{"id":2386,"date":"2024-07-20T18:19:21","date_gmt":"2024-07-20T22:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cincinnatiprime11.com\/?p=2386"},"modified":"2024-07-20T18:19:22","modified_gmt":"2024-07-20T22:19:22","slug":"port-charles-marina-mo-to-alton-il","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cincinnatiprime11.com\/?p=2386","title":{"rendered":"Port Charles Marina, MO to Alton, IL"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It is only 18 miles to Alton, IL from Port Charles Marina. We started later than usual, 3PM, but still arrived to Alton before docktails! Short journey!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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We pass the beautiful limestone cliffs just north of Alton.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We also pass Piasa Park.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Painted upon a limestone cave in Piasa Park is a replica of the Piasa bird mural. The original Native American mural, created hundreds of years ago on a nearby limestone cliff, was blasted apart in the 1950’s while mining rock. The Piasa bird is an Indian mythological creature believed to reside within caves, which according to legend, are the entrances to the underworld. Getting a taste for human flesh after eating battlefield corpses, the huge Piasa bird began snatching live victims with its talons, carrying them back to its cliffside cave, and tearing them apart for dinner. Eventually 20 brave Indian warriors tricked the Piasa out of hiding, shot it with poisoned arrows and sent it screaming into the Mississippi River never to be seen again. But like all legends and monsters, the Piasa doesn’t die easily. In the 19th century, explorers did find a nearby cave filled with human bones and, even today, sightings persist of a giant bird residing in the area.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Close up of the Piasa Bird mural.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We navigate through the dangerous area, managing to keep our flesh and bones intact, and pass under the Clark Bridge which connects Illinois to Missouri via route 67.<\/p>\n\n\n

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This bridge, with spans resembling sails of a ship, is also called the “Super Bridge”. Its “super” construction was even the subject of a documentary on NOVA. Why is it “Super”? The bridge is super for several reasons. First, its construction used difficult and complicated techniques never before employed in the US. Second, as the bridge was completed in 1994, its build was also extremely challenging as the timing of construction was during the great flood of 1993.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

At the base of the bridge, lies the entrance to Alton Marina, the “finest 5 star marina on the Mississippi!”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An undercover slip! We will learn to appreciate that amenity quickly!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Alton, while considered a suburb of St. Louis, has its own unique character and historical notoriety. During the Civil War, Alton was the site of a huge penitentiary, holding up to 12,000 Confederate prisoners. Surprisingly, the majority of deaths from the Civil War were caused not from fighting, but from disease. For every 1 man dying on the battlefield, 2 men lay dying on their deathbed. It was during this time a smallpox epidemic raged through the crowded Alton prison. The sick inmates were sent to a quarantine hospital on an island in the Mississippi River across from the prison. Many of the sick were just vulnerable farm boys never before exposed to the various rampant nefarious diseases existing within a larger population such as the prison. Today, the island is a submerged mass graveyard for many of these fallen confederate soldiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alton also was the birthplace and home to the Alton Giant. Robert Wadlow was the tallest man in history. Standing at 8′ 11.1″, and weighing 439 lbs, he towered over his 5′ 11″ father. While born at an average length, by 6 months old he was 3 ft. and by year 4, over 5 ft. tall. He continued to grow until his early death at age 22 . As his height required braces to walk, he unfortunately developed a sore where they rubbed against his skin. The wound became infected, infiltrating his blood and, in the end, caused the death of the gentle giant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While we spent several days in Alton, our activities and explorations were dictated by the weather. It was either too hot or too rainy! In both scenarios, we appreciated having a roof over Prime 11 which sheltered her from the worst of Mother Nature.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The feel like temps were way over 100 degrees.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Definitely a pool day.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

For the heat to break, the storms break out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n