Greenville, Mississippi

Our next stop along the Mississippi River was Greenville, Mississippi and we chose to stay in Warfield Point Park. As we approached the park we wondered what we had gotten ourselves into because the road narrowed, the pavement was rough and trees hung over the road. But once inside the park we found it was an undiscovered jewel. The park was once a Corps of Engineers park and was sold to the county. The sites were very big, had electric and water, and most sites were shaded and near the river shoreline where we watched heavy barge traffic and gorgeous sunsets. It was so beautiful and relaxing we extended our stay an extra day and the price was right at only $10 a night.

We planned to take a walking tour old historic downtown Greenville, but once in town we saw poverty and decaying buildings and decided it was safest to drive around by car instead of walking. In nearby Leland we visited the birthplace of Kermit the Frog. Muppet creator Jim Henson was from Leland and many of his works are on display including the very first Kermit made from his mother’s robe.

Robinsonville and Tunica, Mississippi

Continuing up the Great River Road we stopped at Sam’s Town Casino Campground in Robinsonville, Mississippi. They have a very nice campground with full hook-ups and it is the least expensive of several casino campgrounds near Robinsonville and Tunica. The large casinos are located in the middle of no-where in cotton country and the casino properties cover several square miles. It is interesting to see large and elaborate casinos rising hundreds of feet into the air surrounded by flat cotton fields. We spent a relaxing afternoon at Tunica River Park. They have a museum, nature walks, boat rides, an observation deck and a shaded porch with rocking chairs overlooking the river.

Memphis, Tennessee

There is only one place to stay when visiting Memphis, Tennessee and that is Tom Sawyer’s Mississippi River RV Park in West Memphis, Arkansas. Large pull-thru sites are near the river and the campground has full hook-ups and free WiFi. We saw heavy barge traffic day and night (always silent) with tow boats pushing up to 35 or 42 large barges. A historic paddle boat, the Delta Queen, was cruising down river to New Orleans and we stepped outside and waved at the boat. They replied by playing the calliope. It just doesn’t get any better than sitting on a park bench on the edge of the river, in front of our motorhome, watching “Old Man River” flow by and waving to the barges and cruise boats.

During our Great River Road trip we decided to spend most of our time in small river towns and mostly skip the big cities, but we did spend a full day in Memphis. We started at the Visitor Center near Mud Island and found we could leave our car there all day - no parking fee. Across the street we caught a trolley that took us on a short ride to Beale Street where it happens in Memphis. The city claims to have the best BBQ in the world so we ate ribs at Blues City Café and we were not disappointed. After eating we walked up and down Beale Street, did a little shopping and stopped to listen to street musicians play the Blues. Nearby FedEx Center has an assortment of sports balls in front of the building, but don’t kick them - they are painted concrete balls.


Do you have a thousand dollars to pay for a basic guitar or maybe several thousands of dollars for a more elaborate guitar? Then you want a Gibson guitar. Gibson guitars are manufactured in Memphis and we took a plant tour. The tour was rather expensive at $10, but it was interesting to see up close and personal how a Gibson is made. The wood is cut, twisted, formed and hand painted onsite, then guitarist plays each one at the end of the assembly line and if the sound if not up to Gibson’s standards that guitar is cut into pieces and thrown in the dumpster. They refuse to sell seconds or guitars that don’t emit the Gibson sound.


On our walk back to the visitor center we stopped at the elegant Peabody Hotel to see the ducks. Five Mallard ducks live on the roof and each morning they march to an elevator and ride down to the main lobby and across a red carpet to an Italian marble fountain. In the evening they leave the fountain and march across the carpet to the elevator and up to their home. Ducks have been a fixture at the Peabody since 1932. We saw the ducks swimming in the fountain, but it was not time for their march. We learned the first Piggly Wiggly grocery store opened in downtown Memphis in 1916. It was the first self-service grocery store in the nation where customers could walk down isles and select their own items. Until that time customers gave a clerk their shopping list and the clerk fetched the items. The store is long gone, but a plaque is erected near the original location.
 

Caruthersville, Missouri

We had been busy sightseeing the last few weeks so we decided to rest a few days at Casino Aztar in Caruthersville. (It has since been bought by Isle of Capri Casino.) We played slots a few times and Linda’s player’s card would not read correctly in the machines so she complained to a manager. To make amends Linda was given a coupon for four free meals so all four of us ate free. While there two important dates arrived - Don’s and my birthday. I won’t mention how old Don is, but my birthday was a major one. I reached the ripe old age of 62 which means I became eligible of Social Security and a National Parks Senior Pass which gets us in National Parks and Monuments free the rest of our lives and 50% off in most government campgrounds.
 

