Bayou Segnette State Park
7777 Westbank Expressway
Westwego, LA 70094
GPS: 29.88990o, -090.16239o
Today was all New Orleans -- mostly getting acquainted with their public transit system.
The Mississippi River flows north to south, as everyone knows. A careful look shows that the river travels mostly west to east and east to west as it whipsaws back and forth working its way from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. So as the river passes through New Orleans, it is traveling west to east in a crescent shape (hence the nickname Crescent City). The bulk of the city lies on the East Bank (north shore) but a substantial chunk of the metropolitan area lies on the West Bank (south shore).
Why New Orleans is nicknamed "The Crescent City"
Bayou Segnette State Park, our campground, is on the West Bank (south shore). So our first encounter with New Orleans public transit was with the Canal Street / Algiers Point Ferry to carry us over those sixteen billion gallons per hour I mentioned previously.
Algiers is one of the oldest neighborhoods in New Orleans and, the only Orleans Parish community located on the West Bank of the Mississippi River. Algiers is also known as the 15th Ward, one of the seventeen wards of New Orleans. Algiers Point was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and designated a local historic district in 1994.
In river pilotage, Algiers Point is simply one of the many points of land around which the river flows—albeit a significant one. Since the 1970s, the name Algiers Point has also referred to the neighborhood in the immediate vicinity of that point.
The course of the Mississippi River passing through New Orleans is in the shape of a crescent. As the river reaches the downriver end of that crescent, flowing by then in a northerly direction, it makes a sharp "right-hand" turn to the east. The French Quarter, Faubourg Marigny and Bywater lie on the outside of the bend on the river's left descending bank. The point of land on the river's right descending bank is, and has historically been, called Algiers Point.
Just off this point is where the Mississippi River is at its deepest, approximately 200 feet deep. This depth varies from year to year as the river alternately scours and deposits silt. A U.S. Coast Guard aid to navigation, Algiers Point Light "95," marks the point.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' linear description of the location is mile 94.6 AHP (above Head of Passes) on the Lower Mississippi River. We located "Head of Passes" in yesterday's post
So this is where we went to board the ferry boat to New Orleans.
The Algiers Point Ferry Terminal is surprising in its simplicity. There is no parking lot. Only on-street parking in the residential neighborhood which comes right up to the terminal. The structure is typical tasteless government concrete with no signage visible as you approach. After two flights of stairs to get above the levee, you can see the river and realize you are in a ferry terminal. I guess part of my confusion came from the fact that this ferry carries no vehicles, only passengers and bicycles. Thus there is no need for a vehicle staging area. That reduces the real estate requirement to almost nothing.
Our ferry boat was the Col Frank X. Armiger, a 268-ton diesel, twin screw craft able to carry 351 passengers. It makes the crossing every thirty minutes.
The Col Frank X. Armiger
I've crossed rivers on ferry boats before. But I must admit I've never sat on top of sixteen billion gallons per hour. This is "Ole Man River". In the few minutes it took to cross the river, we encountered
sixteen billion gallons
St Louis Cathederal
Barges and Towboats
River boats
All comfortable sharing this waterway. I can see how this river has captured the imagination of so many people for so long.
The river's length is a gee-whiz statistic used to impress folks. For the Mississippi, that number is 2,348 miles. But the volume of water is determined more by the size of the drainage basin. On this score, I get conflicting information. One source says the Mississippi River is the third largest drainage basin in the world, after the Amazon and the Congo. Another source states that the Mississippi River is the chief river of the second-largest drainage system on the North American continent, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. I'll leave that argument for other people on another day. I'm impressed with the fact that every drop of rain that falls between the Appalachians and the Rockies becomes part of the sixteen billion gallons passing this point every hour and that The Col Frank X. Armiger whisked us over it in less than half an hour.
Michelle and Bonnie just enjoyed the ride.
Jim and I took pictures.
Through all that river traffic, with no whistles or horns, the crossing took less than half an hour.
Approaching Canal Street Ferry Terminal
Though brightly decorated with the Mardi Gras spirit, the terminal still needs a paint job.
