Topic starter
23/08/2014 2:35 pm
It was about this time in the summer when I used to host "Rumbles On The River" on my 1957 Kelly built houseboat JIM'S DREAM.
The first rumble was held on a beautiful August evening when we followed the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE. The light was perfect and we all got some breath taking photos of the BELLE. The best part of the evening was when we got back to the dock and we all sat around talking steamboats.
The second Rumble was our famous Kentucky River excursion accompanied by Steve and Barbara Huffman's sternwheel towboat BARBARA H. What a great time that was going through the 1839 built lock 1. I'll never forget stopping for lunch being entertained by John Fryant's radio controlled model.
The third Rumble was our exploring trip to the long abandoned amusement park, Rose Island. We landed at the same landing where the AMERICA used to discharge and pick-up passengers. Then we went a mile or two up the river to see the rock where the sidewheel TELEGRAPH hit the bank and sunk.
The next Rumble was our old fashioned picnic trip to 12 Mile Island where we enjoyed fried chicken and potato salad on the island while Leone swam in the river.
All those trips were accompanied by Capt Walnut in his beautiful steam launch. I'll never forget going up Harrods Creek in MISSY with the steam whistle blowing...what smiles and cheers we got from people on the bank.
The last rumbles was coffee and donuts on an early morning Louisville harbor tour. The unforgettable thing about that rumble was as we were loading at Duffy's Landing in Jeffersonville a WWll LST passed going up river.
Alas those rumbles will never happen again because this past spring I sold JIM'S DREAM. As I approach my 70th, the joy of maintaining an old steel houseboat just wasn't there any more.
But if anyone wants to keep up the tradition.....the next rumble would have been "A Visit To Payne Hallow" to see the home of artist/Arthur Harland Hubbard. We would have left from the marina in Madison and traveled the 7 or 8 miles down to Payne Hallow. It would have been a fun trip.
23/08/2014 7:40 pm
Oh Jim, I didn't know you had sold JIM'S DREAM. What fun times we had on those summer outings. I'm pretty sure I made them all, albeit different trips had different River Rats on each time. Each was unique, but most fun no matter who attended. Some of those River Rats have crossed over and are on the big Steamboat In the Sky. But we'll always have our memories of the River Rumbles on JIM'S DREAM. Thanks so much for putting it all together and hosting.