Memphis: the Mighty Mississippi and Peabody Ducks

We were lucky in Tennessee with comfortable weather until our second day in Memphis.  Then the hot weather hit, at 95 degrees.  It has been hot since, at about 63% humidity.  63% isn't bad, it could be worse, as it was several years ago when I spent a day in St. Louis.  I would step out the door, and sweat would start immediately.  This isn't quite as bad, but still uncomfortable.  We knew it would be hot, but this is hot even by Memphis standards.  We are taking it easy and slow, and spending as much time as possible in air conditioned buildings.  Not that I am complaining.  We have had great weather since February, and I prefer heat to tornadoes any day.

We found a campground in West Memphis, directly across the Mississippi River from Memphis, that looked out over the river.  What a great spot!  We could watch the barges go by from our motorhome, or walk to a riverside bench for closer views.  In the photo below is a tugboat between the two RVs, pushing an unseen barge.  

I was a tiny bit concerned about the campground, because from Google Maps you could tell it was obviously in a flood zone.  The campground website actually had a lot of information on flooding, with a direct link to NOAA's flood advisory web pages.  The Mississippi generally floods in the spring, when the snows melt in the north, and NOAA is able to give about 10 days advance warning to those in Memphis.  The person in the campground office told me that when notice is given, the picnic tables are moved to higher ground, the sewer pumps are removed and sewer pipes closed up tight, and the electrical boxes are removed.  She said it takes several weeks to get things back in order after a flood, but they seem to have a routine.  Lee took this photo of a building on the campground property that shows how high the water got in 2011.  Unbelievable.  The base of this building is 20 to 30 feet higher than the current water level of the river.  Can you imagine?

The barges were fun to watch.  They are actually made up of tugboats, which push rather than pull, and multiple barges tied together.  These are called "flotilla".  The first one we saw was five barges wide by six barges long, or 30 barges.   The largest I saw was five wide by seven long, or 35 barges.  They can apparently push up to 40.

A barge would go by about every 1/2 hour or so.  The ones going downstream were generally faster, of course.  In the photo below, you can see all the ropes that attach the barges to the tugboat.

Tugboats vary in horsepower, but can have as much as 10,000 hp.  The big ones make a deep "chug chug" sound, especially when pushing upriver against the current.

The campground was only about 15 minutes from Memphis, making it very convenient.  We had a few adventures in Memphis, starting with the Gibson Guitar factory tour.  It was really fascinating - we were actually taken into the factory where we were able to watch each of the steps in the process.  The factory has a sales room, and the Gibson guitars I looked at were about $3000 dollars.  The factory in Memphis creates 40 to 50 a day and all are custom orders.  There are also factories in Nashville and Bozeman.  No photos were allowed behind the scenes, unfortunately. 

A couple of blocks over is Beale Street, famous for restaurants, bars, and music:

The highlight of our stay, for me, was the duck walk at the Peabody Hotel.  The current Peabody Hotel was opened for business in 1925, and the first ducks made their appearance in 1933.  The lobby of the Peabody is lovely, especially the ceiling woodwork:

Here is out first glimpse of the lobby, with the famous fountain in the center:

And finally, the famous ducks!!  The ducks were napping, resting up for their big march down the red carpet.

 

As time got closer to the big event, the ducks became restless.  The crowd in the lobby became larger and noisier as well.  The anticipation was building!!

Food was required.  Lee and I each had a glass of wine, and some nuts and crackers. 

Here is the red carpet, laid out at 4:30. Children start to gather.  (I apologize for the graininess of the photos - my iPhone doesn't do well in low light.)

Lee and I moved up to the mezzanine, as suggested, at about 4:45.  I was able to get a good view of the red carpet leading to the elevator.  The ducks take the elevator to the penthouse suite at the top of the building each day at 5.

(This episode is to be continued in the next post, because the program wouldn't let me add more at this point).