The Canal Street Ferry Terminal
Canal Street Ferry Terminal / Canal Street Station
where the river meets the road
Leaving the ferry put us at the foot of Canal Street, the hub of the New Orleans trolley system. We were four yokels in the big city, not knowing where we were, where we wanted to go, or how to get there. Today we were headed for the "Garden District". A kind soul told us to "Take the Canal Street trolley north to Carondelet, get a transfer, get on the St Charles trolley, ride to the Garden District, and get off wherever you like."
Of the four of us, I was the only one with big city trolley experience, and I was confused. Where I came from, you "took the G Bus or the 13 trolley". The only transit lines with street names were the two subway lines; the Broad Street subway, which traversed the entire city from north to south, or the Market Street subway, handling the job from east to west. In New Orleans, the trolley and bus lines are named after the street that dominates the route. There are five streetcar routes: Canal - Cemeteries, St Charles, Riverfront, Rampart, and Canal-City Park. All of the streetcars on each route carry the name of the route. Although confusing to me, I think the naming is much more romantic and classy than "13 trolley". Especially if one is called "The Streetcar Named Desire."
A Streetcar Named Desire
So where is "The Streetcar Named Desire"? Alas, it is no more -- since 1948 in fact. There was, and still is, a Desire Street in New Orleans and from 1920 to 1948, at the height of streetcar use in New Orleans, there was a streetcar route called "Desire". It ran through the French Quarter and on out east to the Marigny, Bywater, and Upper Ninth Ward neighborhoods where it ran on Desire Street for several miles. During that time every streetcar on that route carried the name Desire.
The "Desire" Streetcar Route
Tennessee Williams lived in The French Quarter (722 Toulouse Street) before he got rich and famous. So did William Faulkner (624 Pirate's Alley). I'm sure they each rode the Desire streetcar line often. What a master stroke for Williams to pick up the name "Streetcar Named Desire" for the title of the play that made him rich and famous. The name was taken from the line in the play where Blanche DuBois describes how she reached the Kowalski residence —"They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at—Elysian Fields!"
"They told me to take a streetcar named Desire ..."
Our instructions for today were "Take the Canal Street trolley north to Carondelet, get a transfer, get on the St Charles trolley, ride to the Garden District, and get off wherever you like."
Canal and St Charles Trollies
If Blanche could do it so can we.
Thanks to Jim Spain for many of these pictures
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Bayou Segnette State Park
7777 Westbank Expressway
Westwego, LA 70094
GPS: 29.88990o, -090.16239o
Where Does the Mississippi River End?
My casual first response has always been "New Orleans." Not quite. A closer look at Google Maps or a paper road map shows the river continuing for some distance past New Orleans to a place called Venice, LA. So, Venice, LA was our destination for today's road trip.
Day trip to find the end of the Mississippi River
VENICE (GPS: 29.271952, -89.353220)
Venice is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 202. It is 77 miles south of New Orleans on the west bank of the Mississippi River at 29°16'37"N 89°21'17"W. It is the last community down the Mississippi accessible by automobile, and it is the southern terminus of the Great River Road. This has earned the town the nickname "The end of the world." Venice lies at the end of the longest continuous levee line in the world, stretching 650 miles north to the Arkansas River. In 1969, Hurricane Camille's 200 mph wind destroyed much of Venice.
Have we found the end of the river?
Commercial fishing, sport fishing, and oil refining appear to be the main activity in Venice.
My river information tells me that Venice is at mile marker 10.2, not 0.0. So there must be more.
PILOTTOWN (GPS: 29.178855, -89.256167)
Further south, on the east bank of the river, is a place called Pilottown. Google Maps marks it with a dot and a marker for a post office.
Pilottown is the interchange point for bar pilots on the ocean-going vessels that navigate the Mississippi River. Bar pilots meet ships at sea and guide them through the passes up to Pilottown. River pilots take over the journey to ports on the Mississippi. The process is reversed on outgoing trips.
