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Rumors of the Death of Drive-Ins Greatly Exagerated
While we were in Galena I got a wild hair. I knew there was a drive-in somewhere around and thought it would be a fun family outing. We had the use of a borrowed pickup thanks to John Bookless, so it...
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Twin Towns of Gritty Charm and Regret
Savanna, Illinois and Sabula, Iowa lie just across the river from each other. We were introduced to Sabula by John Bookless who drove us down from Bellevue to Bombfire Pizza on a Saturday to see one of...
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A Teeny Tiny Journey Through History
We stumbled into the Savanna Cultural Center. The entire second floor was taken up by an elaborate 800-square foot HO-scale train layout of a 1930s Savanna, Illinois. The extensive trainset at the...
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Mini Stories from Clinton, Iowa
Clinton Marina History My Grandmother owed and operated the Marina that you are at right now until the 1970s. It was called the Anchorage then. Her name was Agnes (Schrader) Lutz. Everyone called...
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Heeeello? This is Iowa
Ship’s mate Stacey Marie Garcia We landed in the tiny town of Fulton, Illinois exactly a week ago. Stacey Marie Garcia was ships mate and Fulton continued our string of launches and landings that...
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A Day of Danger, A Time of Troubles
Warning: This post is more profane than my usual (what my mom calls “lazy language”), so as you read on, visualize BLEEPS in your head. The shantyboat’s most recent day of travel was one of physical...
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“How do you pay for this?”
That’s a good question, and one that we’re asked a lot. That’s like the sixth bonus question of the Typical Shantyboat Q&A. The project was supported by a few modest grants from the University of...
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Facing a New Day of Bad News
[Note that this post was broken off from the too-long previous post, so you may have seen it before. But chances are, you didn’t get all the way to the bottom, so it may be completely new to you.] The...
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You Won’t Believe what they found when they opened my outboard engine
I was at the Green Gables Marina and Mike Hall was taking care of my broken motors. Within a few hours, he diagnosed what was wrong, but tracking down the parts for my 1968 Johnson and my 1978 Mercury...
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Seriously, What Have We Learned?
Pat Nunnally of the University of Minnesota’s River Life Program, asked me a few broad questions for their new journal Open Rivers: Rethinking the Mississippi. I thought I might share the answers with...
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Midwest Cultural Envy from a Californian
I approached the Quad Cities in the late afternoon, going easy on Freddie who’d just been given the okay from Mike in Le Claire. I had no ships mate since Harmony left and my long repair delay derailed...
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Adventures on the Other Side
It was delightful to use the johnboat to speed up river when I needed something from town. I crossed under the historic Crescent railroad bridge and the beautiful Centennial Bridge (soon to be...
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A Land of Sweet Melons and Excellent Tacos
In Muscatine, I met many new friends, received generous gifts, found a river town with a significant Latino population, learned about famous Muscatine Melons, and interviewed the son in-law of the heir...
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Mark Twain’s Favorite View of the River
In Muscatine, Iowa there is a point overlooking the river said to be Mark Twain’s favorite. Going under the Centenial Bridge at sunset (Scroll right >>) I never know how much credence to put into...
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The Final Fate of the Shantyboat Doty and a Question
I owe you an update. Several updates, actually. I think the last post I did was about the pearl button industry in Muscatine more than two months ago (time flies!). For you savvy folks, you may already...
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Farting Around Muscatine and a Sudden Road Trip
Last time I gave you an update, I was in Muscatine, Iowa — the best place I’ve found to get good tacos in the midwest — and hadn’t had a ships mate since Harmony left for parts unknown. Shantyboat near...
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A Magical Gathering of Artists
I left the shantyboat in Muscatine, Iowa and bombed up to Minneapolis in a borrowed beater car to go to an art conference and pick up my new ships mate. This started as a selfie to show off my new...
View ArticleShanty Boat Blues [Audio]
Shanty Boat Blues by Jimmy Murphy I wants to stand on the levee, feel that muddy water in my shoes I wants to stand on the levee, feel that muddy water in my shoes I wants to let this old river wash...
View ArticleShantyboat Near Dubuque, Iowa [VIDEO]
Last summer, from Gutenberg to Dubuque, Iowa, my ships mates were artistic collaborators, Monica Haller and Sebastian Muellauer, whose project Open Research Buoy has a life of its own. Some of the...
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Fundraising for the Tennessee River
I’m excited to tell you that the Secret History project is headed for the American South on the Tennessee River! After two years on the Upper Misssissippi, we’re headed to Knoxville, Tennessee where we...
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