Blogs from Greenville, Mississippi, United States, North America

First a correction: We had a tour of the Pilot House today and I find out that the boat does indeed have another method of propulsion other than the paddlewheel, having told you a couple of days ago that it doesn’t. There are two Z drives which look like propellers in casings which can be swivelled around to help steer the boat as well as propelling it forward. It also has bow thrusters. This all makes sense as we couldn’t figure out how it manoeuvred itself into dock. The tour was very interesting and I got to pull the whistle at the end! There are two pilots on board who actually sail the boat as well as a few mates who assist them and learn at the same time. One of the pilots is a woman. ... read more

Geo: 33.3985, -91.0379A short look around the decaying delta town of Greenville today. Another lovely day.The catastrophic flood of 1927 was highlighted, along with the appallingly racist treatment of displaced AfAms (it's tough worrying about PC in a personal travel blog, but it is publicly available). Had an interesting visit to a long-standing Jewish Temple. Unfortunately the Arts and Cultural Centre was unexpectedly closed, denying us the chance to interact with an historic merry-go-round.Interesting talk about river control this afternoon by our resident "Riverlorian". As a result of levee construction, the bed of the river has risen by 16ft in some sections. Especially in New Orleans where the river boat paddle wheels are above the roofs of many houses. In the 1950s engineers thought it likely that the Mississippi River was ready to jump its bed ... read more