Adventure on the Mississippi

©2013 Lydia Hinshaw

The ferry "terminal"  in Missouri

Just one car aboard the westbound ferry

 SAINTE GENEVIEVE, MO -- Our standard procedure for leaving St. Louis for points east is a white-knuckled drive through spaghetti interchanges that lead to a bridge over the Mississippi River.
 Friday morning when we left my cousins' home in Webster Groves, MO, we headed south instead, driving to the small town of Sainte Genevieve, founded by French settlers in 1735.
 A narrow road heads north out of the historic district to the riverbank, where there is what looks like a concrete boat ramp leading steeply down to the water.  If you park there and flash your lights, a small ferry will come across from Modoc, IL, to pick you up.
 It's the only way to get your automobile across the river in about a 60-mile stretch without bridges.
 The ferry had to wait a bit Friday for two giant barges heading upriver.  Just one car was aboard when the boat finally pulled away from the Illinois ramp.
 Very quickly the single car was driven ashore, and the Magic Bus and four other vehicles were waved aboard.  Minutes later were in Illinois, the second of four states we could cover before stopping for the night.
 Earlier in our travels we ferried to Vancouver Island and then back to Anacortes, WA, in each case on ships that could transport hundreds of cars, ships with cafeterias, snack bars, gift shops and auditorium-sized seating areas.
 I liked this little boat better.