Yesterday it was Alton, Illinois whose claim to fame seems to be as the hometown of Robert Wadlow, world’s tallest man. I preferred the Audubon Center. As a robin, cardinal, and ruby-throated hummingbird. No big deal to some but we don’t get any of these species where I live. I’d give anything to see this place in winter when it is filled with migrating water fowl.
Yesterday we visited Chester, Illinois the home of the creator of Popeye, Elzie Sanger. Chester’s other movie connections are as the locations for In the Heat of the Night and The Fugitive.
Had only a couple of hours much of which was taken up by downloading ebook and audiobook in blessed cafe with broadband access. After that we just took a look at the awesome view from the nearby Courthouse. Popeye statues are all over town.
Courthouse stairs
We had a good day yesterday in Cape Girardeau. Toured one of the few English Gothic churches in the US; the “Red House”, home and trading post of the city’s founder; and a museum with loads of Indian artifacts among other things.
St. Vincent’s Old Catholic ChurchToday we make a brief stop in Chester, Illinois. One of the main attractions for us will be a cafe with broadband wi-fi!
Don’t have much to show from the pretty little arts center of Paducah. The National Quilt Museum was a big hit with me but no photos were allowed inside. The quilts – all modern – were fantastic art pieces, really stunning.
Next we got a tour of the town’s little Civil War museum by a couple of Sons of the Confederacy. Such a different perspective.
Today we are off to tour Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
Our stop in tiny Hickman was really the gateway to little Union City, Tennessee pop. 10,000 and the truly amazing Discovery Park of America. In the middle of nowhere a Union City boy who made good spent 100 million on this museum/park. It’s like a mini Smithsonian filled with fantastic Kodak moments. I only wish we had more time there.
Today we explore Paducah, Kentucky.
Yesterday we stopped in the tiny town of New Madrid, pop. 3,200. Its claim to fame is a series of earthquakes in 1812-13 that were the worst in U.S. history. There were four earthquakes rating 8.0 on the Richter scale plus 1,000+ smaller quakes and aftershocks.
Today we dock in Hickman, Kentucky.
Truman campaigned for the Senate from the Courthouse steps.
The Wi-Fi on this boat varies from slow to no. It was not working most of yesterday so this is a day late. Spent our time in Memphis on a short driving tour through the city and at Graceland. Memphis is something I’d like to spend more time on. Here’s some photos.
House was decorated for Christmas as they were filmIng a special. The “media room”
Yesterday we spent river cruising so nothing to report. Watched a bunch of movies on TCM but the only one I had not seen previously was Monte Hellman’s Beast from Haunted Cave (1959). Unless you are a Hellman completist my verdict is don’t bother.
Today it is on to New Madrid, Missouri.
Spent yesterday rolling on the river. Here’s some pictures from the interior of the Duchess. The boat is only a year old and decorated in a rather severe modern style. No picture of our cabin which is completely overtaken with our stuff.
Dining Room Show Room Bar Library
Still no streaming on board but they do have TCM! Took the opportunity to see Vincente Minnelli’s Two Weeks in Another Town (1962). It updates the cynical take on Hollywood explored by Minnelli ten years earlier in The Bad and the Beautiful. And what a cast! Washed-up Oscar-winning actor Kirk Douglas has just recovered from a nervous breakdown and alcoholism that put him in a sanatorium for several years. He accepts an offer from ruthless director Edward G. Robinson for a small part in a picture shooting in Rome. Evil Eddie manipulates him in just about every was possible. We also get nutso turns from Cyd Charisse, Claire Trevor, and George Hamilton. Let’s just say the melodrama is laid on with a trowel but Douglas and Robinson are so good that I could overlook many sins.
Didn’t see much of Greenville on our tour out to Indianola. BB King donated a museum, which then bought a nightclub in his hometown. It was a day of good music.
Gospel group greeted us when we arrived at museum. Live blues music at Club EbonyToday we’re cruising the River all day. I’ll try to take some shots inside the Duchess.
Yesterday was occupied with touring the Vicksburg Battlefield. It was hotter than blue blazes and I say this as one who knows! Tour included documentary film and talks by a re-enactor. Such sadness. This has the highest number of monuments of any of the Civil War.
Illinois sent the most soldiers to the battle and has the biggest monument. Alabama Memorial Replica of Confederate fortification used during the Siege of Vicksburg. USS Cairo – this Union ironclad bombarded Vicksburg before it was sunk by a Confederate mine. Much later it was recovered and is now on displayToday, I’m looking forward to a tour of B.B. King’s hometown of Indianola, Mississippi and a nice dose of the Blues.