Day 131 Field Trip to Jerseyville

Sara needed to do laundry and we needed supplies and oil, so we booked the courtesy car, which was a "vintage" 15 passenger van, and took a trip to Jerseyville this morning. Hit every place that might have the right oil to no avail. The drive was pretty - lots of farmland, fields, barns, small country roads. Later in the day, the Loopers that are here had an impromptu "docktail" get-together on the marina dock. Met some more interesting like minded boaters. Then Sara and John joined us for dinner at the historic and haunted Ruebel Hotel and Restaurant. The hotel and saloon were built in 1884 and they added a restaurant in 1913. The bar in the restaurant is from the 1904 World's Fair and it is a magnificent structure. When the hotel caught on fire in 1912, the locals ran in and removed the bar to save it. The hotel closed, was abandoned and fell into disrepair in the 1980's. However, a family bought it in 1997 and restored it to it's former glory. Supposedly a young girl haunts the hotel on the second floor, but nobody knows who she is. Looks like we are staying here for a while longer because our good friends Frank and Carol are coming up to visit and travel with us for awhile.