[文字原創+網路圖片+資料]走，到GRAFTON看密西西比河去！

周末，一家人想就近看看秋日的風景。到哪裡去好呢？經過簡單的討論，我們決定到

距我們居住地大約有一小時車程的GRAFTON小鎮看密西西比河去！


位於美國ILLINOIS州的GRAFTON小鎮，有「真正的美國河之城」 之美稱(詳見下面的相關資料)。


在網上查好地圖，我們便開車上路了。



駛進100號公里以後，車之右側為大自然精心雕琢過的奇山古石；


車之左側，便是聞名於世的密西西比河了。

這條100號公里，讓我和LG同時想起了幾年前，我們從佛羅里達的MIAMI去KEYWEST時，我們走過的那條海上公路。

100號公路邊，有幾個供遊人休閑的小公園。在這裡，你可以看到許多隨意消遣的美國人。





我們家的孩子，比較喜歡玩可以搖動的假動物，還ENJOY用挖土機玩沙子。

在GRAFTON，雖然我們沒見到掠過長空的雄鷹和PELICAN



甚至連漂零的落葉，也不知流落何方。

但是，面對公路對側的密西西比河，什麼風景都會顯得黯然無色。


頓覺之中，人也變得十分渺小。幾個和」 江，河，水「有關的詩句和歌詞，在我的腦海中你來我去：

「大江東去，浪淘進。。。」
「問君能有幾多愁，恰似一江春水向東流」
「花自漂落水自流。。」
「大河向東流，天上的星星參北斗」 。

在公園小憩幾個小時以後，我們繼續在100號公路上兜風。並在路邊的一家小吃店，狠狠地吃了一頓鮮魚餐。然後，又到附近的ICE CREAM店，吃了些甜點。

不知不覺，天色漸黑，我們也到了啟程回家的時候。

駛在回家的100號公路上，現在，車之左是無言的群山，車之右是靜靜流動的密西西比河。

誰能說回程不美，我分明看到了山水相逢的那一刻！


水影兒
11-1-04 MONDAY


說明：實在不會寫遊記，留下幾個字，供自己日後懷想。「字不夠，圖來湊」 。赫赫。

網上查到的相關旅遊資料，供參考。

FUN IN GRAFTON---A REAL AMERICAN RIVER TOWN

Take a scenic drive up the Great River Road, and visit Grafton, Illinois. No matter what the season, our historic town offers a wide variety of fun things to do. water sports, waterpark, biking, hiking trails, riverfront dining, diverse lodging, antiques and specialty shops, Marquette State Park, camping, festivals, eagles, music, and so much more!

Grafton History

Judge Hamilton was born on a farm near Otterville, Illinois. Most of his early boyhood and young manhood days were spent in Grafton where his family was engaged in business for several years. Grafton』s early history is closely connected with that of Otterville. Dr. Silas Hamilton, a native of Vermont, moved to the state of Mississippi when a young neighbor started treating his slaves cruelly. He liberated his slaves in Cincinatti and then started North through Illinois looking for a good place to settle.

The Otter Creek basin appealed to him and he applied to the state and received grants to the land for himself and his friends. These grants were received in 1830 and thus the present day village of Otterville was founded. At this time, there were not any houses in present day Jerseyville. It was all wild prairie and the settlers were  to venture out too far.
At this time, James Mason, a native of New Hamshire, came into the Otterville area. With Otterville a growing settlement, he saw that the people would need a shipping point for their produce. In 1832, he received grants to practically all of the land that is now comprised of Quarry Township. Mr. Mason named this city Grafton, after his hometown, Grafton, New Hampshire.

At this time, Alton was a struggling village and St.Louis was a town of a few thousand inhabitants. St. Louis men didn』t like having a trading point as close to them as Alton. St. Louis also didn』t like Alton because it helped in the organization of Grafton. Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Mason were very good friends and the two men conceived a great future for Otterville and Grafton. They received a charter in 1833 for a state road that connected Grafton to Chicago. A ferry was also established in Grafton. In July1834, Mr. Mason died and in November of the same year Dr. Hamilton died.



There are 265 households out of which 23.0% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.7% are married couples living together, 10.6% have a female householder with no husband present, and 34.0% are non-families. 29.1% of all households are made up of individuals and 15.1% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.30 and the average family size is 2.84.
In the city the population is spread out with 20.0% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 23.3% from 25 to 44, 31.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.1% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 44 years. For every 100 females there are 93.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 99.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $34,706, and the median income for a family is $44,250. Males have a median income of $35,000 versus $22,250 for females. The per capita income for the city is $21,989. 14.0% of the population and 9.4% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 33.3% are under the age of 18 and 10.6% are 65 or older. preview not available


MAP
Grafton is Just 45 minutes from St. Louis,15 minutes from Alton
and 30 minutes from St. Charles.
http://www.grafton.il.us/map.jpg

圖如果還不夠，那就得歌來湊了。

二十年前聽過的老歌，當時聽的是Barbara Fairchild的版本，後來倒是想找這首歌的，一直沒「動力」。今天看見斑竹的這個帖子，下決心找找，費了八牛二虎之力，找到了另外一個版本，摻和摻和，呵呵……

Mississippi

[music]http://home.ko.no/onkel.bjorns/Mississippi.mp3[/music]


Where You Can Hear A Country Song For Far
When Someone Plays A Honky Tonk Gui-tar
Where All The Lights Will Go Out One By One
Where People Join The Sun And The Wind Takes It A-way
Where The Mississipp Rolls Down To The Sea
And Lovers Find A Place They Like To Be
How Many Times Before The Song Was Ending
Love And Under-standing --- Everywhere A-round
Chorus:
Mi--issis--sippi --- I'll Remember You
Whenever I Shall Go Away I'll Be Longing For The Day
That I Will Be In Dreamville A-gain
M--issis--sippi You'll Be On My Mind
Everytime I Hear This Song -- Mississippi Roll A-long
Until The End Of Time
Now The Country Song Forever Lost It's Soul
When The Guitar Picker Turned To Rock And Roll
And Every Time The Summer Nights Are Falling
I Always Will Be Calling -- Dreams Of Yester-day

Repeat Chorus:


這歌真是夠「鄉村」的，這位男歌手唱得也十分的「鄉村」，還是二十年前聽的那個版本好，懷舊中……

"什麼風景都會顯得黯然無色"
個人面對大自然是這樣的

轉一篇遊記到「旅遊天地」，祝這裡人來人往，生意興隆！

嚴重支持水編輯美貼~~~~

謝謝影兒JJ的關照，PFPF哦~~~！很悠閑的鄉村音樂~~~~！有種坐在秋天的黃昏下看落日的感覺~~~！

[c][B]歡迎玉壺冰心來「旅遊天地」做客！[/COLOR][/B][/c]

謝謝水總的祝福，你的大禮我就不客氣了哈！