The Monorail That Isn't Anymore

 Memphis, TN

Guess where we are!

Mud Island River Park

Today Donna and I went to Mud Island River Park.  Mud Island River Park is on the southern tip of Mud Island, an "Island" (more like a peninsula) west of Memphis and east of The Mississippi River.  Mud Island River Park opened in 1982 and featured an amphitheater, museum, monorail, footbridge and a 2000 ft. long hydraulic scale model of the Mississippi River.  It's a really cool place that has seen hard times.  Tourism isn't as strong in Memphis and the location makes this place a bit out of the way and yet plenty of people find their way to the Bass Pro Shop Pyramid which is equally out of the way and tries to take your money.  Currently there are efforts to pump money into Mud Island River Park to bring it back to its glory but sadly The Monorail isn't listed on the list of things they plan on fixing.

The Monorail Station and footbridge on the City side

The Monorail and footbridge on Mud Island

The scale model includes info on the rivers that feed into The Mississippi River

Donna finds Pittsburgh and notes that many of the cities and lettering have fallen off or been stolen

The model is dry right now.  Not sure if they run it on weekends in the summer or not.

I resisted the urge to take a swim

At the end of the model is the Memphis sign that is Social Media Famous.  People asked us where it was on our way back.

They put this in the unattended parking lot that asks you to pay by phone.

The Monorail and Footbridge

Getting to the monorail and footbridge was a bit sketchy.  You had to enter a building that seemed closed but was open.  The monorail station was on floor 4 and the footbridge was on floor 5.  Floors 1-3 featured people with no where to go spending time out of the elements.  Nothing terrible, just a little uncomfortable during daylight.  I don't think I would have gone up there after dark.

Looking up from floor 3 at the monorail on floor 4.  The monorail hangs from the rail and is pulled by cable.

Do you think these barriers stopped me?

You're right, they didn't stop me.

Oh, open doors!

A shot inside so that I could say I "went in".  I really just stuck my foot in.

One last shot showing the wheels above the rail that hold the suspended Monorail.

The footbridge is pretty cool.  There were a few people using it.

The views from the bridge were very good

Donna pointed out the river height meter on the pilon on the right.  I also liked the Welcome to Arkansas sign.

The Tennessee Welcome Center

The welcome center for Tennessee is also near the city side of the monorail station.  We stopped by to pick up an official map, state park camping brochures, and other literature that I am excited to wade through.  

The entrance

This Elvis statue used to be outside on Beale St. but people took pieces off of it so it was moved indoors and replaced by another more durable statue of The King.

They have a statue of another King, BB King in the welcome center.

The Bass Pro Shop Pyramid

Lastly we stopped by the Bass Pro Shop.  I wanted to see if we could find a replacement spigot for our Coleman Cooler. They did not.  They had tons of stuff but we didn't need any of it.  Here is a partial list of things they had that we didn't need; Guns, Bows and Arrows, Ammunition, Shirts that said, "If this flag offends you I will help you pack so you can move", and other attire appropriate for attending an insurrection or Trump Rally.  If you could get passed the list above there were cool things to look at including alligators and a giant fish tank.  There was also an elevator up to an observation deck.  We didn't go up because it cost $10 and I believe it's the only Bass Pro Shop with a hotel inside.

The Memphis Pyramid was an arena built in 1991 but in 2007 the events stopped and it opened as The Bass Pro Shop Supercenter

The lodge is the Hotel I mentioned above.

I forgot to mention the Shooting Arcade.  It reminds me of working Big Thunder Mountain and The Frontier and Shooting Arcade.

The $10 Elevator ride can be seen on the right.

The aforementioned Gators.  I assume they had Crocs too but we don't wear them so I didn't look for them.

They had previously hunted animals on display

They had a "Hunting Clothing" sign but then there was no hunting clothing to be seen.  Not sure what their plan is for this space.

The tank featured Sturgeon

And Gar

I also forgot to mention that there is a bowling alley there.  If we were here with a bigger group than just Donna and I, I would have lobbied to go bowling.

That's it for today.  It was a cool day of exploring.  We have 3 weeks left here and there is still so much to do.  If you missed my previous post about The Chili Cookoff you can find it here.