May 8, 2014 Mississippi River Museum

Thursday, May 8

Woke early and went for a walk along the riverfront before fixing ham and eggs for breakfast.  Greg dropped some egg and after a while we noticed these ants having their own little feast.  Tried the macro lens for a close-up.

The River is also called “The Big Muddy” and that it is, with a kind of brown and blue appearance, depending on the light.  It is moving right along and looks mighty powerful. These pillars show flood levels, to which levees are built, with the tallest being the 100-year flood, the shortest 5-year.

We went back to finish the museum with only a few other people. 

Yes, he is alive.

Learned much about the river, levees, the huge flood of 1927 which covered an area 50 miles wide, 100 miles long up to 20 feet deep in Mississippi and more in Louisiana!  Many deaths and thousands of people left homeless and jobless.  The flood happened in April and the waters didn’t go down till August,  which meant missing a whole season of crops.  The corps of Engineers and Mississippi Water Authority have done enormous work to try to tame the river, but 2012 saw another breech and work continues.

William Faulkner compared the river to a mule, which may work hard for you for 10 years and then give you a good kick.

Why do people continue to live here.  It is home and the rich top soil of the Mississippi Delta can be up to 30 or 40 feet deep!  Compared to Texas’ 4 feet,  Illinois 6 feet, Vermont 3’ and New Mexico 4 inches.

The museum also covered earlier inhabitants and explorers.  I didn’t realize that DeSoto explored this area in the 1500’s!   Lots of  civil war and other history too!

By noon we were ready to move on, and headed north to Memphis.  Went to a Visitor’s Center on the River near downtown Memphis and got lots of information. 

 BB King

The "other" King - Elvis

We walked to the park at Mud Island (which is actually a peninsula formed by a sand bar).   They have a large model of the  southern Mississippi River there, dug into the ground, complete with varying depths, sand bars, etc. There are plaques showing different towns and settlements with some history about each.  An interesting exhibit!  There are over 30 states that are effected by the Mississippi Valley area, as far east as Pennsylvania and west to New Mexico. 

We decided not to rush, so will find a campsite tonight and come back tomorrow to do a little more exploring.  Someone at the visitor’s center suggested Meeman-Shelby State Park, about 15 miles out of town, along the river, so that is where we spent the night. Nice wooded park with electric and showers!  We did some housekeeping and had steak and potatoes for dinner!

Scratch ‘n Sniff of the Day:   The clean fresh smell of soap and shampoo!