Cape Girardeau Missouri is a small city that sits along the Mississippi River in southern Missouri. It features a lot of history and cool architecture.
I have family in the area, so we go there to visit usually once a year, sometimes there's a year we don't get out there. I love the downtown area with an old fashioned looking clock that sits in the middle of Main street at Themis in downtown. You can see that clock in the cover photo.
The cool cable-stayed bridge in the background is the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge. Built in 2004, it crosses over the Mississippi River and connects to East Cape Girardeau, Illinois.
One of the landmarks Cape Girardeau is known for is the Missouri Wall of Fame. It's actually a flood wall that runs along the Mississippi River that has an cool mural depicting famous people who were born or achieved fame in the state of Missouri. It is 500 foot long and also runs along some railroad tracks. It's definitely worth the walk to see.
Cape Girardeau is also known for its history. One of the prettiest buildings there in my opinion is the Old St Vincents Catholic Church. It was built in 1853. This current building replaced the original one built in 1838 that was destroyed by a tornado in 1850.
There's also the historic Red House Interpretive Center. This building was a recreated duplicate of the old trading post & Louis Lorimier's home. It features antiques and relics from the 1800s & also has a garden. It commemorates the life of community founder and French-Canadian, Louis Lorimier, as well as a visit of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in November 1803.
And you can't forget about the historic Fort D Civil War site. It is the only one of the four that still exist thanks to civic action in the 1930’s and is now a city historic site. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019. The fort protected the city of Cape Girardeau from attack.
There's a beautiful large park with a couple ponds and a conservation center that is a must see. The park, known as North County Lake Park is popular for walks and picnics for the family. I like to be there during sunset.
One of my favorite landmarks in this area is just a short drive from Cape Girardeau. It's the historic Bollinger Mill And Burfordville Covered Bridge. Stationed along the Whitewater River, it's a must visit when you're in the area. Located in Burfordville, MO, the covered bridge is the oldest remaining covered bridge in Missouri. The current mill was built in 1867 to replace the original built in 1825 that was burnt down during the Civil War.
The story behind capturing this photo at Bollinger Mill is one I'll never forget. This view is hard to get. It took, climbing down a steep bluff. Then due to lots of recent rains, the river was higher than normal. It had been even higher so the flat area I took the photo in was extremely muddy and it was like standing on ice. I was slipping and almost fell in the rushing river water with all my equipment. If it wasn't for me hammering my tripod into the mud I would have. Then I had to swing my backpack around, while still gripping the tripod to put my camera up so I could have both arms to get out of the situation without worrying about the camera. If I moved my feet, I would slide towards the river, so before I could move, I had to quickly pull the tripod out of the mud and move it to another spot that would allow me to move a foot at a time. In the meantime, I can hear by mom and daughter yelling for me to see where I was. I yelled back "I'm in a pickle and need help." My legs were so numb and shaking. The bad thing is there was no way they could help me without putting their lives at risk too. I could see some vines along the bluff so I slowly and gradually worked by way to where I could reach one. Once I did, I was able to walk along the bluff grabbing different vines and tree roots until I got to an area where I could hand my tripod up to my mom. I then used tree roots to climb back up to the top. It was terrifying, but worth it as this is my favorite photo of the mill and bridge.
There are lots places to see in Cape Girardeau, along with a large casino that is popular, so next time you're in the area, I recommend stopping and staying a day or two. You won't be disappointed. Feel free to check out my photos from there area here:
https://5-jennifer-white.pixels.com/art/cape+girardeau