Columbus, Kentucky

The drive to Columbus - Belmont State Park took us over winding and hilly roads and through back country to the boonies, but it was well worth the drive. The last few years we have skipped many state parks because most states have raised their fees too high. We have been charged $6 for the motorhome, $6 for the car, $28 for a campsite, $4 for electric and even $8-10 to make a reservation - that is $44 for one night and more if we had made reservations. But Kentucky has it right, just $18 for a large beautiful campsite with water and electric, and no extra charge for anything in the park except ice cream.

We found the park to be manicured to perfection with miles of hiking trails and walking areas and a Civil War museum. Our sites were on a bluff overlooking the river and we could see for miles. During the Civil War the south thought this was a strategic location and they extended a mile-long chain across the river to block Union boats. The chain was secured on the Kentucky side with an anchor measuring 15' 9 1/2" long and the chain laid on boats all the way across the river. Each link of the chain weighed 20 lbs 5 ozs. A good idea, but the boats sank and the chain broke. In 1925 a landslide exposed the anchor and part of the original chain and they are on display in the park. A 32 “pounder” cannon is on display being one of 56 or more the Confederates had aimed at the river to destroy Union boats. By cannon standards the 56 pounder is a large one. It can propel a 56 pound cannon ball one and a half miles. This actual cannon was cast in 1839 and after the Civil War (ended 1865) the cannon was put on display, but during a flood in 1927 it fell into the river and was not recovered for another 55 years. Once again it proudly points toward the river. The Confederates had many other guns and cannon to secure the river including the largest cannon in the war, a cannon that shot 128 pound balls.

Confederate General Leonidas Polk was in charge of 19,000 troops at Columbus and they not only protected the river, they had to protect from an inland invasions so they dug deep and elaborate trenches. The trenches are still highly visible today and are now a walking trail. Columbus was known as the “Gibraltar of the West” and the ensuing battle was Union General Ulysses S. Grant’s first active engagement in the Civil War. After a skirmish the Confederates were forced to retreat and Grant turned his guns on the main stronghold at Columbus. However, he was overpowered and after burning the camp he withdrew upriver.
 

Cairo, Illinois

From Columbus we took a day-trip drive down to Hickman, Kentucky and crossed the river by ferry to rural Missouri where the ferry let us off on a dirt and gravel road. But in several miles the road turned to pavement and we drove up the Missouri side of the river to Cairo, Illinois. At Cairo the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers join with the smaller and faster flowing muddy Mississippi being joined by the wider and cleaner water from the Ohio. It is oblivious to the naked eye the difference in the colors of the water, but it was a heavily overcast day and my pictures do not show the colors. Standing at the point of merger and looking north the bridge crossing the Mississippi is on the left and the bridge over the Ohio is on the right. There are only two states with a common border (not point or corner) that do not have a road connecting the two states - Missouri and Kentucky. To get between the states we crossed the Mississippi River from Missouri, drove seven-tenths of a mile in Illinois, and then crossed the Ohio River into Kentucky.


We have traveled this great country eight years and have never seen a city as depressing as Cairo, Illinois. It reminded us of old west ghost towns where the mines played out and everyone packed up and left town leaving it to decay and fall apart. Mile after mile driving across the city we saw nothing but empty houses and buildings, missing doors and windows and steel bars covering openings on the remaining houses and buildings. Our plan was to eat dinner in Cairo but we only found six open businesses - three liquor stores, two very small and dilapidated gas stations and one Dollar General Store. We kept the doors locked and got out of town as soon as we could. Once we crossed into Wickliffe, Kentucky we could breathe a sigh of relief because that town looked like a normal USA city.

Cairo has so much potential because it sits between two great rivers with a large amount of commercial traffic, is served by the Illinois Central Railroad, and is crossed by two major U.S. highways and an interstate highway. I wondered what could have happened to such a large city to turn in into an abandoned ghetto so I went to the internet. I found Cairo was a thriving city until racial riots and descent destroyed the city and it never recovered and never will.

Join us next time as we continue traveling up the mighty Mississippi River.