We had a nice visit in New Madrid - other than its being 101 while we were there. Their museum is a nice little one. About half is dedicated to Civil War stuff, and half to the earthquake. We were more interested in the earthquake. The 1811-12 New Madrid quakes were incredible - at least three that were estimated to be over 8 on the Richter scale. It was much worse than the San Francisco quake. The only reason there was not more loss of life and property was that the area was so lightly populated. Entire towns vanished; islands vanished; the Mississippi ran backwards; waterfalls were created and destroyed; lakes were created and destroyed. An interesting fact is that the only "natural" lake of any size in Tennessee is Reelfoot Lake, which was formed by the earthquake. The loss of life and property would be incalculable if such an event were to happen in the same area today.
In 1990, a "seer" predicted that there was going to be another major earthquake at the New Madrid Fault. The Museum Board had a contest to design t-shirts to sell during that time. They are wonderful! It's an outline of the area of the Missouri Bootheel, with large print saying "IT'S OUR FAULT", and under that "New Madrid, Missouri". There were so many people who came to town during the time of the prediction, and they sold so many t-shirts, they were able to almost totally pay for an addition to their building. Of course, we each got one of them, too.
The rest of the day was spent playing bridge as we cruised down the Mississippi. Internet connection has been non-existent, so this will probably not get posted until we get home.
The rest of the day was spent playing bridge as we cruised down the Mississippi. Internet connection has been non-existent, so this will probably not get posted until we get home.
Memphis tomorrow should be interesting. We'll be leaving the boat about 8 a.m., to be bussed to the airport. We'll pick up our rental car there and head home. However, this weekend is the beginning of "Elvis Week" - the 30th (?) anniversary of his death. And they tell us there should be about 70,000 additional people in town. No telling how many Elvises we'll see at the airport.
Friday night:
How disappointing - no Elvises spotted. But we left the airport at 9:35 a.m.CT, heading home. Some folks on the ship recommended we try taking US 72 through north MS and AL. They said it was about an hour shorter than going on the interstates through Nashville. We did go that way, and other than missing some areas of controlled-access highway getting out of Memphis and through Huntsville, it's a great route. It's 4-lane divided almost all the way. We got home about 4:45 ET - right at 6 hours. The temperature coming through Huntsville was 104 (!), and there was even a grass/woods fire in the outskirts of town. We went through a very brief shower at Scottsboro, and the temperature dropped over 20 degrees in just a couple of miles. It came right back up quickly, though.
How disappointing - no Elvises spotted. But we left the airport at 9:35 a.m.CT, heading home. Some folks on the ship recommended we try taking US 72 through north MS and AL. They said it was about an hour shorter than going on the interstates through Nashville. We did go that way, and other than missing some areas of controlled-access highway getting out of Memphis and through Huntsville, it's a great route. It's 4-lane divided almost all the way. We got home about 4:45 ET - right at 6 hours. The temperature coming through Huntsville was 104 (!), and there was even a grass/woods fire in the outskirts of town. We went through a very brief shower at Scottsboro, and the temperature dropped over 20 degrees in just a couple of miles. It came right back up quickly, though.
We got home, emptied the rental car. John took the rental car back, and we went to see a short concert by our friend, Dalton Roberts. He and his friends do a great job. A quick dinner at Panera's and then home to crash! This was a great trip, heat nothwithstanding. And especially to spend time with Ann & Al. See ya tomorrow!
Today's photo is, finally, the Rosenbaum House in Florence, AL.
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