I&M mule-pulled canal boat trip — maybe • words and images

July 27 and 28, 2024

Back in 2018, J and I managed an outing on the I&M canal boat, The Volunteer, after the wind had canceled the previous day’s trip. Between Saturday and Sunday, however, the usual means of locomotion, a mule, had hurt himself right where the harness rests. On this attempt the crew went with a motor. If we wanted to go on a mule-pulled canal boat ride, we were going to have to try another time.

Fast forward to 2024. I bought the tickets and some extra goodies, and away we went. First was a planned visit to The Cheese Shop & Deli in Ottawa. Pickled eggs! Then we stopped at the usual places along the Illinois River, at dinner at Starved Rock Lodge, and headed to Peru for a good night’s rest.

Alas, at the Lock 16 Café and Visitor Center, we found out Moe the mule was under the weather. This time, though, an engine was not mentioned as an option. I’m not sure why and didn’t think of it until too late.

After shopping and dining, we went to Lock 14, where a woman sat in a chair by Moe’s enclosure, reading and I suppose keeping an eye on him (or his visitors). Moe was munching, but after a while came over to the fence briefly for a pet or two. He’s a handsome mule. My dad complained about the stubborn mules back on the farm — I wonder if he would have gotten along with Moe.

Next I consulted Atlas Obscura and Roadside America for the area and found at least one oddity — a dead tree carved into the “Vulcan salute” from Star Trek, along with “Live long and prosper.” I wonder what the neighbors think of that.

Years ago on the return from a road trip, we’d stopped at a place with a giant percolator sign, “Sapp Bros. Food & Fuel” (all I could remember was “Sapp Bros.”). According to my sources, it was along I-80 near Peru. Twelve years later, it was time for a better photo. I liked the vintage feel — like stepping back into the 1960s.

The next stop was the I&M Canal remnants in North Utica. Years ago I thought I’d read of a plan to fill it in, but it’s still there, complete with snags and basking duckweed-covered turtles.

On to Rock & Soul (rock and crystal shop), the Illinois Waterway Visitor Center, a brief glimpse of an aqueduct in Ottawa, and one of Ottawa’s riverside parks, before finally heading back to Chicago — by a means faster than mule-pulled canal boat.