Grafton's Been Great!

We've arrived in Looper Land!  Up until Grafton we pretty much had the river to ourselves, other than the barges/tugs but that was the past!  There were four Looper boats on our dock and many others in the Grafton Marina.  All but one had come down the Illinois River.  We had the opportunity to meet many of the other loopers in the marina, albeit in the laundry room!  There were two washers and two dryers and they were getting a workout from all the Loopers.  Below is a photo of our dock to give you an example of the different types of Looper boats.  One couple started last March from Fort Myers.  Another just a month ago from Lake Erie.  

BELLA, along with the other Looper boats on our dock: Miss Understood, Utopia and Fish Tales.

The Grafton Marina is beautiful and sits right downtown.  All kinds of shops, restaurants, bars, & BREWERIES :)  Tom and I snapped some shots of both the marina and town on our hill walking workout (not my idea).  The Winery was straight up hill about a 1/3 of a mile.  We walked it a few times......

Oyster Bar & Floating Pool at Grafton Marina.

This was a really cool place: Knotty By Nature. They had slabs of wood and you could pick out the piece you wanted and they would finish it off for you for a table top, etc. Barber & Weinhold would have loved it!

Grafton is definitely ready for Halloween!

This is for my Halloween loving sisters, Marny and Jane. There was also a guy driving around town in a convertible with a skeleton in the passenger seat....yup.

The view from the winery on top of the hill overlooking both the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers.

We are headed to Alton Marina today.  Short float down about 18 miles and no locks.  
All for now~