quarter curves and drops 58 feet over a distance fo 275 feet. It was really cool! Tom, of course, liked the sign. Needless to say, we walked our bikes down.

Homes on the bluffs of Burlington overlooking the river.

We headed to the Farmers Market after our bike ride and had to take a pic of this shaved ice truck for Griff, the Tom Brady of shaved ice in Fort Collins!

Had a pint at the local brewery. Ford and Brenda would have approved.

We headed to Big Muddy's for dinner and the Vikes game. Tom has no comment on the game.....
Photo above is the view off the back of Bella - The Burlington bridge.
We are headed to Keokuk today. Only 38 miles and NO locks!!!
All for now~

3 Comments

9/28/2018 12:36:51 pm

Is it just the light or do I detect a future Hemmingway at Snake Alley? 8 days of pure relaxation until the 7th.

Pamela Lund

9/29/2018 09:38:49 am

Beautiful bridge, also how are you liking your bikes, they look fun to ride!

Sue

9/30/2018 05:44:44 am

The bridges have been spectacular! I didn't expect that. Yes, we love our "bikes in a bag". Got them a few years ago for traveling on the boat. You might remember them from last year at Tour de Foam. Amos's rode them.

Tom & Sue Slightam

Read along as we circumnavigate the eastern half of the United States and southern Canada on the Great Loop on our boat BELLA, a Cruiser 460 Express.

Ticket To Ride