Cape Girardeau History and Photos

November 16, 2012

Marian Cliff Manor

On our way back to Cape after the James McMurtry concert in St. Louis and a pause at the Fourche a du Clos Valley Roadside Park, we rolled into the tiny town of St. Mary.

There’s not a lot to remember about St. Mary

It was (maybe still is) a notorious speed trap on Highway 61 (Highway 25 for REAL oldtimers).
Much of the town has been lost to Mississippi River flooding.
You don’t have to cross the Mississippi River to get to Illinois from there.
It’s where you turn off to go to Kaskaskia to see the Liberty Bell of the West.
There used to be a spooky old building up on the hill overlooking the town.

Built by slaves

The spooky old building is now a perky red and is a residential care unit. The Marian Cliff Manor’s website says that it was built with the help of slaves in 1861. The white tower was used by the Confederate sympathizer owner to view the movement of Union troops. Over time, it has been used by a number of religious non-profit groups. It is home for about 50 disabled veterans today.

November 16, 2012November 10, 2023

Mother’s Gone Nuts

I mentioned the other day that Mother and I picked up pecans in Dutchtown on one of our jaunts. As soon as we got home, she dug out the Rocket Nutcracker that’s been cracking Steinhoff pecans for better than half a century. She clamped it in the vise on Dad’s workbench and went to digging in the basement food cupboard he built at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Before long she found the very same cigar box and nut pick he used sitting his recliner, watching TV and filling jar after jar with nuts.

Metal fatigue caused handle to break

The metal fatigue from cracking thousands of nuts eventually caused the handle to break, but that didn’t stop Dad. He just welded the handle back on.

You can buy one that looks just like this one except that it has a wooden handle at the end.

She’s ready for more

I figured cracking and picking out the nuts would keep her off the street this weekend, but, no, she got them all cracked and picked out in about four days. She’s ready to go out picking up more.

Pecan cracking photo gallery

Here’s a gallery of photos of Mother hard at work cracking pecans. Click on any image to make it larger, then click on the left or right side to move through the gallery.

November 15, 2012December 28, 2014

Casino at Night

Back in 1966, I shot a neat time exposure of Wimpy’s Drive-In showing the traffic patterns in the streaks of light left by cars going by and into the teen hangout. I had hoped to shoot something similar of the Isle Casino Cape Girardeau the night of November 10.

Unfortunately for the photo, the parking lot was pretty quiet. It was about two-thirds full, but there wasn’t much cruising for parking spots. You can click on the photos to make them larger.

10,000 visit in first two days

The Missourian ran a math-filled story about the first two days the casino was open. The numbers were confusing enough that they updated the story to try to get the math right. I’m not even going to attempt it, so read their version.

I figured the casino would cause the lights to go out at the bingo joint near the public library, so we drove by there after shooting the casino photos. Much to my surprise, the bingo parking lot was about two-thirds full. There must be a lot of loyal players in the Cape area.

Earlier Casino / Shoe Factory stories

November 14, 2012November 25, 2013

Fall at Kentucky Lake

Mother and I went over to Kentucky Lake Monday to winterize her trailer. For you Florida folk, that means that we drained all of the water out of the drains and water lines and put antifreeze in any place that water might pool. If you don’t keep the pipes heated, the water in them will freeze and the pipes will burst. That happened to her a couple of winters ago. It’s not pretty and it’s not cheap to fix.

While she was inside the trailer doing inside-the-trailer stuff, I was blowing away the leaves that had fallen so far. Leaves, again for you Florida folks, are a big deal up here. And, I am far from being a proficient leaf herder. I’m not convinced that I couldn’t do a better job with a leaf rake.

Anyway, once I got the ground cleared off, it was covered with a gazillion hickory nuts that were like walking on ball bearings.

More hickory nuts to fall

They’re not done falling, either. Hearing those things bounce off your trailer top must make you feel like you’re under machine gun attack all night long.

Ducks on the lake

We took a swing down to the campgrounds to see what was going on. These guys don’t seem to notice that the water’s growing colder in the late afternoon.

Naked tree

We couldn’t help but notice this dead, naked tree with all its bark missing as we passed the entrance to Camp John Currie. It was worth a u-turn.

Peeling paint to peeling bark

I know I’ve been posting a lot of what we journalistic photographer disdainfully call “peeling paint” photos, but I couldn’t resist this shot of a trunk with its bark peeled off.

Something got under its skin

At some point in its life, something crawled around between the tree’s bark and its trunk.

Pining away for Wife Lila

I had to put that bad pun in to keep Wife Lila from dispatching me as a stranger breaking into the house when I get back to Florida this weekend.