Skirting the might

Travelers grow giddy; the rolling river looms near and the lure of the West beckons. Pavement noise on the big bridge floods the imagination: the longest river in the world is alive with steamboats and fur traders and catfish nosing through mud! Once we lumbered over the old Eads Bridge into Illinois and warned our prom dates, “keep your shoes on!” Crossing the state line with a barefoot girl back then was a "statutory" crime.

Submitted by: mrgshelton