The Natchez " Bar " !

Captain, I dare say there was a similar phenomenon on another vessel upon which I once served. In the interest of protecting the reputation of that lady's reputation, I shall not name her. However, on hot weekend afternoons, when this vessel would be cruising on our inland rivers, we would often come across groups of young men, and more importantly for the purposes of this story, their girlfriends, enjoying the scenery on smaller motor vessels. These boats often enjoyed coming up closer to our boat. For some reason, our deckhands always seemed to run short of binoculars during times like this, and would invoke the name of the mate to borrow mine. I admit, I loaned them out, even though it didn't take me long to figure out the mate had nothing to do with it!

The sandbar in 2008

Here are a couple of other angles of that sandbar which I posted back in November 2008, which was the first time I had seen it, although we nudged it a time or two on landings years before it became visible.

http://www.steamboats.org/forum/river-talk-cruises/2624-new-orleans-trip-photos.html

She has been flying the Saints flags since their first playoff appearance, was that in 1991, but usually just during the playoffs. I guess the world champs are represented during the regular season this year too. Looks good.

The Real Natchez " Bar " !

Greetings From New Orleans !
Just a few shots of the real Natcchez " Bar " !
Smooth Sailing !
Ted Davisson

Ted Davisson;23521 wrote: Greetings From New Orleans !
In a previous posting I mentioned that I was in the New Orleans , French Quarter on this Sunday and while there I noticed that the Str. Natchez was flying the " Colors " , of the New Orleans Saints . While there on the Moon Walk , I also noticed soemthing else that was also present and is what I affectionately refer to as the Natchez Bar .
When I worked on the steamboats , I and other close " steamboat buddies " were know to frequent the " Under The Hill Bar " , in Natchez and from what I've been told , some of our ALLEGED antics that SUPPOSDLY took place at this establishment have become legendary ! See Fred , I told you that I would not mention your name inorder to protect the GUILTY !
Now , I am not refering to this particular Natchez Bar , but another Natchez bar that is continueing to gain in popularity among river pilots and is located just off the Moon Walk and downstream of the Toulouse St. Wharf .
The river stage in New Orleans now is just over three feet and I would dare say that this bar is usually there but not visible when the river stage is greater than the three foot mark . There is also a working eddy that is present in this bend in the river at Algiers Point and I would imagine that this is the primary reason for the existence of this particular bar .
My good friend Capt. Finley Frasier , whom use to work on the Str. Natchez , has told me of a number of times when he was in the Pilot House of the Natchez that he would witness a number of river vessels coming to a rather abrupt stop when they would come too close to the Moon Walk for a " close inspection " of the tourist that would be present there !
I have seen this " Bar " a number of times when passing around Algiers Point on a ship but from this perspective it is both longer and wider than I first thought !
Smooth Sailing !
Ted Davisson

For those interested, the "Under the Hill Saloon" has a website with information, photos, a newsletter and souvenirs available for purchase. Click on Natchez Under The Hill Saloon - Natchez Mississippi.

Steamboat Story Link

Please go to:

Natchez Under The Hill Saloon - Natchez Mississippi

Another tie between the Natchezes

On the same day that the steamboat NATCHEZ was hit by the EXXON BALTIMORE in March 1980, there was a mudslide in Natchez Mississippi which caved in the back wall of the saloon and I believe collapsed an adjacent building, killing a couple of people. When I heard of the mudslide, I grabbed the DQ/MQ schedule and was relieved to see neither was in town, because I knew where the crew would have been...

Are Capt. Howard Tate's steamboat models still at Under The Hill?

They were still prominently displayed when I visited the saloon this past May!

Thanks, Keith! Capt. C.S. Ware used to say about Capt. Tate and those models (which are excellent, BTW), "To look at that old SOB, you wouldn't think he could carve a matchstick, would you?"

The Chair

Is the Bill Kelley chair still there?

I have a copy of that memorial to Howard Tate that his son did. It is apparent from reading it that his son knew VERY LITTLE about his father. Maybe he led 2 lives like so many of us. In Tate's case, that step between land and boat was a GIANT one! Look up "crusty" in the 'dishenary' and there's a picture of Howard Tate.

Capt. Reynolds used to do a spot on imitation of Tate expectorating. I used to have to clean the spittoon into which he expectorated.

Oh, gosh! I could go on and on.

Dunno about Bill's chair, but SOMEWHERE in my archives is a cassette tape, made in the pilothouse of the DQ about 3:00 AM, of Bob doing wonderful "imitations" of well known river people. I do recall that his imitations of Capt. Tate, especially, had us nearly rolling on the floor!

"The Chair"

On her last trip to N.O., Oct '08, the D.Q. stopped in Natchez. For one of the few times that season, I went ashore. Like most times, I only made it to UTH. One of my reasons was to see the "Bill Kelly" chair. There were only a few people in the bar and allowed me to make a complete inspection of all chairs. I was unable to locate Bill's chair.
I asked the bar tender, who seemed totally uninterested in steamboats, bar history, about any other chairs. He told me that there were other chairs but he had no idea where they were at.
Having done my part, in the past, to make sure the rent got paid at UTH, I was a little dissapointed in both the boat crews value of the bar and the staff attitude about all of the steamboat items in the bar.
I walked around for awhile just checking everything out. Sat for a bit just reliving my time there with the "Ghosts of the Past". I don't think that the few people in there realized how really packed with unseen spirits the place really was.
The phone booth had a planter sitting in it and had not been used for some time.
One more reminder that the past is just that and the only value to it is the value we each assign to it. Just as we do with the people who made up a crew at any given time.
Unlike times past, I do remember my rather sad walk back to the D.Q.

The Phone Booth

BC, Before Cellphone, that phone booth would have had a person in it, and a line waiting. How times have changed. I always enjoyed watching the crew return to the boat, navigating the hill with highly impaired motor skills, and in a hurry, as the departure was imminent. It was a hill that got steeper with each beer. The entertainment value was not lost on the passengers.