Our traveling companions, Roger and Mary opted for a slower paced day than Donna and I had planned, so we headed in a couple of different directions this morning. D and I stopped at the Old Mississippi River Bridge Overlook and Park first. This nice, cool park is located near the base of the current bridge, and looks out over the Big Muddy and the location of the original bridge built in the last century.
The park has within its grassy walkways a huge 200 year-old Beech tree.
This tree could possibly have been alive at the time of the Louisiana Purchase, and could have provided some shade for Louis and Clark! This tree is a registered "Champion" tree.
Moving into old town, down near the old warehouse district and the new seawall, we came across an old building with a nostalgic sign painted on the side.
Passing through one of the openings in the seawall, we spotted markings indicating just how high the water of the Mississippi reached over several years.
The mark for 2017 is about 9' above the seawall base, and roughly 35' above the current level of the river! Engineers estimate that the wall can withstand a 55 foot rise in the level of the river. That was put to the test in 2016 and 2017.
We cruised through most of the older homes near downtown, and came across this pristine Craftsman style home, now a photography studio and bed and breakfast.
We headed a bit north of The Cape to the approximate location of the trading post that is believed to be the first building in the Cape Girardeau area. The structures are long gone, of course, but a location has been identified and is maintained to honor that event.
Completing our driving loop north of The Cape, we returned to the motorhome, grabbed a sandwich and Sasha, and headed east back into Illinois. Along the way to Jonesboro/Anna, we saw a number of historical markers commemorating the epic Louis and Clark journey through this new, at the time, part of the United States.
Our destination was Jonesboro, IL, the site of the third joint debate of the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858. At the time of the debate, the location was part of the area's fairgrounds, and some 1500 people attended the debate. Now it's an acre of shade trees providing relief from the days heat.
Lincoln was not at the time a staunch abolitionist, but his conscience led him to oppose the views of Douglas, who said at the Jonesboro debate: "....the negro is not and never ought to be a citizen of the United States."
Douglas wanted to "trot Lincoln down to Egypt", a common name for southern Illinois at the time. Perhaps this explains the name of the nearby town of Cairo....
Near Jonesboro, and in fact, almost part of the town, is the hamlet of Anna. Sharing schools and infrastructure, the two towns are effectively one entity. Anna was named after the wife of the founder, in 1854, and is home to the Anna State Mental Hospital, or, the Choate Mental Health Care Center.
As we were strolling around the Lincoln-Douglas Debate Site, we happened upon a young lady and her three-year-old son. Lindy was born on Lincoln's Birthday, and named her son Lincoln, and is a local resident, so she has a strong connection to the area. Lincoln had a great time playing with Sasha, and feeding the fish and turtles in a nearby pond. During our conversation, Lindy recommended a coffee shop in Anna, so we drove a mile or so to KiKi's.
KiKi's is a great local business, using locally roasted coffee (Steam Shovel), and using milk from local dairies, still bottled in old-fashioned glass bottles.
KiKi's has a large back room for their Thursday evening open mike shows. KiKi, the owner, invited us to stay, but we had to decline. "Mr. KiKi" is a noted musician who is currently touring with a Nashville based band. Very nice place!
Cape Girardeau #3:
I've not been able to post yesterdays happenings due to very poor connectivity, so I'm going to add the haps for Friday in the hope that this semi-good connection will hold.
Roger had scheduled a game of golf for this morning with his ex-CHP friend Don, and the girls had decided to go shopping for the day. That left me with a chance to exercise the new bicycle that Donna bought for me last Christmas! It's been some time since I've had a chance to ride, so when I took the bike off the rack, the tire air pressure was low. A few minutes with the compressor took care of that! A water bottle, bicycle shorts, a helmet, and the cell phone completed the regalia and off I went.
Cape Girardeau has a modest trail system, but it lies adjacent to the RV park we're staying in, so a ride was required! I left about 10 am, just when the heat and humidity were reaching solid footing, and headed north. The trail soon ended in a housing development, so I returned and started south. At about the 4 1/2 mile mark I turned a corner and ran over a twig. Turns out that the twig was a huge thorn, and it was rapidly depleting the air in the rear tire! I looked around for help, but found none, so I started walking the bike back to the motorhome.
About an hour and a half later, somewhat footsore, I arrived "home", grabbed a bite of lunch, and threw the bike into the back of the car and shot over to CycleWERKS just down the road. Josh was able to take care of the tube and tire in 15 minutes, and I was back in business.
Back at the motorhome, I noticed that the day was young, the girls were still shopping, and I was still dressed for a bike ride....
So off I went again. Happily, I was able to complete the ride to the extent of the trail, and returned to the motorhome tired and smiling! Turned out to be a great day after all!
No comments:
Post a Comment