Back in the spring of 2021, we visited one of my now favorite Missouri State Parks.
It was May, when we left Hannibal and drove north on Highway 61 to our next destination, Wakonda State Park. Wakonda is a term that was used by the local Native Americans when praying. It could also be the name given to objects or phenomena regarded as sacred or mysterious. Ironically, the land that composes Wakonda was recently mined of gravel and there is still an active gravel pit right outside the park. This park was established in 1960.
When we arrived, we found a new nature haven. We finally had our water view as our site was right on the small lake. There were groups of Canadian geese that provided non-stop entertainment. At first, I was a little nervous as they can be very aggressive when they have young ones which clearly these did. But they targeted each other, not the humans so they were a study in bird behavior. After the fighting robins at another campground, I had come to realize how much drama there is in the bird world. We were also lucky enough to see a scarlet tanager, a nest of yellow warblers, and a few blue herons that seemed determined to hang out in the goose nesting site. Wakonda would be a great place to be during migration season.
We definitely had a nice spot for some fishing right at our campsite and also tried the dock nearby. However, my last day ended abruptly with a snake swimming toward me. It didn't get close enough for me to identify but I wasn't able to rule out the idea that it might have been a cotton mouth. We didn't get a chance to rent the non-motorized johnboats or kayaks that are available.
There are two campgrounds at Wakonda and multiple lakes. The sites on Boulder Lake often flood. We were in site 102 in the smaller full hook up side. This loop is on Wakonda Lake. We were able to also take a nice hike around Quartz Lake and a drive around the others, Jasper, Agate and Granite Lake. There is a beach at the park and it was well used.
Our friends rejoined us and so Monday, we took a drive around Quincy Illinois, a beautiful town of 40,000. It is full of historic old homes and great river views. The newspaper is called the “Whig” and was likely named after the Whig Party, which was active in the middle of the 19th century in the United States.
We had lunch at Riverside BBQ which I would highly recommend. The food was really good and the portions were generous. They had BBQ pork sandwiches for $5. I also had to try the fried pickle spears. This place was marked in Google as LGBT friendly and woman owned. That is important to me so we were happy it was such a great place to eat.
During a drive around town, we decided that the John Wood Mansion was a house we would like to tour. It was $16 per person and well worth it. John Wood was the founder of Quincy and the governor of Illinois in 1860. He was a big supporter of Abraham Lincoln. The house has quite an interesting history. From there, we went to see the Turning Point Exhibit as Quincy was the site of the sixth Lincoln-Douglas debate in 1858. It was in Quincy that Lincoln really took the offensive and began to stake out his moral position on slavery.
There is so much more to see in Quincy and definitely warrants a return visit. It is possible, if booked in advance, to tour some of the historic homes. There is a brewery to tour and I would love to see the inside of the Dr. Richard Eell's home which was a stop on the Underground Railroad.
It was nice to have our friends join us. Most evenings, we played cards but there was one evening, we built a fire and had s’mores. The park was starting to get crazy on Friday as Memorial weekend was upon us. The camp host assured us that the popularity of RV travel had kept this park very busy since the start of the pandemic.
In early April 2022, we were back in Quincy because my wife had a work gig. She teaches Pet First Aid for cats and dogs and a local dog club wanted her to come teach a class. At that point, we had only had our new pup Kismet for about 10 days. But since she was about to embark on a life as a traveling dog, it was time to get started and two nights in Quincy would be a perfect introduction. We still didn’t have time to visit the historic homes so maybe next time.
Wakonda is one of our favorites in our short time traveling. We are planning a stay there in the Spring, so we’ll have to try some of your recommendations around Quincy.