IVY - Illinois Valley Yacht Club

• While we were home two weeks ago, there was all kinds of flooding in Illinois. Now the problem is it's shallow everywhere. We pulled into IVY and had just about 4', we stirred up all kinds of mud. The building had a water mark on the side of it, at least 9' high. They were still cleaning up the mud from all around the clubhouse. The ladies room was as big as our entire mansion, the clubhouse was about the size of the SHYC property. We just had a relaxing afternoon, one of us washed the boat and the other washed the clothing. We were only spending 1 night there so we decided to eat in the dining room. So glad we did, there were 6 of us - Linda and Ray, Ruth and Dennis and the two of us. The food was great; Mike had a whole catfish. We left early the next morning.
• Many of you who have known Mike for a while are used to saying "What'd he say?" Well he has met his match. The tugboat captains are all very nice. They have a lingo of their own. Here's the kicker, they understand Mike and he understands them!!!! We also learned that when they don't respond, you let a woman speak and they answer immediately. Also we went from saying "Eh", in Canada, to saying "Y'all" along the rivers. Jo, every restaurant at breakfast says "Y'all want biscuits and gravy with that?"
• Every time I'm getting dressed to go out I have to iron my clothes. There just isn't enough closet space. Do you remember the movie Overboard? When we pulled into the marina, Tall Timbers, my Dean Proffett, Mike, went into town to see what he could do about giving me more space to hang my clothes. He really is happiest when he's building. Since I can't have him put an extention on the boat, I can have him make the extra room into a closet. He put another pole up and now I have to buy more clothes and hangers.
• We just heard from some couples behind us the IVY is closed. No boats can get in or out because the water is so low. Glad we left when we did.
• This is the best yet. We had to dock at a barge. No water, no electric, no showers; just a barge. We paid $1.00 a foot to just tie up. Now I know we're nuts. We are at Beardstown, Ill. We tied up to a Logdon Barge because there is plenty of turbulence from passing traffic. We were already tied up when we found out how much it cost. We felt we were safe. The best is they would only take cash. I hope it really was the barge owner!
• We walked into town and found a nice bar. The football game was on; not the Jets, but a football game - Colts and Titans. Dennis is a big Colt fan. The 4 of us sat at a table, drank beer, had some ribs, pulled pork, meatballs and spaghetti. Just what we would be doing if we were at home.