The Mighty Mississippi

Mississippi Queens!

Back when I first paddled the Mississippi River in November, I knew I'd return. Once I'd been there, I couldn't imagine staying away again for too long. Luckily, my older sister, Laura, had seen the photos I snapped on that excursion and heard me raving about it. She expressed an interest in coming with me on a spring trip, when the river is at flood stage. 

John Ruskey had noted that it would seem like a completely different river then, much faster, and with more churn in the water. So Laura and I decided to check it out. 

Day 1

We left after work one day and headed up to Clarksdale. We stopped in Greenwood for dinner at Giardina's, the upscale (and lovely) restaurant in the Alluvian Hotel. The hotel and restaurant are situated in a pretty little downtown. As it was after hours already, the stores were closed, but we window shopped as we walked the scant block to the restaurant from our parking space. 

I have never needed a quarter more!
"Magic Fingers" at The Hooker Hotel! 

The restaurant has a bar area, as well as some open seating, but our hostess guided us to a private, curtained booth for dining. (This feature is an homage to other Delta dining establishments like Lusco's, where, during Prohibition, diners were seated in completely private booths so they could partake without the scrutiny of prying eyes.) Once seated, our adorable waiter, Charles, brought us cocktails. I chose the Delta Gem, a bright concoction of gin, vodka, lime juice, and champagne. We toasted our trip and talked about all of the shenanigans that must have taken place in curtained booths in the Mississippi Delta over the years. 

For dinner, I had the chicken piccata, and Laura chose the grilled chicken with alfredo sauce. Both were delicious and more than enough food. On Charles' advice, we split the Delta Delight - a buttery bowl of yellow cake, cream cheese frosting, roasted pecans, and vanilla ice cream - for dessert. (The service at Giardina's is excellent. Charles was prompt, friendly, knew the menu, and had excellent recommendations. Fantastic.) 

After dinner, we rolled out of the restaurant and finished the last leg of our journey to The Hooker Hotel in Clarksdale. Mara and I had seen this place from the outside on our previous trip, and I was intrigued enough to book there on this return visit. This place is a gem! It's got a funky, bluesy style featuring bright colors, original art/prints unique to the Delta, and an overall vintage vibe. We rented it on AirBnB, and it's located right in little downtown Clarksdale. There's a sitting area with a big TV, a full kitchen (with a vintage fridge) and a dinette area, a full bath (The shower is HUGE!), and two big, beautiful king bedrooms with some of the comfiest rental beds I've ever slept in. 

We briefly considered going out to hunt up some live music (which was playing that night at two juke joints downtown), but decided against it due to our early morning the next day. Instead, we changed into our jammies and spent some time in bed, talking and giggling, much like we did growing up. It felt like coming home. 

One of Clarksdale's many colorful murals

Day 2

The next morning, we arose early, scrubbed up, and changed into our paddling gear. Then, we hunted up breakfast at Our Grandma's House of Pancakes. (Note: On both my November trip and this one in April, I walked over to Yazoo Pass in downtown Clarksdale to see if it was open for breakfast. On both occasions, it's been closed. I'm not sure that this restaurant has survived the pandemic, unfortunately. Happily, on both occasions, Our Grandma's House of Pancakes has been open and serving up culinary goodness.) I had one of the specials - a veggie omelette with grits and toast, and I added bacon. Laura had an egg-bacon-toast-pancake breakfast. Both were really good. (I sneaked a few bites of the pancake, and it was delicious!) 

After paying our tab, it was one last sweep through The Hooker Hotel to collect all of our things, then over to Quapaw Canoe Company to get packed up for the paddle! Having done it before at this point, we made quick work of moving our necessities into dry bags. While Ruskey and his team loaded everything into the canoe and balanced the weight, we strolled downtown Clarksdale so Laura could see the fun murals. John's team also let us try our hands at chipping out wood from the dugout canoe in progress. (We helped, even if only a little!) 

We helped (a little) with the dugout canoe!

Then, it was into the truck for the landing! We put in about 20 miles north of where we started in the fall, because the river is moving faster, and you travel more quickly downstream when the water is at flood stage. Ruskey and his team carefully maneuvered the canoe from the trailer to the water, and we were off! We had pleasant temperatures, a little cloud cover (though plenty of sun), and wind! We paddled for a bit, pulling off to inspect a very muddy bank on the Arkansas side of the river. (We saw tons of stranded buoys and really big logs everywhere. The flood waters had picked everything up and scattered it hither and yon.) 

And y'all, the Mississippi really is muddy! In some spots, we sank up to our ankles in mud! For two girls who were raised on television shows where the characters routinely had to rescue themselves from quicksand, it was heady stuff! Heh. 

We rinsed off with river water and piled back into the canoe for more paddling. We stopped on a bank on the Mississippi side for lunch. While John prepped the food, Laura and I explored. Out of the wind a bit, the gnats began to plague us, and John taught us a neat trick - vanilla extract! You put a little on your fingers, then pat it on your face and neck. Viola! The gnats disappear, and you smell like a scrumptious sugar cookie! 

Breaking for lunch

Back up in the forest, tons of butterwort was blooming everywhere - bright yellow faces. We tucked a little behind our ears and looked for animal and bird tracks. We found the footprints of heron, raccoon, deer, coyote, and more. After eating well (hummus, avocado, sausage, fruit, blue corn chips, plenty of water), it was back in the canoe for another hour or two of paddling before we started looking for a camp site. 

