This is Schultz at the Mamie S Barrett, a long ago grounded towboat on the Mississippi forever enshrined on the banks about 30 miles south of Vidalia, Lousiana. We could only begin to imagine her history, but I will find it.
When in doubt, ask the chickens? We stopped for gas. I went inside to use the restrooms. When I came out Schultz was confronting chickens (chickens?) at the pumps. This was in a town called Two Bridges, Mississippi.
Oh the pain of being a real country. We visited the infamous battlefield at Vicksburg. I don't have to be the teacher here, we all know this great/tragic/glorious (hell, I don't know what it is) story. Grant attacks Vicksburg in 1863 to secure access to the Mississippi. Pemberton, the Confederate General in charge is ordered by Jefferson Davis to not surrender the town (which was also his birth place). All kinds of powerful military stuff happened. Grant, on orders from Lincoln, starts an old fashioned medieval siege that last for 47 days. All kinds of heroes, victims and all that stuff. The only thing I did not know at all was that Vicksburg, as a town, did not celebrate the 4th of July again (the surrender took place on July 4, 1863) until 1945 out of respect for the end of WW II. Wow, who knew.
Here is a great photo of my new second best friend in the entire universe and beyond...the Towboat Mamie S Barrett. I will not let her go much longer without a past. An incredible hulk of a boat marooned forever 100 feet from the banks of the Mississippi. There has to be a great story here. In the meantime she rests in peace now sharing her hull with the foliage of the river banks. (ok, since I posted this I found it. Mamie was built in 1921 in Jeffersonville Indiana. She had a long run as a two, then a theatre then a restaurant. She was grounded in the flood of 1993. She is 146 feet long and 30 feet wide. According to the stuff I found there is occasional interest in preserving or restoring her)
We took a side road following a sign that read "camping available" The "camps" were trailers on stilts on the banks of the Mighty Miss. How cool!!!
http://www.steamboats.org/steamboat-pictures/mamie-s-barrett.html
ReplyDeleteNice to see the commentary on the Barrett. The biggest hurdle to preserving her seems to be ownership issues that are tangled up in knots. If the ownership issues can be resolved before she deteriorates too much further, there is a shot at getting her restored and recertified. Please pray that this happens.
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