The Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers overflowed into nearby fields, roadways, and people's homes, forcing people and animals to seek higher ground.
You could see the flooding for miles in Alabama and Tennessee.
It was the last week to take the bus tour to see Eagles nesting at the nearby Levee along the Mississippi River, so I booked two tickets for the trip.
It takes over three hours to drive to Tiptonville from our home, so I booked a cabin at Sportsman Resort, located along Reelfoot Lake, for one night.
The south area cabins of Reelfoot were flooded, so we stayed in the north area cabins.
We arrived in Paris around 11:30 A.M., stopped at Dinkins Mobile Homes, and walked through several homes.
One of the mobile homes was a woman busy cleaning, so we began talking. She was a widow with three grown sons and several grandchildren. She told us a story about taking three of her grandchildren on a trip to Fort Myers to visit family.
She said, 'The grandkids kept saying," Are we there yet? "'I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown.'
She showed us where all the electrical lights were along the walkway.
We asked her about things to do in Paris, and she said Paris Landing, Tennessee Wildlife Refuge, and the Eiffel Tower.
First, we stopped at the Eiffel Tower Park to take a few pictures and use the restroom at about 12:45 P.M.
At 1:15 P.M., we ate lunch at a local restaurant, Southside Cafe, where Hubby and I both ordered a catfish plate, which consisted of a baked potato, white beans, fillet catfish, cornbread, and a salad.
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| Catfish plate |
We backtracked to Paris Landing Visitor Center, where we saw four barn owls and two bald eagles in cages outside.
While we were at Paris Landing Visitor Center, two park rangers from Reelfoot Lake put a recused Bald Eagle into one of the cages outside because the eagle's cage at Reelfoot Lake was flooded.
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| Bald Eagle at Paris Landing Visitor Center |
2:30PM-3:08 P.M.
We arrived at the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge at 3:35 P.M., and it closed at 4:00 P.M., so we didn't have much time to visit.
We walked through the museum and outside, but did not see any animals or birds.
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| The sunset we saw while traveling from Paris to Tiptonville |
We stayed in a one-room Fishman cabin that was just enough room for a small table, futon, countertop stove, microwave, bed(with bed springs), satellite TV, and bathroom. If you want to rough it, this is the way to go.
The neighborhood dog slept on the front porch in a chair. I'm not sure what kind of guard dog he was, for I never heard him bark. He sure was friendly.
We didn't get much sleep because we could feel every movement the other person made, and the bedsprings made a screeching sound.
You could walk outside our cabin just a few feet, and there was Reelfoot Lake.
The sunrise was beautiful, overlooking the lake.
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| Sunrise over Reelfoot Lake |
We rode to historic downtown Tiptonville, where we saw the schools, cemetery, churches, and several landmark markers,
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| Carl Perkins' boyhood cabin |
We rode to Reelfoot Lake State Park Visitor Center, where we saw a live barn owl, rattlesnakes, copper head, and birds. There were several displays and activities for children, and outside was a flooded walkway and owl cages.
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| Cypress Boardwalk and Scenic Cruise are all flooded. |
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| Barn Owl at Reelfoot Lake State Park |
Our guide was a Park Ranger named Jerry Lewis, but I am not sure of his last name.
He said we are traveling along the Mississippi River levee to see bald eagles.
The levee road was above the water, with floodwaters on both sides.
The bus stopped one time, and we saw a couple of bald eagles nesting.
Almost everyone got off the bus to stretch their legs and view the eagles.
When the tour ended, we started at home.
We stopped at Cracker Barrel in Dyersburg for lunch.
Hubby ordered a roast beef plate. I ordered a kid's pinto beans, carrots, cornbread, and an onion plate.
We split a bowl of hot peach cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream.
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| Scarlet Macaw |
After finishing the drive-thru, we parked and walked through the petting zoo.
We stopped at McDonald's in Savannah, Tennessee. Hubby ordered a hamburger and fries. I ate peanut butter crackers and a banana.
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| Flooding on the Tennessee River at Savannah, TN |
