Misc Mississippi Fall 2008

Here is the final batch of photos from our recent trip to St. Louis by way of Quincy, Illinois and Hannibal Missouri. Additional images available at flickr. Also worth noting, Sheryl took all but the 4th photo on this page; between the two of us, we do generate a few photos when traveling.

These first two show the high water mark when the Mississippi River flooded in June 2008. This is just a few miles northeast of Quincy.

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These shots are taken from Riverview Park in Hannibal. It quite lived up to its name with wonderful expansive views of the mighty Mississippi.

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The next photo is an old building in Hannibal, and the last image is taken from a scenic overlook a few miles south of Hannibal, looking south.

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I’d long been interested in seeing the giant water lilies in St. Louis, and on Tuesday I had my chance. The following photos were taken at the Lily Ponds at Tower Grove Park. It’s fascinating how the individual lily pads are connected to one central “root.” The flowers, the lilies in question, are simply gorgeous.

Many more of these are visible at flickr.

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Though we’ve technically been in St. Louis once before, in reality we only passed through on our way to a concert at Chuck Berry’s during an extended weekend pass while undergoing basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood. Hard to believe that was almost 35 years ago! (I’m sure Lisa agrees; happy birthday to you!)

So this being our first real visit to St. Louis, one of our first stops was the Gateway Arch. Very impressive.

Of course I took photos, and there are a bunch more at flickr.

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On Monday we drove from Quincy over to Hannibal where we found some great examples of the colorful fall foliage we’ve been seeking on this trip. Here’s a small sample; there are more photos at flickr.

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Here are a few pictures of sunset over the Mississippi River. They were taken from the eastern side of the river in Quincy, Illinois. We’re making our way to St. Louis, and traveled from Independence to Quincy today, via Kirksville.

The last time I was this close to the Mississippi was back in ‘74 when Sheryl, a buddy from the army (Whitmore) and myself found ourselves crossing the river, at night, on a creaky old ferry as we traveled to Lindsborg from Columbia, South Carolina. What a trip! Today we found a ferry in Canton, but it was only for use by grain trucks.

I lived in Kirksville for about a year back in 1961; way too too young to remember very much in the way of details. This trip was also one of those times where you miss your mom just for the quick simple questions you can no longer ask. (Like, what was our old street address?)

I couldn’t find the house we lived in, though I’m pretty sure we were close; it was now either a vacant lot or a was converted to a small car dealership. We did find some interesting vaseline glass at the local antique store, and it was fun driving around and exploring Kirksville as I tried to fully recall vague childhood memories. We also found the small shopping center east of the house and it was pretty much as I remembered.

After leaving Kirksville we hit the Mississippi River at Canton, and right after we parked the first time to look at the massive body of water we saw 2 bald eagles. What a treat, though they were gone before I was able to take any photos.

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And there’s a few more at flickr.