We have had a great week in Memphis. We did most of the tourist things including Graceland, the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was shot, river cruise on the Island Queen, strolled Beale Street to enjoy some catfish and listen to the great R&B and blues music. Also managed to get in a round of golf with a great couple from Ontario that we met at our RV park.
After bad weather earlier in the week the weather has been very nice the last few days and we really enjoyed just sitting by the river watching the barge traffic go up and down the Mississippi. Our park which is in West Memphis is actually in Arkansas as we are on the west side of the Mississippi.
The Mississippi-Missouri River is the 4th largest river in the world at 5,970 kilometres following the Nile, Amazon and the Yangtze Rivers. Alberta and Saskatchewan drain water into the Mississippi.
The worst maritime disaster in US history occurred seven miles from Memphis on April 27, 1865 when three of the four boilers on the wooden steamboat Sultana, bound from New Orleans to St. Louis, exploded and the ensuing fire sank the vessel. Approximately 1,800 of the 2,427 passengers died. Most of the passengers were Union soldiers recently released from Confederate prison camps on their way back to Ohio. The disaster was largely overshadowed by Lincoln's assassination the day before. By comparison, 1,517 passenger perished on the sinking of the Titanic.
Next stop: New Orleans!
Enjoying the travelogue! Keep posting!
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