Originally known as Balize, Louisiana, Pilottown is the southern border of the Crescent Pilots Route and the exchange point for the Crescent and Bar Pilots. Vessels headed upriver are piloted by the Crescent Pilots and those headed down river are piloted by the Bar Pilots. Pilottown was settled about 100 years ago when traffic on the Mississippi River shifted from one channel to another. This forced river pilots to abandon their station about five miles downriver. Other people followed, attracted by the nearby National Delta Wildlife Refuge. In the 19th and early 20th century, many pilots and their families lived here. The peak population was likely reached in the 1860's when Balize had a population of over 800 people. The repeated devastation caused by violent storms and hurricanes caused most residents to relocate. Today the permanent population of Pilottown is less than 20 people.
The town now consists of a few buildings built on piers and connected by raised sidewalks. Only the Crescent River Port Pilots’ Association has housing in Pilottown for their members on call. Accessible only by boat or by helicopter, Pilottown is located on the swampy ground of the lower Mississippi River Delta, about 85 miles downriver from New Orleans (65 miles by air) and about 10 miles south of Venice, Louisiana. It is just upriver from the point where the river splits into multiple branches. Despite the remote location, the Crescent Pilots’ Station has the latest technology and communication equipment to ensure the safe and efficient flow of maritime commerce.
River pilot entering pilot's clubhouse, Pilottown, Louisiana, September 1938In Pilottown, the pilots are on call day and night so some sleep during the day.
Pilottown intrigues me. Here are links to more information and stories:
History of River Piloting
About Pilottown
Interviews with Pilottown residents
My river information tells me that Pilottown is at mile marker 2.0, not 0.0. So there is yet more.
HEAD OF PASSES (GPS: 29.151346, -89.251231)
On the map, in the water, is the term "Head of Passes". This is mile marker 0.0.
The official end of the Mississippi River
The Mississippi River officially ends here, 953.8 river miles from Cairo, Illinois. At this point, the stream divides into three channels, 1) Pass a Louture, 2) South Pass, 3) Southwest Pass. They each branch into smaller passes and all eventually empty into the Gulf of Mexico.
Early French navigators favored the Southeast Pass off Pass a Louture and France fortified an outpost named Balize on its banks. The first Civil War river Battle was fought at the Head of Passes in 1861. It was one of the few Confederate naval victories of the war.
The Passes were a constant problem for the port of New Orleans in the 1800's. At high water passage was easy, but at low water heavy ships often could not find an open channel between river and sea.
In 1875, the U.S. Congress contracted with the pioneering river engineer Captain James B. Eads to open a reliable channel to the sea. (Eads had completed building the giant bridge over the Mississippi at St Louis the previous year.) Congress drove a hard bargain with Eads: If he failed they paid him nothing; if he succeeded they would pay him eight million dollars. Eads built a system of jetties on the South Pass, and within four years the river had dug itself a 30-foot deep channel to the sea.
Early in the 1900's a similar jetty system created a 40-foot channel in the Southwest Pass, and it became the major route for ocean-going vessels.
This is what the end of the Mississippi River looks like:
This is the end of the Mississippi River
We didn't get to Pilottown or Head of Passes. Although, if I had taken the time, and coughed up the money, I know I could have gotten a boat to take me to both.
So this is the end of the Mississippi River:Venice -- The official end of the Great River Road and the last place accessible by auto.
Pilottown -- The last inhabited location on the river; accessible only by boat or helicopter.
Head of Passes -- A geographical mark in the water signifying the official end of the river.
We did get to Venice; explored, took pictures, and of course found a restaurant -- CrawGators Bar & Grill at GPS: 29.240208, -89.364915. Their Seafood Gumbo is delicious. Be sure to drop in the next time you're in the neighborhood.
Crawgator Bar and Grill
OUR GREAT RIVER ROAD TRIP BEGINS
The trip begins here and now
The camera data on this picture says 2:22 PM (CDT), May 15, 2017, so let's declare that as the start of our Great River Road trip.
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Bayou Segnette State Park
7777 Westbank Expressway
Westwego, LA 70094
GPS: 29.88990o, -090.16239o
The Great River
The Mississippi River is truly our Great River. It bisects the nation from north to south. The headwaters are nestled deep in the woods of northern Minnesota and it empties into the Gulf of Mexico among the oil rigs and shrimp boats of extreme southern Louisiana. Each end is contained within a single state, but throughout its length, it serves as the border between states – eight in all; three on the western shore, five on the eastern shore. The Mississippi River looms large in the affairs of ten states.
