The View From The Top Is Amazing

Day 121  | Grafton 

I hit the dock carrying waxing supplies at 8:00 and quickly removed the dirty patches on the stern deposited by our fenders. Since I find it hard to just do one spot I kept moving forward past the boarding gate and then to the first set of ports. My real goal was to remove the four oily fish splatters on the side of our bow. This required us to loosen the stern line, remove a few fenders, and torque the bow tightly to the finger pier. In the two-plus years we've had Crossroads, I've never been able to wax the hull to the point ... and the heavy oxidation showed. With this nearly perfect setup I was able to wax the entire starboard side of the hull, except for a two square foot area at the forward-most waterline. After four hours, I could see the shimmering reflection of the water on the hull and decided it looked pretty good to me. Temperatures had already reached 90 degrees. I had brought a towel out to sit on because the dock had gotten too hot. Cleaning up in bare feet was not the best experience for this tenderfoot.

After a quick shower and lunch, we headed out for a walk down Main Street. First stop was the Grafton Lighthouse, dedicated to those who lived through the Great Flood of 1993. Although receding, the river is still running high today. Docks are under water, requiring a boat to get to your boat.

The directional sign beside the lighthouse features places we've been (Mackinaw Island, Chicago) and places yet to come (St. Louis, Kentucky Lake, Staniel Cay). We made our way to the end of Main Street to find the Post Office (ZIP 62037) then headed back to the marina. Signs on power poles tout the city as the wintering home of bald eagles. Thousands of birds reportedly visit the hillside from December through February. The combined city hall and police building sits modestly just down from the marina.

Once back at the marina, "The Key West of the Midwest," we watched a large river cruise boat out of Chicago trying to pull into the fuel dock. It had an awful time maneuvering in the current and got spun around. Eventually it freed itself from marina by crashing into and dislodging a section of dock. After the show, it was time to check out the advertised Strawberry Mango Wine Slushy. It did not disappoint.

It was late afternoon when we returned to Crossroads. We got our fourth and final load of laundry started then relaxed for an hour before dinner. Ten Loopers climbed aboard the shuttle bus to Aerie's Winery for dinner. (An aerie is an eagle's nest.) The bus took us up a steep road to the top of the hill. The view of the river below was amazing. We later found out that the owner/developer of the resort property was our bus driver. He shared details of his next project which is installing a gondola lift from the waterfront to the winery. Construction will begin shortly and be completed by late spring. There will be 15 towers and 12 gondolas operating on the cable. Should be quite a setup when completed.

We loaded back into the bus and the owner drove us back down the hill. We were back onboard before boater's midnight (9:00). Several of the folks we had dinner with will be departing tomorrow morning. We'll hang out for one more day and wrap up a few more projects.