When my son and granddaughter were in town recently, the mandatory first stop for the kid was the ride to the top of the Arch. It is triangular in cross section, with one apex pointing inward. The little slit windows point out and down. The Illinois side in the background is very flat, less so in Missouri.
It's opening night of our opera season later today, a big deal for us. I'm sure to get a few snaps.
A sculpture by Harry Weber, whose work is all around here, called The Captains' Return. It depicts Meriwether Lewis and William Clark returning here in 1806 after their two-year so-called voyage of discovery, all the way up the Missouri River and then into Oregon. A bit about the work (with a really terrible photo) at https://www.nps.gov/places/the-captains-return.htm. The statue used to be a bit upriver and lower down on the levee, where it would sometimes be inundated (https://tinyurl.com/y6mww2js). The explorers probably would not want to come through today's icy Mississippi.
Rare missed day yesterday. I still can’t shake this bronchitis and haven’t been out much. Just a couple of pictures left from my brief Saturday visit to Artica. Here, executive director Nicolette begins to gather the marchers for the annual parade. People are encouraged to bring a biodegradable something to float out onto the Mighty Mississippi with their hopes and dreams.
The last part of how a barge flotilla gets through Lock and Dam 26 on the Mississippi. The group has been broken into two sets of two barges long. The lock has been closed behind the front set. In a moment, the front gates will open, bringing the water level down to that of the next section of the river. One of the tan tug boats on the left will come around and pull this group out. Then the second half will repeat the procedure.
In yesterday’s post, we saw how a push boat shoves the whole 3 by 6 barge flotilla into the lock. At this point, the front and back halves have been split and the push boat has (counterintuitively) pulled back the rear half. The lock’s huge gates begin to close on the front. If you can zoom in enough, you might see a tiny worker in a yellow coat on the right and compare it to the massive pistons pushing the gate in. When they are fully closed, the outer gates will open, dropping the water level of the barges.
The front of the barge flotilla pushes into the lock. If you have a big enough monitor you may see two crew members on the front corners. Strikes me as a dangerous job. I may have missed something about how the process works. The upper river flotillas are 3 by 6 barges. (They are at least twice as big on the lower Mississippi without locks.) The whole set pushes part way in. Then the crew breaks apart the front three rows from the back. The push boat pulls the rear barges back out of the lock. What happens next comes tomorrow.
The power it takes to push a barge flotilla on the Mississippi - especially upriver - is almost unimaginable. I once toured one of these boats and the engine was, well, ginormous. There is a tricky way these things have to get through the lock, which we will come to.
Although we didn’t spot any eagles on our trip upriver on Saturday, we did get to see something interesting. An explanation: there is lots of barge traffic on the Mississippi, with 27 locks and dams between Minneapolis and St. Louis. Between us and the Gulf of Mexico, the slope is so gentle that none are needed. The next to last, Number 26, is huge and has a wonderful museum. With a guide, you can go outside and walk around the structure. We were fortunate to see a flotilla entering the lock.
CDP’s September monthly theme is bridges. Given the rivers around here, we have plenty. This was taken at the dedication of the newest one across the Mississippi, the awkwardly named Stan Musial - Veterans Memorial Bridge. (Stan Musial was, by acclamation, the greatest player in the history of our baseball team.) Simple is good. Crossings from other City Daily Photo members around the world can be found here.
I was more creative about theme days when I was younger. CDP had bridges as a theme 14 years ago. This is what I posted,
A couple of days ago I ran a picture of a carriage similar to this, but forlorn-looking and parked in a run-down industrial area. I remarked that it would never get Cinderella to the ball. This one will. It is parked at the bottom of the steps leading down from the Arch to the promenade along the Mississippi, waiting for business. Or a princess.
We often take granddaughter Ellie out for some activity on Saturday, and happily there are plenty in our area. Last weekend she wanted to visit the Arch and ride the tram to the top. It was perfectly clear and the winter sun was low. From the observation deck at 640 feet / 192 meters, the shadow of the monument cast a sharp line across the levee and onto the Mississippi. Note the north leg of the Arch in the lower left.
A statue of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark (and a goofy looking dog) in a small boat at the Mississippi River. Lewis and Clark, with their band known as the Corps of Discovery, set out in 1806 at the behest of President Thomas Jefferson to explore the vast lands recently acquired from France in what was called the Louisiana Purchase. (It helped finance the Napoleonic Wars.) They eventually reached what is now Oregon and the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River. And it all started here.
St. Louis grew from the Mississippi River. Today, the river remains one of the main arteries of America with huge barge flotillas carrying freight up and down. Most of the cargo is fungible goods like grain, coal and gravel. When I worked downtown, I always enjoyed watching their grace and power.
See how our members' cities around the world move their stuff at https://citydailyphoto.org/category/theme-days/ .
There is a delightful band of waterlogged vagabonds calling itself The Flotsam River Circus, http://www.rivercircus.com/about.html . They have spent the summer floating down the Mighty Mississippi, mooring their rickety barge/stage at the river towns from Minneapolis-St. Paul on south, performing a wacky mix of music, comedy and acrobatics. Their last stop of the season is here this weekend.
This late-summer night was perfect, even if the cobblestone levee was rough. We took granddaughter Ellie who declared it the best circus she had ever seen. For locals, it is repeated tonight and tomorrow at 6. Free, but donations are very appropriate. It's located on the river just north of Eads Bridge, with nearby parking in Laclede's Landing.
