Memphis- Mud Island Park, Beale St., Overton Square and Bass Pro Shops

Memphis Riverwalk at Mud Island Park is an exact scale replica of the lower Mississippi River. The model starts from the Kentucky dam above Paducah on the Ohio river side and a bit above the Ohio on the upper Mississippi side. They map out twenty cities along lower Mississippi in the Riverwalk model. It’s amazing the way the laid the concrete slabs to locate the river flowing through the Mississippi. There are four watershed walls which map out the entire drainage area for the Mississippi River. The structure shows the engineering designs of the floodways. It’s really neat.

At the end of the Riverwalk model, it empties into a one acre size Gulf of Mexico pool. At one time the locals say they could swim in it but they are no longer allowed to. There are 1,746, 4 x 8 concrete sections, that were installed and positioned to allow actual water to flow from the north to the south. The scale is 30 inches of model equals one mile of actual river. The entire model length is about 2,000 feet long or just a bit less than 1/2 mile.

The start of the Lower Mississippi from the Kentucky Lake. This is the first major water shed as depicted by this wall.

Here is Kentucky lake looking directly at the Kentucky dam from the North. The dam dumps into the Tennessee, that flows down to Paducah. For those that have gone through the lock, the lock is just to the left of this dam. Notice the actual water flowing and the relief of the land cast into the concrete.

Below Kentucky dam this picture shows the meeting of the Tennessee River (top) and the Ohio River (left) at Paducah. The city of Paducah is represented by a scale model of the city and roads. You can clearly see Owens Island.

As the Ohio travels from Paducah, it passes Metropolis. This picture gives an idea of the scale of this huge model. Those of you that have made this part of the loop recognize these pictures are the area of Lock 52 and Lock 53.

Traveling further on the Ohio, here I am standing on Cairo. This part of the model shows the meeting of the upper Mississippi River and the Ohio River. Notice the two actual bridges that cross the rivers. The lower bridge connects the states Illinois and Missouri. The bridge on the right, connects the states Illinois and Kentucky. We passed under both bridges on our trip down the rivers. We actually anchored between the lower bridge and the point of the island on the left.

Here is a picture of the Lower Mississippi as it meanders south on its relentless trip to the Gulf of Mexico.

This is the town of New Madrid. We anchored on the inside bend across from New Madrid.

In Caruthersville, we anchored in the lower left corner in Caruthersville Harbor. Very nice peaceful anchorage.

Visitors are encouraged to walk on and wade in the river..

And of course Memphis TN. Notice again the actual scale bridges that cross the Mississippi.

This picture also shows how the river twists like a snake. The size of this model is quite mind boggling.

Here we see the river coming up to Lake Pontchartrain on the upper left.

And as it flows on, New Orleans is just behind me. I can feel the cool wind as I near the Gulf.. Brrrr..

And finally, you can see the river finally dumping into the Gulf of Mexico. It is a huge pool that accurately depicts the Mississippi Delta.

As we pulled away from the Riverwalk you could see Beauty with her orange kayaks from the road. She is securely nestled in at Mud Island Marina.

Beale St.

Brad Silver and Andy highly recommended a trip to Beale Street is downtown Memphis TN. It runs from the Mississippi River to East Street approximately 1.8 miles. Beale Street is rich in history along with history of the blues. They say the night life packs the streets with great music and food. In 1860, many black traveling musicians began performing on Beale Street.

It was recommended by the harbor master Andy to have lunch here. It was delicious.

We took a walked down Beale St. There are these huge guitars along the sidewalk.

We found Elvis note and so many others.

You know they have rum.

Overton Square

Brad again recommended Overton square. It is a fun place to hang out. They have several restaurants and shops.

I like the painting on Stanley’s.

Bryce thought this was a great place for a photo opp.

Bass Pro Shop

We do not often go to Bass Pro Shop. But this one you must stop at. This was a Basketball Stadium in Memphis.

Inside is a huge Bass Pro Shop.

In the middle, is a 300 foot free standing elevator. With glass elevators. Kinda freaky going up if you get giddy from heights.

At the top of the elevator is a restaurant. It has a number of these mechanical beasts hanging above the bar.

Also at the top are two outside observation platforms. Here is a picture of Memphis from one.

From the other platform, looking towards the Mississippi, we see the river in the upper right where we came down. The bridge connects Memphis to Mud Island. Mud island has a bunch of condos and apartments and one of our favorite restaurants called Tug.