A sunny Sunday on the Mississippi River

Steve Baker looks out over the Mississippi 
River on an outing last Sunday

     It was warm, sunny and relatively windless last Sunday: In other words, a most perfect day to boat on the Mississippi River.

    Luckily, one of our three girls, and her husband, (Jill and Kevin Hansen) invested in buying a cute speed boat recently, and we had the pleasure of spending the day with the family on it.

    We have not boated on the Mississippi River in several years. We can boat where we live, but it's not the same as the river community.

    We found, with some surprise, the wide interest of the hundreds of folks who hang around the river on the weekend. There was live music at several venues, and several fun boats to look at and admire. Not to mention the friendly folks at the various places we stopped.

    Husband Steve had a speed boat some time ago, and he boarded it at a place near Muscatine, Iowa, called Fairport. We returned to that spot on Sunday and were surprised to see all the major changes. 

    What at one time had been a relatively sleepy, happy place is now very spiffy indeed! There's room for many, many more visitors these days, and I just bet all the seats are filled on sunny weekend days.

    We also stopped twice, at Ducky's, in Andalusia, which had live music and lots of folks who arrived on motorcycles. 

    The scenery is terrific, of course, and if anyone is interested in the river, there are many island areas to explore (Bikini Beach is near Fairport). Of course there are several river walks in the cities.

    I spent my career in newspaper journalism, and some time ago, the Quad-City Times had a reporter devoted to covering the Mississippi River. That was a great beat! Barb found cool houses on islands, folks who spent their lives living and working on the river, information from the Army Corps of Engineers, and lots more. I believe it was a well-read page in the daily newspaper.

    Those folks interested in birds would have a terrific time on the river. We saw storks, pelicans, and more water birds to count.

    Haven't been down to the river in some time? It is worth the time, and trouble!

That's me, Steve and grandson, Brady Hansen,
at Ducky's in Andalusia, Ill.




    

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