Illinois Scenic Byways|Travel

7/27/2006 ... then into Alton, IL and the National Great Rivers Museum. Very nice, if small, museum with exhibits about the Mississippi and river stuff in general – boats, nature, natural river action, etc. This is also at the site of the Melvin Price Lock & Dam, providing navigation on the Mississippi between the confluence with the Illinois and the mouth of the Missouri. Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail

The Great Rivers Museum outside ...

... and inside

Melvin Price Lock & Dam

3/28/2025 Our first sites were signs for the Great River Road and Meeting of the Great Rivers NSBs. As we neared the first, we realized that the very ornate and large sign for the first one we had in fact screeched to a stop for on our R66 trip a few years ago, so we just did a video drive-by, as we did our second set of overhead signs and a set in the town of Alton. Note: the ornate sign marked the start of the Meeting of the Great Rivers (MGR), and we later came to the conclusion that the MGR is a specially designated stretch of the GRR in IL, not sharing the same route. We will stay on the MGR until we leave it on the ferry later on, with sights noted as MGR. Right after the signs in Alton we pulled in for a very large paddle wheel steamboat mural covering the whole high face of a building. “Mike Eckhard designed this attractive four-story mural; a captivating tribute to Alton’s rich riverboat heritage depicting a paddlewheel steamboat gracefully navigating the Mississippi River. It was brought to life by artist Rip Kastaris in 2010.” Our next stop was one of some concern - it was on the campus of Principia College in Elsah, and we knew there was a main gate, so could we get access? It turned out they were set up for people just like us. Ken provided his ID, and we got a big yellow magnetic cone for the top of the car, along with a large plastic covered map with the tour path marked in sharpie. The Historic District encompasses the central portion of the campus; the campus master plan, and eleven buildings, are important designs of architect Bernard Maybeck, known for his influential architecture in the American West. The tour took us around some really attractive buildings on the rolling campus, seeing some of the representative ones in the historic district. At the Chapel, which is beautiful in itself, we enjoyed fantastic views of the Mississippi from the bluffs high above, looking down on the MGR, on a gorgeous day. Moreover, just as we found the perspective view for the “come to Principia” photo on the back of the map, we noted the plaque on a rock right on front of us, as it was in the photo - whoo-hoo! From there we continued along the river to Grafton, having noted miles of hiking/biking path along the road and river. Part of this was our destination in town, a spot right on the Mississippi river for the Sam Vadalabene Great River Road NRT (MGR). The trail offers an up-close experience of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, traveling at the edge of the Mississippi, tucked against the river bluffs, and then along the bank of the Illinois. We did a little stroll here, then back on the road for another sight that we weren’t sure how it would turn out. On the way, we could have taken the winding road up north then back down to cross the river (they get complicated around here), but we elected to have some fun with the possibly shorter in time but definitely more fun Brussels Ferry (MGR) across the Illinois. We pulled onto the ramp behind another car, and watched the tug on the far side maneuvering the barge ferry across the swift running river to our dock. It was an extremely efficient operation - the cars were barely off, and the woman in the car in front of us was already rolling, since as we found out in chatting with her that she travels this way very regularly. They got us on with some bikers and a couple of other cars and before we knew it, we were off. In just a few minutes we were docked at the other side and off on the road - fast, effective and fun!

Signs for GRR and MGR

We've seen this before!

More signage ...

... for the byways

Alton mural from afar ...

... and closer

Nice detail

Ken and mural from a hill

The College sign ...

... and our car with ID cone

Really picturesque grounds ...

... and me

The pretty chapel ...

... in a beautiful location on the river

Another nice 360

We found the NHL plaque

Sam Vadalabene GRR NRT

Me photoing ...

Some spring flowers

Approaching Brussels ferry

On the ferry, byway in the background