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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMemphis actually has multiple bridges spanning the Mississippi. On the left the I-40 interstate bridge and on the right the pedestrian bridge to Mud Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_5693-1024x768.jpeg\")
The Memphis Yacht Club, Aurora’s berth for the week we were in Boston, was on Mud Island. The pyramid in the background is the world’s largest Bass Pro Shop!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_0939-1-768x1024.jpeg\")
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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nBeale Street and the South Main shopping district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMud Island Park’s Riverwalk. This is a model of the Mississippi River from Cairo, Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico.\u00a0The model includes the river’s meanderings, towns and the bridges spanning the river. It is 2000 ft (600 m) long with a scale of 30 inches to a mile (1:63360).\u00a0\u00a0The last image is our destination, New Orleans, represented in the model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_5740-1024x768.jpeg\")
The Lorraine Motel and the balcony where Martin Luther King was assassinated.\u00a0\u00a0The motel is now part of an exhibit in the National Civil Rights Museum.\u00a0\u00a0The museum exhibits document the history of slavery and the on-going struggle for civil rights in the US.\u00a0\u00a0The exhibits are detailed and dense; we didn\u2019t get through everything but what we did see was sobering.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_0937-768x1024.jpeg\")
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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMemphis, home of the Memphis Blues\ud83c\udfb7\ud83c\udfb7\ud83c\udfb7<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_5861-1024x768.jpeg\")
The Rum Boogie Club also had “art guitars”. Hanging from the ceiling were all sorts of guitars autographed by famous (and maybe not so famous ’cause some I had no idea who they were) clientele like Doug Flutie! These guitars were given to their guests to sign but they also had guitars owned and autographed by professional musicians displayed in cases on the walls.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_5846-1024x768.jpeg\")
This unfortunate irony will be a common theme…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Helena – West Helena, AR<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Helena was once the seat of the highest cotton producing county in the US. It is the birthplace of Conway Twitty and Sonny Boy Williamson. The annual King Biscuit Blues festival is held here every October and 30,000+ blues fans bolster the local economy for four days. (Helena is home to radio station KFFA; the original King Biscuit Hour was broadcast from here.) Today, Helena is a shadow of its former self. To be fair, we visited on a Sunday, but it was as if we stumbled onto a movie set during off hours\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_0952-1024x768.jpeg\")
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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThere is a small, neat park at the end of Cherry St which dispelled a bit of the gloom… until you googled “What was the Elaine Massacre?”. The image on the right is a memorial to the victims of the massacre. From the memorial alone, unless you had previous knowledge, you would never know it was the largest race riot in the history of the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWe left Helena-West Helena more aware of the havoc the loss of economic activity can have on a community. We saw this played out in upstate New York but, moving quickly into the tourist infrastructure of the Erie Canal, quickly forgot the dismal places. Here, in the middle of the country, you get reminded almost every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_7897-1024x768.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nGreenville, MS<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Greenville is another struggling river town. At one point, Greenville had a large marine industry servicing the tows and barges that run the river. The Carter administration\u2019s Soviet Union grain embargo wiped out many of the players when grain transport for export was halted. Today there is only a single service still in operation. The Delta Blues scene was also a vibrant component of life in Greenville. Nelson Street was once lined with music venues like Beale Street in Memphis. Doe\u2019s Eat Place, on Nelson St, was one of the blues clubs but continues today only as a restaurant, one the few remaining in town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_7970-1024x768.jpeg\")
A tow in dry dock at the remaining marine service company.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_7975-1024x690.jpeg\")
This is the town boat ramp, sized to accept the Mississippi cruise ships. You will see the same in Vicksburg.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_5934-1024x768.jpeg\")
We had a slip here and Hal, the commodore of the yacht club, could not have been nicer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_5933-1-768x1024.jpeg\")
Two $64.00 rib eyes at Doe’s Eat Place.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_5937-1024x768.jpeg\")
Peter, Cindy and Kristen met us, again, on this southern loop and were kind enough to take us shopping, to the laundromat and site seeing in Cleveland, MS (45 mins east of Greenville).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_5953-1-1024x768.jpeg\")
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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWe stopped at Dockery Plantation on the way back to Greenville. The plantation was extremely well maintained and the inside workings of the cotton gin were fascinating. Check out the price for Premium at the gas station!!!\ud83d\ude06 Dockery is also reported to be the birthplace of the blues; Charley Patton lived and learned his craft here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/DSC_4006-1024x682.jpeg\")
Greenville’s Route 82 bridge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Vicksburg, MS<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
All of the marketing material and tourist info we saw refer to Vicksburg as “The Key to the South”. The moniker was earned when Lincoln referred to Vicksburg’s strategic importance for Union victory during the Civil War and remains relevant today with the well-preserved historical and cultural attractions. Vicksburg is home to the National Military Park, which commemorates the battle for Vicksburg, and the Jesse Brent Lower Mississippi River Museum, which showcases the river and the Army Corp of Engineers efforts to mange it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The Army Corp maintains this history of flooding in Vicksburg at the town dock. Much of the Lower Mississippi Museum explains the Corp’s work to mitigate flood damage and control the course of the river. In 1927, 27,000 square miles of the delta were flooded and more than 200,000 residents were displaced when the levees collapsed. Even with improved flood control measures, you can see from the gauges the river’s rise in 2011.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_0981-768x1024.jpeg\")
The entrance to the National Military Park.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_0986-1024x768.jpeg\")
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Union and Confederate lines are documented with blue and red plaques throughout the park. In some places, the lines are only a couple of feet apart… Also, this was all farm land before the battle and, like most all of the Delta farm lands, probably cleared by hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_0992-1024x768.jpeg\")
<\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_0993-1024x768.jpeg\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAt the highest point in the park, you begin to understand why Vicksburg was so important a military asset. It was the highest terrain we had seen since Memphis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_7994-1024x768.jpeg\")
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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe USS Cairo was one of seven ironclads, naval military vessels designed to navigate the river’s shallows. The Cairo was damaged in the battle of Vicksburg, sunk and was recovered in 1964. The museum has reconstructed the Cairo from parts salvaged from the original.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_7999-1024x768.jpeg\")
Hanging with the big boys…\ud83d\ude43<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_5990-1024x768.jpeg\")
<\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_5991-1-1024x768.jpeg\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Riverfront Murals on Catfish Row, the downtown arts district in Vicksburg. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/IMG_5996-1-1024x475.jpeg\")
The US 20 bridge to Vicksburg.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/DSC_4002-1024x681.jpeg\")
Vicksburg marks the end of our Mississippi Delta adventure; the Delta, officially, began on Beale Street in Memphis and ends here in Catfish Row. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are surprisingly few bridges over the Lower Mississippi River. They are located at the important (or formerly important) towns on the river and were natural stops for us. Memphis, TN Memphis is the largest of the Lower River towns we visited; it is a vibrant, colorful city and we enjoyed the barbecue, blues and… Continue reading The Lower Mississippi Bridge Towns<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-inland-rivers","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2658"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2789,"href":"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2658\/revisions\/2789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svaurora.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}