Our time in Peoria had to come to an end. We pushed pushed out at dawn for the 75 mile trek to Beardstown with one lock to navigate.
We got lucky at the Peoria Lock. When we arrived, there was a big tow in the lock heading north, one waiting behind it to go north, and a Corps of Engineers construction tow, City of Ottawa, waiting to go south. The rules are that commercial traffic has priority over pleasure crafts and Corps traffic has priority over all. So… it could have been a long wait.
We heard the lock master (what a cool job title) ask Ottawa if they would mind if we lock with them. That decision is at the discretion of the Captain. Thankfully, he said yes!
After the big tow cleared the lock, we tucked in behind Ottawa to lock through. As the doors were closing behind us, we heard a fellow Pleasure Craft and Looper, She’s the One, radio the lock. We learned later that they were stuck waiting for two hours!
In the lock 
Doors closing 
Thank you! 
Clear!
After that, it was smooth sailing all the way to Beardstown. We did see a dredge, which was neat.
Dredge 
Adapted for changing water levels 
Ahhhh
Coming into Beardstown was a different experience. There isn’t a marina, but the Logsdon Tug Service is nice enough to let boats tie up for the night for $1 a foot.
As we got close, I radioed on channel 10 and the guy told us to just tie up on the barge with the white crane on it. Um… ok.
As we pulled up, a nice young worker helped us tie in and he went back to work. Logsdon is a working facility and you are just tied up to their work site. Everyone was super nice and helpful, but also they were doing their real jobs.
Years ago, we learned, Beardstown had a nice marina. After one of the several floods, the powers that be dug a relief channel that silted in the marina. There is an effort to revive the marina, but there is a lot of work to do before that can happen.
After tying up, we climbed up the stairs to the office. The people were wonderful. We paid cash for the night and they pointed us to the break room with ice, vending, a shower, and toilet.
Coming into Beardstown 
We walked into Beardstown to explore and stumbled upon a little museum. Beardstown was the site of Abraham Lincolns “Almanac Trial” where the young lawyer successfully defended a client against a murder charge when he proved the key witness to be a liar with use of an almanac. The courthouse is still there and is still active. The lady who showed us around was incredibly informative and generous with her time. We learned so much.
After that, we went back to the boat, cleaned up, and enjoyed dinner where I ate what is apparently a central Illinois delicacy… a tenderloin horse.
Tenderloin horse 
We returned to our boat to find neighbors! She’s the One and Meander had tied up for the night. We enjoyed the company of fellow loopers before calling a night.
Bowlines Thrown 