Every drop of rain that falls between the Appalachians and the Rockies eventually flows in this river. Along its length, it is fed by five major tributaries: the Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio and Red rivers. Given their flow volumes, major Ohio River tributaries like the Allegheny, Tennessee, and Wabash rivers are considered important tributaries to the Mississippi system. While the depth and width of the river varies along its course, a steady flow of 600,000 cubic feet per second (16 billion gallons per hour) of water passes by New Orleans at a speed of three miles per hour.
The Great River Road
Much more than I know and way too much to tell in a single blog post. So here is an introductory quote from Wikipedia and a link to more.
The Great River Road is a collection of state and local roads that follow the course of the Mississippi River through ten states of the United States. They are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
The term "Great River Road" refers both to a series of roadways and to a larger region inside the US and in each state, used for tourism and historic purposes. Some states have designated or identified regions of state interest along the road and use the roads to encompass those regions.
It is divided into two main sections: the Great River Road and the National Scenic Byway Route. The eponymous segment runs on both sides of the river from Louisiana through the state borders of Kentucky/Illinois and Missouri/Iowa, excepting the full length of the road in Arkansas. A five-state section of the road has been designated a National Scenic Byway, running through Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Read more at Wikipedia
When I first learned of the Great River Road, it screamed "ROAD TRIP!". The Great River Road is for the RVer what the Appalachian Trail and John Muir Trail are for the hiker. How could I not do this trip?
"North to south" or "south to north"? A question quickly answered by another question. "Where do I want to be in the heat of late August/early September?" I chose the cool forest of Minnesota over the steamy swamps of Louisiana. So "south to north" it is.
Now we are here in New Orleans to begin our trip at the end of the river.
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Bayou Segnette State Park
7777 Westbank Expressway
Westwego, LA 70094
GPS: 29.88990o, -090.16239o
New Orleans, LA (NOLA) has a number of illustrative nicknames:
The Big Easy
is possibly a reference by musicians in the early 20th century to the relative ease of finding work there. It also may have originated in the Prohibition era, when the city was considered one big speak-easy due to the inability of the federal government to control alcohol sales in open violation of the 18th Amendment. But locals attribute the widespread use of the nickname The Big Easy to the late Betty Guillaud, a gossip columnist from the Times-Picayune. They say that Guillaud used the term first in the early 1970s to compare life in New York City—the Big Apple—to life in New Orleans—The Big Easy.
Crescent City
alludes to the course of the Lower Mississippi River around and through the city.
The City that Care Forgot
has been used since at least 1938, and refers to the outwardly easy-going, carefree nature of many of the residents.
Regardless of its nicknames or where they came from, New Orleans was our destination today, our fourth travel day.
Travel Day 4 -- Pensacola, FL to New Orleans, LA
Near the Mississippi / Louisiana border, we stopped at a Louisiana Welcome Center. Most of the brochures advertised sights (predominantly restaurants) in New Orleans, but we were able to gather some state-wide information. Sitting at a table, apart from the information counter, was a young man offering himself as a walking tour guide for the French Quarter. I admired his out of the ordinary marketing technique (we were still about fifty miles from NOLA) so I took his business card and resolved to give him our business while we are in the city.
These 215 miles would be our last westward travel. At New Orleans, we will turn north and begin our Great River Road adventure. A little less than seven hours had passed when we reached our campground – Bayou Segnette State Park in Westwego, LA – a suburb of New Orleans on the south side of the Mississippi River.
This is a nice park, situated so that it is hard to see or hear that you are in a big city. The last few miles of the drive were through the heart of New Orleans and there was no doubt that we were in the big city. For us, pulling the rig through downtown New Orleans was a white knuckle experience.
Setup was uneventful, hot, and humid. Uneventful I like. Hot and humid ... well, I better get used to it.
No grand dining adventure tonight. Hot dogs and hamburgers at the campsite did the job. Then a shower and call it a day.
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