Topic starter
08/11/2006 10:43 pm
It's hard to believe, but I just returned from dining al fresco along the Upper Mississippi River this afternoon, November 8th! After a round of golf I headed over to the Boat House Restaurant, which is at the Oneida Street Landing in Davenport (where the Queens land). While soaking up the sunshine I watched a kayaker go by and then a sailboat. There was a downbound tow across the river in Lock 15. It was so pleasant. Had the MQ made her last UMR trip, she would have been docked there last Saturday, a damp, raw November day. These past two days have been warmer than anything past the first week in October. Assuming that the MQ has the all-clear to start Capt. Gabe's tramping trip tonight from St. Louis (she did lock through 27 last night enroute to St.L), they will certainly have some nice steamboating weather at least for the first days of that trip to unknown destinations. Knowing Gabe's aversion for the locks up here, I think it's safe to assume they'll head in some direction other than up the UMR, unless they make an obligatory Hannibal stop and then back downriver. Maybe the folks along the Illinois will get a new visitor. I believe the MQ entered those waters ever so briefly a couple of years ago, but has never traversed the stretch to Peoria and environs. Hopefully, wherever they go, it will be a good and healthy cruise for all. This unseasonably warm weather here is what I was planning to bask in starting Saturday, as I'm taking advantage of a cheap airfare and winging to NOLA for 5 days. Turns out poster/lurker Ed Jones will be there also for a convention, so we hope to meet on the NATCHEZ. Things are better business-wise for the N this weekend as she's running all 3 trips on Saturday and Sunday and the 11:30 on Monday and Tuesday. Up to this point she hasn't run on Mondays and Tuesdays. She'll do her winter layup right after Thanksgiving for 3 weeks. I'm still out of my apartment, but I'll camp out in Frances Parkinson Keyes' bedroom out in the back buildings, not a bad setup! By the way, the KMOX,V? webcam was not showing the riverfront this afternoon. Maybe the MQ will be shown before her departure tonight...
09/11/2006 3:39 am
KMOV webcam down
To answer part of your question, the KMOV river webcam still hasn't been replaced. It was blown down, along with the large Casino Queen sign, thousands of trees, roofs, and electric poles in the St. Louis Hurricane in July. They claim to be putting another one up, but I doubt they've done anything significant.
Have fun in Nawlins. Great to hear of the positive news from the Natchez. How is the Creole Queen or other boats doing?
Topic starter
09/11/2006 2:07 pm
The Creole Queen and company are in bankruptcy, due to a messy divorce situation. She rarely runs, although with the big realtors convention this weekend, she might have a charter or two. The Natchez is the only functioning boat in town, other than our zoo/aquarium John James Audubon.
Topic starter
09/11/2006 3:22 pm
MQ's tramping trip
Capt. Gabe's tramping trip on the MQ was scheduled to depart last night, and assuming all is well and she did, she's headed downriver, as she doesn't show on the lock page after coming down from the shipyard. Let's see, how about Ste. Genevieve for starters? When was the last time one of the Queens went in there? I was there in the late 70s on the DQ, seems it was 105 that day...
Topic starter
09/11/2006 7:14 pm
Chester, Illinois remembrances
Aha! According to the newspaper article, the MQ is stopping in Chester, Alton and Hannibal this cruise. In all my trips on the DQ we stopped in Chester only once, two weeks before the Carter trip in 1979. It was a steep climb up the stage back then and not very handy. But the reason we stopped there was to let some people 'interested in chartering the boat' come aboard and check her out. Since the only thing I could think of in Chester was Menard State Pen, I opted to stay on board. Several men in suits wandered around the boat, and since the MQ was on a charter that very week, we assumed it was the same outfit looking at the DQ. Wrong. Turned out to be the Secret Service checking the boat out for the possible Carter trip. After we were underway again, Capt. Fred Martin announced who they were and that President Carter and his family would be riding in two weeks. As Bob Reynolds well remembers, those were two weeks of constant cleaning, painting, and installing phones, etc. Robert Moser was then DQ Co. President and I made a comment to him about all the activity. His reply: "We're merely doing a year's worth of maintenance in two weeks." Capt. Jim Blum had been asking for some liquid to clean the gunk off the paddlewheel(real technical here), and they said they couldn't afford it. Suddenly it appeared that week and the red/black wheel became a vibrant red again! Doc tells an AVALON Chester story too: several band members got themselves free lodging courtesy of the local sheriff and he had to go up and bail them out. I believe they had a big dance charter that night and that without a band would not have been a good thing!
09/11/2006 11:57 pm
Hi, Judy. Oh, yes, I remember the work to get the DQ ready for the Presidential trip! One of the highlights of my life, I must say.
We used to stop in Chester occasionally in the mid-to-late 70's. I know we did it several times, as I remember I put my car on the boat at Memphis once and got off at Chester and drove home. Another time Sharon, "Chug" Osborne and I had dinner and drinks at the Lamplighter Inn right there by the landing....the juke box played Heart's "Dog & Butterfly". Isn't it strange the little things we remember? That was 28 years ago!!!!!!!!!
Topic starter
10/11/2006 12:56 am
One of the neat things about a DQ trip - the small town stops and the true Americana experiences we had - without the guided tours of today!