Topic starter
24/03/2010 12:49 pm
The weather is beautiful and as you'll see by the pictures, nature is blooming down here, in contrast to up home. This is an unwanted trip however, as I have come down here to move my stuff out of my apartment in the Beauregard Keyes House. I've been here 23 years. Unfortunately the Foundation has a new board member - he's in marketing - and they are raising the rent, almost doubling it. So I'll be out of here after my April visit. They will be spending a lot to make all the repairs needed that I didn't demand, plus the place will be vacant until they get the money for these repairs. Whenever a rent increase was brought up in the past, Doc always told them about the expense whenever Judy moves out, and they listened. But now with the marketing expert on board - sound familiar?. I certainly was privileged to have these 23 years here in this great location. This was Doc's first residence when he came to NOLA to run the NATCHEZ. He lived here for over 2 years before buying his home on Barracks. Several of the N. crew stayed here with him until they found their own places. Roddy was staying here during vacations after he left the N. So this place has a steamboating connection. This will not alter my NOLA trips however. I've already booked my June days down the street at LeRichelieu, the annual home of the Walker/Frye troup and of many other steamboat visitors. They'll be storing my bike and golf clubs under the house, so my visits will remain pretty much as usual. Here are some shots of the BK courtyard.
1) Here's the view from my doorway. There is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath normal sized apartment up on the second floor of these slave quarters. Mrs. Keyes had her office on the first floor.
2) The azaleas in full bloom.
3) The evening view.
Topic starter
24/03/2010 1:19 pm
More NOLA pictures
1) The entrance to my apartment. It has 6 foot high ceilings, so a short person is a necessity for a renter. When Doc brought Capt. Wagner here for a visit, he bellowed, "Jeeeezus Doc, how can you live in here?"
2) You can see the beams coming down to the 6 foot level here in the living room, the kitchen's in the background. The kitchen chair is off the PRESIDENT. Note the AVALON, PREZ, NATCHEZ pennants on wall.
3) My view while lounging on the NATCHEZ roof: the flags from left to right: old French, city of N.O., US stern, Louisiana, old Spanish Castille y Leon. 2 US flags are forward of these, out of view. You can see the pipeline back to the calliope. A couple of ladders are stored next to it. The floodlight is used to illuminate the pilothouse when the boat is docked at night. The green blob in the foreground is the covering over one of three stacks of life rafts. The rope sticking out of the metal protrusion is used to lower these rafts to water level. They used to be stored on the main deck, where the passengers would have easy access to them. The CG mandated the move to the roof, to keep them from going underwater if the boat were sinking, huh??????
Topic starter
24/03/2010 1:44 pm
More NOLA pictures
1) The Steamboat Houses. Located just downriver from the Industrial Canal in the Lower 9th Ward. These were built in 1904 by Capt. Milton Doullut. He combined Far Eastern and steamboat architecture to remind him of his steamboating days. They are private homes, not open for tours.
2) A pile-driving operation. Note how long the piling is. You can see pilings at various stages of being driven in.
3) Here's something we don't see on the upper rivers. They are making a tow here and there are 26 barges in it at this point. The ones being added are loaded with grain - the spillage makes that obvious. Yesterday was big tow day, as just above this one was a 24 -barge tow being made up and shortly after that we passed a 20-barge tow upbound with empties, most likely headed up to grain area to be loaded with last fall's harvest.
Topic starter
24/03/2010 2:02 pm
and finally...
1) The NATCHEZ at a river stage of almost 9 feet. It was 13 when I was here last month. It went down and is now on the rise again.
2) Good news! It might be difficult to see, but the boarding line winds around under the tent and out to the ticket office. We had several hundred school kids on the 11:30 trip, along with several hundred 'regular' passengers. N.O. Steamboat Co. President Gordon Stevens was on board and I had a chance to visit with him a bit. Of course now is spring break time, so crowds are expected to be up, but he said the upswing has been going on ever since the Super Bowl. The exposure the city got from the Saints has brought many newcomers to the city.
24/03/2010 5:48 pm
Judy
So sorry you are losing your NOLA home. We had a wonderful tour of the house back in '07 just before our first DQ trip. Your friends showed us around most hospitably. I'm sure you'll miss your courtyard, just as I'm sure the board will realize their mistake far too late.
When my folks bought a business building here in Oroville, Dad wanted to raise the rents, as they hadn't been raised for some 10 years by the previous owner. I convinced Dad to do nothing for the first year (except replace the roof!!) until the renters got to know us, and we them. We have since raised the rents a little (about 20%) and are still lower than others in town--BUT the renters have been there a long time, cause few problems, are good for the downtown area (well, one isn't, but I'm working on that)--so why upset the apple cart as long as the buildings stay profitable. Dad ain't gettin' rich, but so far it's been better than a CD--and a whole lot better than what my retirement stocks have done!
