The Old Miss

With all the news of the Mississippi River flooding, we thought we take a drive along the river yesterday to check it out. It has only been a week since we were last down there and we couldn't believe how much higher the water had gotten since then.

This is a picture of the Quincy Boat Club. Todd's parents belong here and we come to different events during the year with them. As you can see, the parking lot is completely underwater. His mom said they had cleared everything out, including the cabinets, knowing the water would continue to rise.

Here is one of our favorite restaurants, The Pier. Luckily it is built up off of the water but you can see where the parking lot is flooded too. They have a bridge coming off of the top story that goes out to the street so they can stay open during the flood.

If you look out into the water you can see a round wooden deck of sorts. A lot of people have been married here, or had pictures taken here. Most of it is underwater. You can also see the wooden poles coming out of the water marking various heights of previous floods. This year is supposed to be the worst flood since the flood of '93 and I definitely remember how horrible things were that year. That's another story in itself!

Here's the playground we went to last week and the water was high, but not this high.

This is the parking lot of the playground we went to last week. We actually parked between those two trees.

I had to go to the bathroom really bad (all that water, you know) but once I saw the way to the bathroom, I didn't have to go so bad. It wouldn't have been worth wading through all that water to reach the building. I probably would have wet myself on the way.

This is a picture taken from our van of the Memorial Bridge. This is the bridge that will be closed down any day now. You can see how high up the water has come to the bridge. It has been closed a number of times in the past b/c the water has come up over it. The bridge we are driving on will then become a two way bridge. Normally large barges and boats can pass under there with no problem at all.

I took many pictures yesterday and have taken a number back when we have had flooding in the past. It is always amazing to me the power that water has. It is such a life sustaining substance, yet it can wreck havoc on the lives of many people in many ways. People all up and down the river are sandbagging, vacating, removing items and taking other precautionary measures to ensure safety. The water is expected to continue to rise during the next week. I only hope it doesn't get as bad as it is predicted to be right now.