Some fifty miles downriver of New Orleans, Bohemia Beach comes into view like Brigadoon, an oasis of sandy beach between piles of rip rap that I fear will disappear when I wake up. When I met the Rivergator expedition on the west bank of the Mississippi River at Algiers, downtown New Orleans looming behind
Before I step into Grasshopper, a 30-foot voyageur-style canoe, I regard the big river I am about to navigate with six other paddlers. Lyrics from a song by bluesman Big Bill Broonzy echo in my head: “Mississippi River, it’s so long, deep and wide.” I’ve canoed and camped along the Upper Mississippi many times, hiked
When I first started exploring the places along the Mississippi River, I did a lot of driving. When I’d get to a new community, I’d look for the good places to be near or on the river, so I could pass those tips along to other travelers, then I’d pack my car and drive to
I crossed the Highway 136 bridge back into Iowa and worked my way down maddeningly slow Main Street in Keokuk, a highly engineered but poorly thought out road that put the stop in stoplight. I plodded along toward Montrose, hoping to get there before the local history museum closed at 4. Guillermo "Memo" Dominguez
Hull Rust Mahoning Mine; Hibbing, Minnesota I was lucky enough to spend much of the summer of 2011 in northern Minnesota, getting to know the region where the Mississippi begins. Of all the places I went, there were few that grabbed my attention more so than the Iron Range. The unforgiving climate and
In St. Louis, the riverfront just can’t get any respect. With the St. Louis Rams positioning themselves to move—or to get the public to pay for another new stadium—St. Louis leaders are pushing a plan to build a new stadium next to the Mississippi River that they hope would convince the Rams that we
