On the Bank of the Mighty Mississippi

As CA mentioned in her post yesterday, our current campground is on the Mississippi River (AKA the Big Muddy, or Ole Man River), and we have had some great views of the river traffic from the western shore. It’s very enjoyable to just sit and watch the traffic going by.

Here’s a list of Mississippi River songs put together by the National Park Service for your listening pleasure.

The barges heading upstream have a long voyage ahead of them as they fight the current. One barge that went by was barely making walking speed up the river. We also get the occasional cruise line vessel with passengers looking down on us from the deck as they sip their martinis. This is also one of the possible routes for those cruising The Great Loop, but I haven’t seen a single personal boat on the river, which is surprising to me.

Being on the Mississippi shoreline brings additional problems. Below is a photo of the camping area from the 2018 Mississippi River spring flood, which was not as bad as the 2011 flood.

Another little tidbit of information, is that the Mississippi River marks the line where the radio station call-signs start with a “K” instead of a “W”

Our stay here has been enjoyable, with a stop at Graceland and the Memphis Botanical Gardens. We aren’t big into Elvis, but decided to go anyhow. And we ate more BBQ of course (I think even my sweat is smelling smoky at this point)! Next stop, Bentonville, in northwest Arkansas.