A different kind of road kill

You know you’re not in Kansas anymore (or Utah, Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio, Kentucky or most of the 13 states we’ve been in since we left Salt Lake City August 2) when you see a dead armadillo at the side of the road.

Then, when I called a destination to double check directions, I was told to drive “one mile past the nuclear plant.”   When we got there, we had a lady bug infestation.  Big lady bugs --- maybe due to nuclear mutation?   And our campsite neighbor told us to watch out for the timber rattlers.

The destination?  Grand Gulf Military Park near Port Gibson, Mississippi, about 30 miles south of Vicksburg and half a mile from the Mississippi River.  Actually, of all the southern states I’ve been in so far, I like Mississippi the best.  The weather’s been balmy; we’re seeing our first Spanish moss; the people are friendly.  And the roads are good -- you notice that in an RV.  Jim says he likes Arkansas the best, based on the fact that he could see himself staying at Lake Chicot a while.  Granted, our opinions are based on the small slices of states.  I spoke with a fellow camper here, for example, who told me she'd been to Utah and it was “just rocks and dirt.”  So not true.

The Grand Gulf Nuclear Plant cooling tower as seen from the top of a look out tower at Grand Gulf Military Park.  Many of the people at the campground are working at the nuclear plant.  Our neighbor told us she and her husband plan to be here until next June.

Once we got the the Grand Gulf Military Park Campground, we got a look at a live armadillo.  It made so much noise crunching around in the dry leaves, I thought it was a deer.

Near the entrance to Grand Gulf Military Park.

Spanish moss.   I saw it for the first time when my parents took us to Florida when I was in the fourth grade -- and I thought it looked scary.   Now I think it's graceful and lovely.

Levee wandering

Along the west bank of the Mississippi River is a 640 mile levee, the longest continuous levee in the world. Sunday, Jim and I took an auto tour of the portion of that levee that protects farmlands, buildings, and people near Lake Chicot, and keeps the lake from being reclaimed by the Mississippi during floods. 

We set off on a gravel road, went across a couple of cattle crossings, drove up an embankment and found ourselves on something similar to earthen Indian mounds we’ve visited.   The levees here average 20 feet in height and at their bases are about 10 times as wide as they are high.  It was kind of like driving on top of one of the Pyramids -- if the pyramid was made out of dirt and the top three-fourths were cut off. And there was sand all around.  And there were cows instead of camels.  Ok, so maybe it’s not like the pyramids.   But I was driving, and it seemed like a long way down.

Some of what we saw along our 30-mile drive:

--The former location of a town called Columbia, once the county seat.  Nothing is left now, as in 1855 part of it was washed away by the Mississippi and in 1864 Union forces burned down the rest.  

--”Borrow pits” where dirt was removed to build the levees; the pits are now full of water and we saw dozens of ducks, plus egrets and herons.   

-- “Battures,” or woods between the levees and the river.  

--Huge, flat farms fields protected by the levees,  hundreds of cattle and horses.  

The road on top of the level was all gravel and very flat.  A brochure we got about the levee tour said to expect a "cow pie mine field."  It wasn't that bad, but we did see lots of cattle.

A view of a “borrow pit” where soil was removed to build the earthen levees.  Some of the levees along the Mississippi are as high as 40 feet.

Jim inspects the Lake Chicot Pumping Plant, which was built in 1985.   Creation of levees and clearing of land for agriculture changed drainage patterns and turned Chicot Lake into a barren mudhole.  The Pumping Plant puts drainage water back into the Mississippi and restored Lake Chicot.

Everything sounds better in French

We’re at Lake Chicot (pronounced “she-co) State Park in southeastern Arkansas near the small town of Lake Village.  Lake Chicot is the largest oxbow lake in the Unitd States; an oxbow is a c-shaped lake created when a river’s meander gets cut off from the main channel.  So, Lake Chicot used to be part of the Mississippi River.

Yesterday we walked around the park, and walked and drove around the water front near Lake Village. 

The park’s visitor center has signs and displays about various animals that live around here (including a big warning sign about ants) but no mention of alligators, so I asked the park ranger if there are alligators at Lake Chicot.  She said yes, but added that alligagors are “probably not dangerous unless they think you look like easy dinner.”   So far we haven’t seen any alligators but Jim did see some ants.  And I’m wearing a sign that says “Difficult Dinner.”

One last thing:  Lake Chicot is named for the many Cypress tree stumps and trees in the lake --- “chicot” is French for “stumpy.”

It got up to around 70 degrees, but it was cold and foggy yesterday morning.  Here’s a foggy photo of the Lake Chicot and the Cypress trees as seen from our camping spot. Cypress trees can live in the water because roots that look like knees stick up out of the water and take in oxygen.

