While not going to Hannibal and seeing Mark Twain history on the American Queen’s Countess sternwheeler, the town of Grafton, Illinois more than made up to the challenge of surprise guests with excitement, friendly people and unique opportunities to learn more and enjoy more about things you had no idea you could learn about.
At the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, where waters can rise tragically high and wipe out entire sections of the town, the people of Grafton have long since proven, like the people of New Jersey’s Bayshore, that they are resilient, and one serious flood simply means planning and preparing a little better for the next one.
Also like New Jersey Bayshore towns….and it isn’t just a coincidence Grafton is in Jersey County … its first settlers were from the Garden State…..Grafton stretches from the waterline of the river to over 1200 feet at its highest, and boasts it is the wintering home of the American Bald Eagle. Since eagles nests are called aeries, the highest point atop the Sky Tour lift is Aeries Lodge.
Although the Countess on-off buses were ready, able and frequent in taking folks into town, the town and its 609 residents made it a lot of fun to walk to wineries, a model lighthouse on the beach, antique and gift shops and the most incredible wood shop possible.
A visit to Knotty by Nature, owned by Dan Bechtold, is magic in wood, with hundreds, if not thousands of specialty wood cuts and locally crafted wood products. In addition to everything from soup bowls and cups to bedroom ensembles all made from the finest woods, the owner’s young granddaughter, Annie, following his enterprise and hard worth ethics, even set up her own jewelry stand right next to the check-out counter, making it hard to resist picking up a last minute rope bracelet or hand made earrings at bargain prices.
The Old Boat works near where the Countess docked was where PT boats were built during the war and today is the site of antique and craft shows; winters, it’s flooded for ice skating, and outside and adjacent to the dock, is a happy-go-lucky swinging and dance crowd any given warm Sunday afternoon.
Grafton is also the oldest city in Jersey County, Illinois, settled in the 1830s, named for its founder, James Mason who hailed from Grafton, Massachusetts, and incorporated as a city in 1907.
It’s part of a K-12 “community unit” school district with other towns around, has 265 households and nice different sites that are on the National Registry of Historic Sites. Its other, but not as wonderful, claim to fame is the Great Flood of 1993 that caused one-third of the city’s residents to move away; yet there are still reminders throughout town of just high the waters came and how long they stayed.
Docked in Grafton on a Sunday morning, the boat’s personnel made arrangements for the bus to take anyone wanting to attend Mass at St. Patrick’s Church, while also holding another interdenominational service aboard the Countess. At the Church, the pastor, Father Martin Smith stayed after mass to greet all the visitors and to tell the story of the compromise made when the Church was built. Seems the catholic German population wanted the Church built in their section of town, the Irish Catholics in theirs. So the church was built in the German section….but named St. Patrick’s, to honor the Irish. They all love it.
With the Countess bus a few minutes late on returning to pick up churchgoers after mass, it was enough delayed for local residents to notice and offer rides or directions back to the boat for their surprise guests.
The parish is marking its 150th anniversary this year. Pere Marquette, the priest who traveled the Illinois territory in the early 1800s, was among the first visitors to be recorded in the territory; prior to construction, Catholics attended mass in private homes, the Methodist church on occasion, in the local school and the town’s Quarry Hall. And when it was built, it was primarily with volunteer labor from the town and stone from the local quarry. Parishioners cannot count the number of times the church has been flooded by rising rivers ever since.
Tourism is today’s primary industry in Grafton, where the bald eagle watching area is as popular attraction. There’s that sky lift to Aeries Resort, giving a spectacular view of the Midwest from the top, along with a zip line, resort, winery, lodging, gift shop and an outdoor terrace popular for banquets and weddings. The Sky tour up is either in the traditional two seat ski lift or enclosed cars that lift passengers from the riverside, over field and road, and deer strolling in the woods to the excitement at the top.
Pere Marquette State Park, just outside of the city, is a nature lover’s paradise and the largest State park in Illinois. Besides the river views of both the confluence and the backwaters, there is year-round camping in the park, 12 miles of hiking trails, hiking, fishing, boating, and horseback riding.
Even the visitor center is fascinating. In addition to a plethora of displays of history, geology, wildlife habitat and interactive opportunities, there are active beehives, secure but able to view up close, as well as an abandoned aerie for visitors who want to have their photos taken as eaglets ready for their first flight.
Back on the Countess for the lasts sumptuous dinner, late night entertaining and fond farewells to newfound friends, it was back to staterooms for packing, a short trip to Alton, Illinois, and a morning disembarkation to taxis and buses to continue a bus trip to St. Louis Missouri, an airport, or a local hotel for following morning train from Alton to Chicago to Pittsburgh via train connections, and a final ride back to New Jersey from Pittsburgh to Newark.
