Days  378 - 381       Illinois Valley Yacht Club

(IVY Club)

Peoria Heights, IL

Wednesday, September 7 – Saturday, September 10, 2011

 Migrating birds along the Illinois River

 "Grianan" docked at the IVY Club

Front entrance of the Illinois Valley Yacht and Canoe Club

 Kate, Linda (aka "Stunning"), Greg, and Brenda

 At the IVY Club

 Rainbow on the Illinois River

 With Betsy and Dave at the IVY Club

 With Patty at "Famous City Bistro"

Overlooking Peoria Lake on the Illinois River

 The Looper Train arrived at the IVY Club, and we were glad to see Greg and Kate from “Grianan” who had arrived the previous day.   It was great to get together again, and we all enjoyed dinner at the club.

Early Thursday morning “Seamoore” and “Grianan” left for an 80 mile ride to Beardstown.  “Dream Catcher” and “Jeremiah” opted for a shorter day to Havana.  But when we called the marina we found that the water was down, and the marina was too shallow for our boats.  Due to thunderstorms predicted for Friday and Saturday, we decided to wait until Sunday for traveling.  We were very happy to stay at the IVY Club which is a friendly, yet classic yacht club.

On Thursday evening we went with Jeff and Linda to the IVY Club for taco bar dinner.  We shared a lot of laughs with club members Patty Cirilli and Dave and Betsy Jones.   

On Friday evening Patty picked us up at the IVY Club and took us on a tour of the Grandview area of Peoria.  The homes and the views from the bluffs overlooking the river were spectacular.  She then took us to her new restaurant called “Famous Cities Bistro”.  The décor includes murals of New York City, Paris, and other well-known “famous cities”.  It was a fun restaurant for all ages with great food at reasonable prices.

On Saturday as we were working around the boat, we got a visit from loopers Fred and Sigrid who are traveling on “Jumbo”.  “Jumbo” is a 24-foot boat that was built in Sweden and shipped to Florida from Fred and Sigrid’s home of Germany.  Fred and Sigrid heard that Jim was familiar with this part of the loop and stopped by for some information.    They are an interesting couple who speak amazingly fluent English.  We enjoyed meeting them, and visited with them again at the IVY Club. 

Since the IVY Club restaurant was closed on Saturday, we walked with Jeff and Linda to the Firehouse Restaurant.  The 4 of us enjoyed dinner with loopers Ginny and Greg from “Brown Eyed Girl”.    

       

                                                   

Total miles:  25      Total bridges:  2       Total locks:  0