Departed Alton 11:30 went through Ray Price Lock and Dam a 1200’ lock, one of the longest we have encountered. There was a drop of 28’. Went on down to Lock 27 and had a quick lock through but upon exiting found a traffic jam of barges due to river being closed due to dredging. Both locks had bollards to tie to – we tied on at mid ship to a bollard which moves down with the boat. This made for an easy lockage. It was quite interesting to see the dredging process and the spews of sand/dirt spouting out into another part of the river. We treaded our way around the barges and got permission to make a narrow pass around the dredges and continued on down river past the St. Louis waterfront and arch. Went under the bridges of the well traveled Interstates 270 and 55. Overcast day. Arrived at Hoppies Marina 3:00 p.m. and met by Fern and Hoppie who tied us up. We took a walk into town late afternoon. Ate at a restaurant which looked like an old fort. When returning to the boat it was pitch dark and we made a few wrong turns and had to back track. We could have used our GPS.
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