Jim and Cooper on a deck at the Arkansas Visitors Center in Lake Village.

We ate lunch and a local restaurant named Rhoda’s.  Doesn’t look like much, but Rhoda is known for her tamales and they were great.  We also asked Rhoda for one piece of sweet potato pie to share; she and her daughter acted like we were nuts, so we got two.  Good call.

Calling Elvis: Your street needs some help

Yesterday was a chores day.  I cleaned the rig while Jim took the toad (our Honda) to a mechanic for an oil change/transmission flush.  We also did laundry, filled the rig with gasoline and propane, gassed up the Honda, and went grocery shopping.  

It’s been a little pricey staying at the Graceland RV park on Elvis Presley Blvd.  But it has  full hook ups (water/electric/sewer), a big dog walking area, propane and a laundry on site, and the staff is very helpful.  But other than a decent looking Walgreens and a Rite Aid (why are those two stores always right next to each other?) and the Graceland complex, everything else on Presley Blvd. is scruffy.  I’d seen a Krogers sign nearby, so we took off for it when we went to get groceries.  It was empty.  A nearby “Graceland Inn” sign is all broken and defaced, and the spot where the Inn must have been is just trash behind a chain link fence.  The rest of Presley Blvd. is fast food joints, gas stations, and check cashing places.

When we registered at the RV park, we got to talking with the woman who helped us.  She mentioned she’d recently lost two sons just four months apart.  Thinking they’d been killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, I asked her what happened.  One died of a disease, the other was walking down a Memphis street and shot six times.  When we were near Beale Street, a guy who hit us up for a donation said Memphis is the second most dangerous city in the country.  (Mom: Remember that guy in Manhattan who started pointing out all the sights and then asked us to pay him?  This “tourist guide” was like that except his spiel was much shorter).

We had a good time in Memphis.  I liked Graceland, Beale Street, and the people we met (including the guy who wanted a donation; he was funny, actually).  But I was glad another amenity offered by our RV park was 24-hour security.

Today we drove from Memphis to southern Arkansas; we crossed the Mississippi River on the new Mississippi Bridge just south of Greenville, Mississippi.  The bridge opened in August 2010, took nine years to complete, and is the longest cable-stayed bridge across the Mississippi River and the third longest cable-stayed bridge in the US.   The previous bridge was about a half mile upstream -- apparently not an ideal location, as it was hit by more barges than any other bridge on the Mississippi and a plane once crashed into it.

  

Eating our way through Memphis

Last night we ate dinner at Marlowe’s, a restaurant near Graceland. We were chauffeured to the restaurant in a pink Cadillac, and ordered the pulled pork; their barbecue sauce is based on an Elvis favorite.  I wanted all-southern specialties, so I ordered fried okra and turnip greens as sides; Jim had slaw and baked beans.  We got a chance to chat with the owner, Tony, who was working in the gift shop.  Marlowe’s was featured on the TV show "Diners, Drive Ins and Dives."  If you are interested, here’s the link.  http://marlowesmemphis.com/media.htm

Tonight we ate at another barbecue place, the Rendezvous Cafe.  Jim wanted to go there because it’s mentioned in a John Hyatt song “Memphis in the Meantime” and Jim is a big John Hyatt fan (we’ve seen him twice at Red Butte Gardens in Salt Lake). The Rendezvous turned out to be one of the most recommended places in downtown Memphis.  

Really good food, but I think we near vegetarians are about meated out.

In between barbecue, we went to Graceland; walked around Beale Street, the home of the Blues; walked around the Memphis riverfront; and saw the  ducks at the Peabody Hotel march to the elevator at the end of their working day in the hotel’s fountain. A few photos below.

Graceland.  The recorded tour was easy to follow, used lots of Elvis music, and featured sound bites from Elvis, Lisa Marie and Priscilla.

Elvis' living room.

Elvis' game room.

Jim looking at a few of Elvis' awards and costumes.

Who knew Elvis had a John Deere? 

Bev and Jim arrive at Marlowe's restaurant in a pink Cadillac. The car ride was free, other than the tip.

Bev tries turnip greens with her barbecue at Marlowe's. Even the rolls were fried.

Jim gets a beer on Beale Street --- plus they let you walk around with it.

The "Duckmaster" at the Peabody Hotel explains the tradition of ducks marching to and from the hotel's main lobby fountain each day.  The ducks have been a hotel tradition for over 70 years. Oddly, today's Memphis newspaper, "The Commercial Appeal," has a front page story about a former Duckmaster who went into a local bank and told the teller "I hate to do this to you, but give me all your hundreds."  He was sentenced to 18 months.