I've never been to Quincy, so I can't comment. I can tell you that there is extensive historic preservation going on in Alton. Always has been. History is about the only thing that place has going for it...
I stayed in a convent in Galena once. Another quaint (read: creepy) river town lost in time. "Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.
As for the beauty of the Mississippi bluffs, my favorite views come from the little municiple park in Lansing Iowa. The perch is SO high.
"Remember the I35W bridge--who needs terrorists when there are Republicans"
then I have an instant paranoia about what the situation post Thatcher etc bridges in the UK are like.
the main reason I worry about something similar is I rmember a UK county council discovering it was cheaper to post slippery road signs on its county borders and halve its resurfacing schedule for major roads during the height of the Thatcher Years. Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
