We crossed the Mississippi River several times: from Illinois to Missouri and back, and then from Missouri to Tennessee and back. The bridges looked identical except for the state line signs. This is the one going into Tennessee.
The river is the dividing line between the states, as you can see by the state line sign on the bridge.
Aunt Hazel knew we wanted to see some places of interest, so she had us come out to see Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee. However, we had difficulty finding the right turnoff and wound up here in back of Gooch's Motel, which is near the shore of Reelfoot Lake.
There were several picturesque spots behind Gooch's Motel, so I stopped to take a few pictures.
Although I didn't find Gooch's Motel in the Reelfoot Lake brochures we later picked up, from what I saw there, it would seem to be a good place for a fisherman on vacation to stay.
Although this was a beautiful spot, it was not the one Aunt Hazel had in mind, so we moved on.
We finally found the Reelfoot State Park area. The building has a lot of information on area wildlife and how the lake was formed by earthquakes in the early 1800's, including eye-witness accounts. If you would like to read the information from the panels outside the building, click here. This picture shows Aunt Hazel and Mom reading some of the Reelfoot brochures available inside.
The path from the building to the boardwalk out over the lake is beautiful. Notice, though, that the cyprus trees here have normal size trunks. Out on the water, they are much larger.
The boardwalk over parts of Reelfoot Lake is a beautiful place to stroll and get a closer look at nature.
The size of the tree trunk at the water line, compared with the upper part of the tree, is awe inspiring.
In the distance, you can see a row of trees growing out of the water. I wonder if they were here at the time of the earthquakes. I assume they must have been, because new trees don't generally grow under water.
I've read that there seems to be no reason for these root-like growths (called cyprus knees) coming out of the water by the cyprus trees. I've also heard, though, that plant roots need air. I wonder if that is why these grow above the water.
Behind the fishermen, you can see another tree growing up out of the water. According to one of their brochures, there are more than 50 species of fish in Reelfoot Lake, including bass, catfish, bream, white and black crappie, and there are no limits on crappie or bluegill. If you are interested in taking a fishing trip and want more information on this location, I have a link to their official site at the bottom of this page.
I include this picture because I spent about 10 minutes waiting at one spot on the boardwalk with camera aimed for this butterfly to open its wings and let me take its picture.
Reelfoot State Park Official Page
(Please note: If you follow this link, you will leave Spidergal's site.)
Created 06/09/01.