But I'm ranting about building management now, not expressing our sympathies for your situation. It's great to hear of the increased visitations to NOLA area.
Say HI to Susan in the gift shop! (And if I got her name wrong, say HI anyways--also to the chief, we had a great visit in the engine room, can't believe it's been two years now.)
David & Linda
Topic starter
24/03/2010 6:09 pm
Increased visits - and rent!
Thanks David. You hit the nail on the head. New management, let's raise prices! (See DQ recent history). It will work out for me, and as I said, I'm not quitting visiting to NOLA, just moving my command station a couple blocks down the street. As luck would have it, as I'm packing and pitching in here today, the tour guide whose voice I'm hearing all day just happens to be the genius behind my move! Oh well, I'm headed to the NATCHEZ for the 2:30 trip, which I'm going to narrate, so that will be a nice break. I'll say hello to Suzy for you - she no longer works in the gift shop, but she attends our Planters Punch patio parties. I think I've mentioned previously, but another era will be ending soon on the NATCHEZ. Edna James will be retiring on April 28. She has been with the boat from the beginning, minus a couple of months. If you've ever set foot in the dining room, you've met her. She and her compatriot, the late Geneva Robinson, ruled the dining room and galley with a mother's tough love for all these years. Time marches on (and as we get older, we aren't marching quite as fast!)
24/03/2010 7:55 pm
It's truly "the end of an era", but as we all know too painfully well, nothing is forever. Thank goodness these new "know-it-all marketing whippersnappers" can't take away our memories and memorabilia!
Thus far, 2010 has been fraught with bad and sad news of the passings of river people, river boats and beloved pets of river people.
Brighter and better days surely MUST lie ahead! We ALL will just have to keep up steam and keep the faith!
Topic starter
24/03/2010 10:28 pm
Some good news
I was standing on the roof of the NATCHEZ as we began boarding. There were two lines, each of which extended way down the levee! What a beautiful sight! We had two large bus tours and a group of teens on the trip. It was so nice to see people having to walk around a bit to find seating. I didn't hear the exact count, but it was about 600. They've got a dinner trip tonight and two day trips Thursday. Hopefully this spike in ridership will continue. Even more good news: I told the passengers that if they wanted a shot of the whistle blowing, we'd be blowing it 6 times as we landed. I looked down at the portside hurricane deck and saw 11 cameras pointed up to the whistle. They were listening to me! As I walked out to the roof, one of those submersible deck ships was passing with barges and towboats headed out of the country. It was being pulled by its tugboat, with two harbor tugs at the stern to assist. I counted 18 barges and 3 boats. Couldn't see their identities.
24/03/2010 11:46 pm
Judy, that is very good news from the Big Easy. Let's just hope we can keep it goin for a while! and I love the pictures of such an interesting vessel. Not your every-day cargo ship!
Topic starter
25/03/2010 1:33 am
Good crowds
Your tuition's paid for another term!
Topic starter
25/03/2010 2:03 pm
A soggy Good Morning from NOLA!
I was up at literally the crack of dawn today - the thunderstorms that were predicted struck at 6 AM with a great burst of lightning. That round is over, but another wave is due in later this morning. I had planned to head out this morning, but when I saw that my entire route was going to be in thunderstorms, I delayed my departure until this evening, when hopefully things will have calmed down - and I've gotten everything packed.
Last night I walked over to the Moonwalk and got these shots of the NATCHEZ departing on her 7PM dinner cruise, with the Dukes of Dixieland.
You might be able to see the deckhands on the roof taking down the flags...
Topic starter
25/03/2010 2:13 pm
Night in the FQ
After watching the departure, I wandered over to the Louisiana Pizza Kitchen for supper. I had been awaiting a phone call from Doc, but he was at the auction house late, so I dined alone. They have the most wonderful Caesar Salad and wood fired pizzas - and I had both in memory of Roddy. That was our favorite place to eat and our usual fare, a Caesar and a pizza. It is located on Barracks directly across from the US Mint and the French Market - mostly locals there.
2 nighttime pictures - the Beauregard Keyes House, and looking up Chartres toward Jackson Square. The spire of St. Louis Cathedral is visible. The BK House is just 4 blocks downriver from the Square.
Topic starter
26/03/2010 2:16 am
Good evening from Grenada MS
Nowhere near the Mississippi River here.. I delayed my departure due to the storm system covering my entire route, so I've made it a third of the way home tonight. I'll be back in NOLA in two weeks for the FQ Festival weekend and a last hurrah at the BK apartment. So here are some farewell departure shots of the NATCHEZ today.
