June 16, 2016

June 16, 2016

After a stopover at my childhood home outside Alton, IL, Aimee and I continued our journey home with a drive 90 minutes south to Fort de Chartres State Historic Site.  I was shocked when we pulled in and saw a large stone fort. How odd to see this in the boonies of southern Illinois.  It was built in 1753 by the French replacing earlier wooden versions.  We walked around the interior of the impressive fortification with nary a staff member to be seen.  One of the barracks has a small museum about the site.  The French found no gold in Illinois but they did find the area to be exceedingly fertile and the area became the breadbasket for their settlement in New Orleans. The fort soon had to be abandoned when the river changed course and eroded the west wall away.  As I walked back to our car, I thought that Obama should have added this site into the NPS instead of Pullman.

From de Chartres we followed the Mississippi south until we found the road closed and had to backtrack many miles.  Eventually we made it to Fort Kaskaskia State Historic site.  Another original French settlement, this town served as the capital of Upper Louisiana and later the first state capital of Illinois.  When it was ceded to the British at the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, the citizenry moved across the river and founded St Genevieve and St Louis.  During the Revolutionary War it was captured by George Rogers Clark for the Americans on July 4, 1778.

As we drive into the state park situated on a picturesque bluff, we learn this history was destroyed by the ever changing Mississippi in 1881.  The original site of Kaskaskia now lies at the bottom of the river.  What little remains is now on the Missouri side of the river.

Before crossing the river we stopped in Chester, IL to honor Popeye.  Cartoonist Elzie Seger grew up here and supposedly based the characters on former residents. Interestingly Olive Oyl was the original star.  Popeye was a later introduction.

We finished the day continuing south till we arrived in Memphis, TN.  Since we are hungry we drove downtown and walked down Beale Street.  The area is famous for being the birthplace of both Memphis Blues and Rock and Roll.  It is now closed off as a pedestrian zone and is home to dozens of nightclubs, bars, restaurants, and shops filled with tourists.

We stopped in one establishment with live music where we enjoyed a very tasty bowl of Gumbo.  I think what we liked best though was the A/C.  At 104 and 100% humidity it is sweltering.