Topic starter
04/07/2009 12:51 pm
Yesterday Bill, Mary, and Vi Foley; Pat Welsh and I spent a delightful afternoon/early evening in Muscatine Iowa, the former 'Pearl Button Capital of the World.' Residents Tom and Ann Meeker have purchased many downtown buildings, including the hotel, and are revitalizing the area. They have a most popular restaurant, the Button Factory, right across Rt. 22 from the river, and now they have started operating an excursion boat which formerly ran in Stillwater MN. This little sidewheeler, powered by 2 85hp diesels and an auxiliary on the stern, has been renamed the PEARL BUTTON. She holds about 110 passengers. This week they have been running one hour public cruises, most of which have been at or close to capacity. At this point, their main thrust is for private charters, but they are planning Sunday afternoon public trips, and an 'open house/cruise' on Friday nights for this season. None of us can recall Muscatine ever having an excursion boat of their own (of course she was on the AVALON and DQ schedule, one of Capt. Wagner's favorite stops), and the gambling boat DIAMOND LADY did day trips from Bettendorf to Muscatine and vice versa), but to have a resident boat is a new, and obviously very popular, concept. As Paul Penta lamented in another thread, there would have been a great possibility for overnight trips centered on the All Star Game in St. Louis. The dearth of the overnight QUEENS has indeed spawned new/expanded enterprises by local boats(see SPIRIT OF PEORIA St. Louis trips for instance) which are doing a fine business despite the economy, and it certainly was a joy to be able to be out on the river yesterday, if only for an hour. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Muscatine, it will be worth the stop - don't forget the Mabel Bartenhagen collection at the Musser Public Library too!!!
Button Factory Restaurant - Muscatine Iowa (buttonfactoryrestaurant.com) This is the website for the restaurant, but boat reservations and information are made through the restaurant at this time.
04/07/2009 1:46 pm
Judy, glad to see this information. We added this boat to our to do list after we saw the ad on television. However, when I called in mid-June I was advised that the boat would not be regularly scheduled until after their trips on July 4. I am happy to learn they began cruising earlier than expected.
Topic starter
04/07/2009 2:07 pm
Earlier cruising
Some foundation underwrote part of the expenses this week I think, so that the fare was only $5. I think they wanted to introduce it to the community, but not put the owner at risk of a loss if there wasn't interest. That sure wasn't a problem! The trip before ours had many residents from a nursing home aboard, all in wheelchairs and the crew handled that well.
One amusing note: before we left, a woman at a table next to us called a crew member over to complain about a bug on the chair next to her. A bug! I later told the crew member that on the DQ for much more money, we had the decks covered with them(Dave's Dubuque in particular), and we survived nicely... but they are trying to make a good impression and keep the customers happy...
04/07/2009 8:47 pm
Judy Patsch;17628 wrote: .
One amusing note: before we left, a woman at a table next to us called a crew member over to complain about a bug on the chair next to her. A bug! I later told the crew member that on the DQ for much more money, we had the decks covered with them(Dave's Dubuque in particular), and we survived nicely...
One beautiful July, 1981 evening the DELTA QUEEN was headed north above Evansville after making a surprise shorestop there to kill some time. Pilot Harry Louden, First Mate Mel Hartsough, and myself were sitting up in the pilothouse recounting the days events. Mel reported that some of the local boys advised him from going into the water for a swim there at the Evansville Landing, "'cause of the "minners." that were known to be there by these kids. We all figured that Evansville's "minners" would be no match for the DELTA QUEEN's cockroaches, and we'd take their "minners" on anyday with our cockroaches. We would win too! After a due pause and reflection on other pests aboard boats, it was decided then that rats were not a problem on the "Old Girl," the cockroaches got them!
04/07/2009 10:38 pm
Gee, Muscatine and no mention of one of it's most famous residents, Norman Baker and his invention the Tangley Calliaphone? Sounds like you were on a one-sided tour with a agenda!
Travis
05/07/2009 4:25 am
I heard about that trip from Pat, sounds like a great time!
I only wish we could have gone out when MRB was there in May!