July 28, 2007

Saturday Sky.

July 27, 2007

July 26, 2007

Two pieces of pottery I bought in Alton, Illinois. The name of the shop was Mississippi Mud, so I thought it was significant as a souvenir of my trip on the Delta Queen. The pieces can be used individually as pictured and also as a bowl for dips. Ice is put in the bottom bowl and the top bowl fits on top for the dip or anything that needs to be kept cool.

July 25, 2007

The Lake Country Sweet Adeline Chorus at the Como Park Pavilion. My Red Hat group attended the concert, which was excellent and the weather on the lake front perfect.

July 24, 2007

The Russian Museum in South Minneapolis. The current display is a photographic exhibit of the Russian Breadbasket.

July 23, 2007

The confluence of the Mississippi River and St Croix River in Prescott, WI. Almost home!

July 22, 2007

A bug stowing away on the Delta Queen somewhere in Arkansas or Missouri.

July 21, 2007

Saturday Sky in MN.

July 20, 2007

Red Wing is also known for Red Wing Pottery. These plastic replicas were made of their crocks which this store owner filled with flowers outside her store.

July 19, 2007

Red Wing, MN is known for their Red Wing shoes and boots. Two years ago Red Wing Shoes celebrated their anniversary, so local businesses decorated boots. Today, most of them have been auctioned off, but I went on a personal scavenger hunt and found 10 of them in the few blocks downtown area.

July 18, 2007

July 17, 2007

At most of the towns the Delta Queen docked and at the locks, people came to watch the boat. It is fascinating watching an old fashioned paddleboat going through a lock and exciting to watch it leave port plus they got a calliope concert as we sailed away!

July 16, 2007

The Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque, Iowa is worth spending some time visiting. This was my favorite exhibit. It's a large sandbox with rivers carved through it. You can hold down a button which runs water into the river. You can watch the way the river carves away the bank, flows around curves, and deposits silt.

July 15, 2007

Pelican.

July 14, 2007

Our grandson's soccer team in the World Soccer Tournament in Blaine, MN.

July 13, 2007

July 12, 2007

What a welcoming committee!

July 11, 2007

Waterfront homes.

July 10, 2007

St. Louis

July 9, 2007

Sunset on the Mississippi.

July 8, 2007

A thunderstorm on the Mississippi.

July 7, 2007

On Mudd Island in Memphis is a 1/2 mile long scale model of the Lower Mississippi with all it's sandbars, tributaries, and cities. The water level in the river is kept at the current river level. Very fascinating!

July 6, 2007

Memphis.

July 5, 2007

Cruising the Mississippi.

July 4, 2007

Happy Fourth of July! We were docked in St Louis, Missouri right next to the arch where they had a big 2-3 day celebration. That night they pulled in a barge and set off the fireworks practically next to our boat. Not only were they good because we were so close, but it was an excellent display.

July 3, 2007

Greenville Bridge-which is not connected to any roads.

July 2, 2007

Being a retired nurse, I was attracted to this display in an old drug store in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

July 1, 2007

An egret in the Mississippi River.

June 30, 2007

Riverfront murals in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

June 29, 2007

The Delta Queen and a casino boat on the Mississippi in Natchez.

June 28, 2007

A street in Natchez, Mississippi. The flowers were beautiful in this town and were unfamiliar varieties to me.

June 27, 2007

The sunsets were beautiful on the river.

June 26, 2007

Baton Rouge, Louisiana from the Delta Queen.

June 25, 2007

The Legendary Delta Queen. My husband and I took the boat from New Orleans to St Paul as an early (2 years) 50th wedding anniversary.

June 24, 2007

During previous visits to New Orleans, I had spent hours sitting in Jackson Square listening to Doreen and her band playing jazz. She is the best clarinet player but hadn't been playing for about 4 years. This year she was back. It was like seeing an old friend!

June 23, 2007

Jackson Square. It appeared unchanged since Katrina, but there were fewer trees. The French Quarter was not any different except there were fewer people and many restaurants had limited hours and/or menus. The only time in my life I was happy to see a line of people waiting to get into a restaurant was Sunday morning at Cafe du Monde.

June 22, 2007

New Orleans Skyline

June 21, 2007

During our four hour layover in Chicago, we walked to the site of the Eastland Disaster. A tourist excursion boat, overloaded with passengers, sunk in the Chicago River. Another story my husband's grandfather told him was that they pointed out a site on one side of the boat and when everyone went to that side to look, the boat turned over. His uncle was a fireman working on the rescue of passengers and tells about seeing a woman in the boat, looking out the window, panicy wanting to be rescued, but she was too big to get through the window, so perished.

June 20, 2007

Left St Paul by Amtrak on June 20th to Chicago, then on to New Orleans.