Alton, IL and Melvin Price Locks and Dam

Oh, my! How is it October? We did this adventures while my mom was here - two months ago! 

But this is a great time to post this anyway because the leaves are changing and if I lived closer I would definitely be driving the Great River Road through Alton to look at all the fall foliage.

An adventure to the Melvin Price Locks and Dam was actually planned for last year when both my parents came out, but they ended stuck in an airport instead and this activity got bumped. This adventure has my dad written all over it, but we went ahead and did it with just Grandma this year. We'll have to take him another time.

The National Rivers Museum is next to the Locks and Dam. It has river exhibits, a movie and a couple of activities.

The kids enjoyed trying to navigate a barge into the locks.

We got to see a two small fishing boat and a large barge go through the locks.

If you visit the locks, I highly recommend planning your trip around a tour (they have them 3 times a day). On the tour, you get to walk out over the locks. Brenton is petrified of heights and was scared half to death. Luckily, candy has very powerful effect on my children and we were all able to go.

On the tour, they also take you down next to a lock so you can actually see the water move up or down in order for the boats to move up or down the river. (This image would not rotate for some reason).

After visiting the Locks and Dam we explored a little bit of Alton. My kids are obsessed with giants, so we found the statue of  Robert Wadlow, also called the Alton Giant and the World's Tallest Man. My kids were very impressed.

Then we also headed up the Great River Road to find the Piasa, a representation of an old image seen along this part of the river years ago by Father Jacques Marquette in 1673.

This picture was actually taken earlier in the day outside the museum.

This was a fun trip. All of these activities were free and there are still a couple other things in the area that I would love to try out. So, I recommend crossing the river over into Alton if you get a chance.