Annual Scenic Drive provides a look at history, as well

Local sightseers could not have asked for better weather in which to enjoy the opening Saturday of the 26th annual Mississippi River Valley Scenic Drive.

The tour, which consisted of dozens of sites around Cape Girardeau and surrounding counties, celebrates the cultural and historic fabric that makes up the Mississippi River Valley.

Sites include the St. Louis and Iron Mountain Railway Museum in Jackson, which hosted area youths for the Junior Engineers and Conductors Train, the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center and Bollinger County Museum of Natural History in Marble Hill, Missouri.

At the Bollinger Mill State Historical Site near Burfordville, visitors got a glimpse of the past.

Hillsboro, Missouri, resident Francie Beveridge said seeing the 19th-century machinery gave new meaning to the phrase “separating the wheat from the chaff.”

“It’s amazing,” she said. “I love the historical stuff, so it’s just wonderful.”

She said the most interesting part was seeing what was, at the time, advanced technology.

“And now we’re up to this,” she said, holding up the iPad she used to take pictures of the site. “How in the world did we ever get from that over there to things like this?”

A group of sixth-graders from the Campbell, Missouri, student band similarly were impressed with the mill and museum.

Student Klayton West made his first visit to the mill. He wasn’t sure what all the machinery was for, but he said he would have liked to see what life was like when the mill was operating.

“I think it would take a lot of people working to make it work,” he said. “I think that would be cool.”

His classmate, C.J. Littrell, said the biggest takeaway for her was the realization she shouldn’t take modern conveniences such as grocery stores for granted.

“You don’t just go to the store and buy corn meal and flour and stuff,” she said of the time. “Somebody has to work to make that.”

But the mill tour, she said, was only part of the group’s larger trip. The scenic driving itself was full of great views, she said.

“But it was kind of crazy because there were a lot of curves,” she said. “And I’m not used to those a lot.”

The scenic-drive celebration continues today at various times, depending on the site.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627

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Scenic-drive sites

• Hemman Winery
• Apple Creek Vineyard and Winery
• Wash House
• Conservation Nature Center
• Country Store Emporium
• Cape River Heritage Museum
• Saxon Lutheran Memorial
• Eggers and Co. General Store
• Bollinger Mill State Historical Site
• River Ridge Winery
• St. Louis and Iron Mountain Railway
• Bollinger County Museum of Natural History
• Pinecrest Azalea Gardens
• Perry County Museum