My Corner Online
Grafton, Illinois, and Grafton Ferry
The Loading Dock Restaurant
Grafton Ferry, Eagle II
We visited Grafton on August 12, 2023, on a happenstance on after a long day traveling to St. Louis to drop off my Aunt Mary's Ashes, and then to Old Chain of Rocks Bridge and Chain of Rocks Amusement Park and Edward "Ted" and Pat Jones-Confluence Point State Park. We had not eaten all day and were trying to find a place to eat in nearby Alton, Illinois, when we asked for help and a kind lady suggested we try the Loading Dock in Grafton. We contacted a neighbor who gave our dogs a visit and dinner, so that, thankfully, freed us up to extend our day. We wondered if the 20 minute drive up north, just to return to go home, was worth the time and gas, and it turned out to be a great time. I had planned on coming this way in the Autumn because my Grandpa and his second wife had made the trip several times in videos and I thought it would be fun to retrace his steps. Instead, we found ourselves driving along Highway 100 on this absolutely beautiful evening view of the Mississippi River. I never saw the Mississippi River look so pretty! I have always thought of it as muddy and ugly! I recognized Highway 100 from the below videos of Grandpa's.
I thought for sure he had been on the Grafton Ferry too. However, on further study of the below videos, I see they did not go on the Grafton Ferry. I thought I was going to be making a repeat trip, but in reality only the stretch of Highway 100 in Illinois is the same. I really wanted to stop at the many places along the way, so when we do take an Autumn trip to follow Grandpa's path, we can take our time to stop at more places.
1990 May 27, High Water Road Trip; Missouri; Illinois; Brussels Ferry, Golden Eagle Ferry, Grafton
I mapped this 1990 video trip of Grandpa and his second wife, Mary, and it was difficult to do so. They set out with a goal to record the historic 1990 flooding. They lived in Shrewsbury and traveled to St. Charles. They crossed the Missouri River on the Golden Eagle Ferry, then crossed the Mississippi River on Brussels Ferry, and traveled south on Highway 100 in Illinois.
1987 October 17 - Fall Colors Highway 100 Illinois, Missouri , Mississippi River
This 1987 video trip was a little easier to map as they started in Alton and traveled north on Highway 100 in Illinois, crossed the Mississippi river on the Brussels Ferry, then crossed the Missouri River on the Golden Eagle Ferry, and then traveled west on Highway 70 towards Wentzville as they continued a trip towards Jefferson City (another video). They traveled in the opposite direction of the 1990 video. On this trip they were traveling to appreciate the Autumn colors.
This is the Mississippi River as we walked around the building at the Loading Dock to be greeted with a great space of tables covered with yellow shade umbrellas.
Indoors there were no tables, but a huge space with lights where tables could be set up for a large event.
It was almost like you were sitting at the same level with the water of the Mighty Mississippi.
The food was nothing fancy and 'just okay' and the experience was more about the view and drinks.
It was confusing to order. Food had to be ordered by standing in line, paying, and then receiving a number so that someone could deliver your food. You tipped that service. Drinks were ordered by a server that visited your table. You tipped for that service. Both services had different payments, so you could not pay for your meal all at the same time. I think there were also canopies where you can walk up to order drinks.
We enjoyed watching all of the different types of water vessels that went up and down the river. There are no boats like this where we live in Cape Girardeau on the Mississippi River. You might see an occasional boat other than a barge, but here in several hours up river many people were using the river as a recreational spot. There were house boats, huge boats, and jet ski's.
Right next to The Load Dock was the Grafton Ferry. We were watching the ferry cross the river from our seat at the Loading Dock and did not realize it at first. We were marveling at how the boats could easily go around the "barge" without getting hit, only to realize it was not a barge, but the ferry.
The prices were reasonable, unless of course you had to take your vehicle across every day!
I have two apps on my phone that show me river traffic. I had not seen any barges, so wanted to see if there were any close when I discovered the ferry was also on the app! Our ferry's name is "Eagle II."
You can see that when you get off the ferry on the Missouri side, you are not too far from the St. Charles airport. The road takes you right into St. Charles.
The sun getting low in the sky and behind the clouds were amazing!
The drive on Highway 100 was amazing from Alton to Grafton. The bluffs were on one side with a bike trail and the river was on the other side of the road. Here we could see the bluffs from the ferry.
This is looking back at Grafton from where we came. You can even see a jet ski and another boat in the photo. There are also two islands that the ferry passes between.
There we see the name of "Eagle II." That's our truck on the right.