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Canoeing the Mississippi River at Helena

November 5, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner 34 Comments

(Note: Helena Advertising and Promotions Commission sponsored this blogger trip. Opinions are my own.)

Mississippi River, Osceola River Port

Never swim in the Mississippi River. EVER.

My sister and I heard this warning over and over again from Momma and Daddy and Papa Creecy. Although the Mississippi River was our very own natural wonder, we knew better than to dip one toe into his churning current.
Please, can we go see the river?

After a trip to the grocery store, Momma often drove us over the levee to make sure he was still there. We always took out-of town visitors to see our river at the Osceola River Port. And crossing into Memphis, we held our breath on the bridge spanning the water, a game we played in route to the Zoo or Goldsmith’s or the Mid-South Fair. It was a l-o-n-g way over.

The Mississippi River flowed through our veins,  yet we never swam in it. EVER.

When a classmate drowned, we understood and respected his power.
I recently stepped a toe into the Mississippi River. Both feet in fact. The cool water felt marvelous, yet forbidden. As I pulled my life jacket tight, I felt Papa Creecy shudder from the heavens…

I was part of a small group of Arkansas Women Bloggers invited by the Helena Advertising and Promotions Commission to spend a few days in their delta town overlooking the Mississippi River. Although Helena is directly downstream from our farm near Osceola, this was my first visit.

And a cram-packed, entertaining visit it was. One of my favorite activities—canoeing on the Mississippi River.
Led by the Quapaw Canoe Company, we canoed to Buck Island (also known as Island 63). And for those of you from Mississippi County, Island 63 is NOTHING like our infamous Island 35… not in the least…
Canoeing the Mississippi River at Helena
The spectacular autumn air held a freshness I’d yet to feel in Dallas since the prolonged, hot summer. A sense of nervous excitement grew, for me anyway—being on the river, feeling the tug of water against the oar. We laughed and talked and row, row, rowed, landing on the island just before sunset.

Buck Island was remote.

Mississippi River at Helena, Island 63, Buck Island
Arriving at Buck Island

Uninhabited, the only signs of life were animal tracks stamped in the sand.

Buck Island, Island 63, Helena, Mississippi River
beautiful white sand

In only moments, our guides built an impressive fire from sticks and driftwood gathered from the nearby woods. As the sun sank into the riverbank, we ate dinner by bonfire glow, debated the perfect way to roast a marshmallow, and drank the finest boxed wine from hefty coffee mugs.

Buck Island, Island 63, Mississippi River at Helena
Kyran Pittman demonstrating marshmallow perfection

 

I wanted to stay on that island forever.
Canoeing back in silence, Venus shone brightly above the tree line, and the Milky Way cut a bright swath in the night. Like a great whale, a barge slipped by moving the black water. I imagined rafting the river at a different time, in a different world, one without lights from the nearby bridge or the hum of soybeans being loaded onto nearby barges.
Mississippi River at Helena
Mississippi River barge

 

Underneath an endless sky surrounded by the mighty river, I returned to shore awestruck.
It is not a commonplace river, but on the contrary is in all ways remarkable. –Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi
talya
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

 

Musical Pairing:

Ol Man River, Paul Robeson

 

Filed Under: Arkansas, Travel Tagged With: Helena Arkansas, Mississippi Delta, Mississippi River, Osceola, Quapaw Canoe Company

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Comments

  1. Patricia A. Laster says

    November 5, 2013 at 5:08 am

    Great vicarious “trip” on the Mississip. (Rhymes just happen sometimes.) Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 5, 2013 at 7:43 am

      Yes they do:)

      Reply
  2. Dot Hatfield says

    November 5, 2013 at 5:08 am

    Marvelous, Talya. I wondered where you found the white sand. Thanks for sharing this story of the river and the clip with Paul Robeson, the best rendition of that song ever.

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 5, 2013 at 7:43 am

      Thank you Dot! It was a fantastic trip and this song gives me chills.

      Reply
  3. Kyran says

    November 5, 2013 at 7:17 am

    This was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. Hope to get back there with my boys!

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 5, 2013 at 7:43 am

      Me too! I know my family would love it.