Petrified river mud

We passed several barges; the river was busy! Some were going upstream, but most were going our way - downriver. Once John found an island that he liked for camp, we moored the canoe and, while he picked the ideal spot, we explored our island. At the head of the island, we found TONS of stones that floodwaters had deposited there. Because the river is such a huge force, these rocks are from all over the country. I discovered an agate, and I was drawn to the shiny black stones that John later told me were petrified river mud. (Appropriate, no?) We picked a few of our favorites and left the rest to the next wave of rising waters. 

On the back channel side of the island, we startled a few surprised geese and found huge beached logs with twisted branches, bleached white by the sun and looking like the bones of some prehistoric animal. We unfurled ourselves right on the logs and soaked up the sun for a bit. In places where the large sheafs of bark had separated from the logs, the wood underneath was smooth, save for the dots and grooves where the bark had been attached. The remaining pattern looked like some sort of alien language (and perhaps it was). After blissing out for a while, it was back to the other side of the island to see what location John had picked for camp. 

Unlike in the fall, we didn't camp on the back channel side of the island this time, mainly because the prevailing wind was there. He'd chosen a spot under cottonwoods, and by the time we'd gotten there, he'd largely unloaded the canoe. (Whoops. We meant to help.) We grabbed gear and set up our tent, sleeping bags, etc., then cut across the island to the back channel side again to watch the sunset. After that, it was campfire time, and John was cooking up hamburger patties with onions, garlic and cheese. He served them with a delicious homemade slaw, I opened a bottle of red wine, and we ate heartily. 

John read us a few passages from one of Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet by the fire, and drowsy from the paddling, the food, the fire, and the wine, Laura and I snuggled into our tent. With a flashlight, I read to Laura from I Am Coyote (in which John has an essay), thinking about all of the nights when we shared a room as girls and stayed up past our bedtimes, scheming and laughing in the dark. We slept like rocks that night, with the leaves of the cottonwood trees whispering to us and the occasional low rumble of a passing barge on the river. 

A tent with a view!

Day 3

The next morning, we were up and at 'em early. John had already made a fire and a pot of coffee, so we filled our tin camp cups (I may have added a shot of peanut butter whiskey to mine) and took off for a walk on the foot of the island, which we hadn't yet explored. Once we picked a path through a forest of driftwood, we found an expansive, sandy beach with great views of the big river side of the island. We stretched to meet the sun, sipped our coffee, observed the barges churning by, and walked and walked and walked. By the time we'd made it back to camp, John had a big pan full of bacon and eggs ready, with heaps of sliced fruit on the cutting board. We settled down to eat, and he showed us photos of the beaver making himself busy in the waters below our camp. 

Paddles up!

As we were finishing up breakfast, we noted an odd track right through the center of our camp, one we'd seen at the head of the island the previous day but couldn't decipher. It looked a bit like a bike tire. John told us it was a baby turtle, as it was hatching season. We followed the track carefully and found the little guy! He was a map turtle, so named because of the intricate pattern on his belly. We made friends for a bit, then put him back under cover. 

John had been watching the weather forecast, which called for severe thunderstorms that night and into the next morning. Seeing that, we decided we'd paddle until lunch, then pull off the river and forego a second night of camping. (Less because we were worried about weathering a storm in the tent and more because we didn't want to break camp in the pouring rain the next morning.) 

So, we packed up camp, loaded the canoe, and paddled for half a day. We crossed the wide river to cut into a back channel on the Mississippi side. You could see the steep, steep bank where the flooded river had chewed away at the shore, exposing the deep roots of the trees near the water line, some of which were now tilted at precarious angles to the river. We canoed under one of them, and not long after we passed beneath it, it crashed into the water behind us. (A close call!) On another swing by the bank, we surprised a HUGE fish, which jumped out of the water in fright, was briefly caught up in exposed roots, and then tumbled back beneath the surface. (If we'd had a net, we would have eaten very well that night.) We saw an interesting side channel, and when we paddled up into it, we saw tons of gar near the surface. They looked positively primeval, but they were gentle and didn't seem surprised by us at all. 

Our map turtle friend

By this time, we knew we needed to start making our way to the launch for pick up. When we arrived there, another adventure awaited. Because the river had flooded, receded, and flooded, the ramp was COVERED in thick, wet mud. When John hopped out of the canoe, the mud at the bottom of the ramp nearly reached his KNEES! He instructed Laura and I to wait in the canoe until he told us to get out. It took 2 ropes, three guys and some serious 4WD to get the canoe most of the way up the ramp. (Laura and I just rode the mud until the boat was nearly at the top!) Then, we hopped out onto the dried mud at the top of the ramp and helped the team get the canoe on the trailer. 

After that, it was a quick ride back to the canoe company, where we cleaned up, re-packed, and hit the road home. 

This was a different trip from my first one, but no less enjoyable. It's fascinating to see how the river is different from one season to another. And it was so special to share this trip with my sister, building new memories on top of our existing deep history.

If you are a Mississippian, particularly, I urge you to get out on the river. It's your birthright, and it is utterly glorious. 💚💚💚 

Sunset on the island