      Reply
  4. explorenewness says

    November 5, 2013 at 7:32 am

    Sounds like a fun adventure. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 5, 2013 at 7:44 am

      It was! Thank you.

      Reply
  5. Taylor Fichera says

    November 5, 2013 at 9:01 am

    Talya, these are BEAUTIFUL pictures! Where these captured with a DSLR? I have never spent time in this part of the country before. We must check it out!

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 5, 2013 at 9:11 am

      Thank you Taylor! It is a beautiful part of the country. I took all these pictures with my iPhone:)

      Reply
  6. Kathy says

    November 5, 2013 at 11:01 am

    What an amazing adventure. I loved seeing your pictures and am so glad you shared here. ♥

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 5, 2013 at 12:18 pm

      Thank you Kathy!

      Reply
  7. sarabethjones says

    November 5, 2013 at 11:07 am

    Loved this part of the trip so much – am still trying to find the right words. You did beautifully here! I’m ready to go again. 🙂

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 5, 2013 at 12:19 pm

      Thank you Sara Beth. I wanna go back too:)

      Reply
  8. Dorothy Johnson says

    November 5, 2013 at 2:05 pm

    I love the mix of memories and your recent excursion. You already know that I was close to calling your mother about you being in a canoe on the Mississippi River!

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 5, 2013 at 5:45 pm

      Thank you Dorothy. I believe growing up in the delta so close to the river made the trip even more special to me.

      Reply
  9. Pary Moppins says

    November 5, 2013 at 3:44 pm

    What a beautiful narrative. Flowed like the mighty Mississip.

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 5, 2013 at 5:44 pm

      Thank you! It truly is a magical place.

      Reply
  10. Suzy says

    November 5, 2013 at 8:19 pm

    Wow your words truly took me on an adventure. Lovely pics too.

    Reply
  11. chris staudinger says

    November 16, 2013 at 4:50 pm

    yikes…a classmate drowned?
    if it had been warmer, we would all have been swimming!

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 16, 2013 at 5:05 pm

      Yes but I really just don’t think he knew how to swim:( thanks so much for reading and commenting! You are awesome!

      Reply
  12. Gale says

    December 4, 2013 at 8:13 am

    I loved this post. Brought me back to canoeing with my girl scout troup in middle school (the colorado river…not quite as large but still the biggest river I’d ever seen.) They warned us against swimming too, though let us “swim”, with our life jackets, in a small inlet between a sandbar and the river where the water was less than 2 feet high. I grew up living on a boat and felt like a toddler with that big ole life jacket in such shallow water, but it was better than nothing. I’d been itching to get in that water all day.

    But me and my friend found a way to at least get our feet wet during the rest of the trip…we took turns sitting on the bow with our feet dangling in the water. I’m surprized they let us do that but possibly we were too far away for our troup leaders to see what we were doing. We paddled til sunset, when the sunshine scattered over the river and turned it golden, and everything seemed to hush save the splash of the paddles. Such good memories!

    I wanted to let you know that the new Wherever Wednesday is up, and that I featured your post in the “highlights from last month”! http://texifornia.blogspot.com/2013/12/this-is-wherever-wednesday.html Love your writing!

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      December 4, 2013 at 2:57 pm

      Thank you so much for sharing your memories and for featuring my post! Going to check it out now:))

      Reply
  13. Bryan Jones says

    December 5, 2013 at 2:06 pm

    Awesome post! Glad you were able to do this! I watched a whole redwood Cyprus tree standing straight up slowly sink and then flipping it’s roots up into the air going down that river so I will pass on swimming in it. Beautiful pics though!

    Reply
  14. CARMELLA :: SOUTHERNFRIEDGAL says

    April 4, 2014 at 5:46 pm

    Hey girl – I’m just now settling back into the bloggy groove. I remember meeting you at the conference last year. This is an awesome post – beautiful pictures and I love the way you tell your story. I never really thought of the power of the Mississippi river or that there could be an a place in the middle with so much charm.

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      April 4, 2014 at 8:49 pm

      Hey there! Great to hear from you. Hopefully I’ll see you at AWBU this year!

      Reply
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Talya Tate Boerner


Hi! I'm Talya. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (Now Available!)

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