Venerable Ship Goes Down aka Ruben E. Lee

What a shame that the REUBEN E. LEE couldn't be saved. The LT. ROBERT E. LEE at St. Louis was built off the same plans as the REUBEN in 1969-70, although the St. Louis LEE is built on the modified hull of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers snagboat CHARLES H. WEST.

With the wrecking of the MGM Showboat COTTON BLOSSOM at Worlds of Fun Amusement Park in Kansas City (MO), the tearing down of both KINGFISH riverboat restaurants here in Louisville, as well as the GOLDEN EAGLE dinner theatre at Canton (MO), the Winona (MN) city council recently voting to demolish the JULIUS C. WILKIE -- and now the REUBEN E. LEE falling to the wrecker's ball, there seems to be a penchant for eradicating steamboat replicas!!!

Keith, What happened to the St. Louis version?

She's back in the St. Louis harbor, sans stacks, and tied up near the Poplar Street Bridge. Darin posted a photo of her recently.

That is a shame to see the Reuben go. In '87 I found myself driving aimlessly around LA in a rental car on a business trip. At one point I was driving to the coast to pickup Hwy 101 to go up to Long Beach, and was stunned to see a Mississippi-style steamboat in the cove by the intersection. This was of course the restaurant Reuben E. Lee.

I'm confused, not an abnormal condition thesedays. When I was in San Diego 2 years ago, the LEE was in that harbor near the Sheraton Hotel. This was a bit north of the downtown area where the MIDWAY, BERKLEY, etc. are, about even with the airport. That isn't called Newport Beach, is it? It sounds like its been in Newport a long time, and so I don't know how I could have seen it in San Diego just 2 years ago?????

All I know is there was a Mississippi-style steamboat restaurant in the cove at Newport Beach in 1987, at the intersection 101 and ____ (Ventura Blvd? or whatever). Maybe it was a franchise, and this was just another boat/restaurant(?).

Type in REUBEN E LEE RIVERBOAT on Google and numerous articles appear, many of them illustrated. One story, published yesterday, said that relics from the boat will be sold to benefit the maritime museum.

San Diego's Own Ruben E. Lee - On the Way Down Too!

Hi Judy,

You are not confused. That is yet another restaurant of the same name and probably built to the same plan. It has been in San Diego since the 60s. It may be about to be dismantled as well!

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050310/news_7m10bell.html

It is by the Marriott near the airport.

The maritime museum in San Diego is a great place to spend the day. The restored steam ferry Berkley is amazing.

San Diego has at least two cruising sternwheelers, the Bahia Belle and a sister.

http://www.catamaranresort.com/bahia-belle.html

I enjoy reading your posts - your breadth of knowledge on all things steamboat is impressive.

Ed

Thanks for confirming that I wasn't totally confused. I was in San Diego for just a couple of days for the Holiday Bowl two years ago, and doing the whirlwind tour does cause one to mix up stuff - but a riverboat style restaurant is certainly something I'd notice. I didn't have time to tour the MIDWAY, but I did get on the BERKELEY. Unfortunately they were having a reception upstairs so the entire boat wasn't open, but it was impressive. I also took the ferry over and back to get a good view of the harbor. That is one harbor that does honor its water heritage, and well. Hopefully the Oregon Ducks will make a return trip to the Holiday Bowl and I can get out there again and see more harbor sights.

Thanks, Ed, for clearing up the "mystery" of the two boats! Somewhere, I have a menu from the boat(s) which i think contained that information, but it's in a yet to be filed box of "steamboat stuff" and I'll have to wait until it comes to the surface!

More on the Demise of the Reuben E. Lee

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-steamboat1jul01,1,7502289.story?coll=la-headlines-california

I was born and raised in San Diego, (and still live there) so I well remember the construction of the Reuben E Lee. Just ashore, a short distance away was Reuben's Restaurant. They were a chain; I'm not sure how large. They built a steel "barge" that didn't appear to be seaworthy, but it did manage to float. The superstructure was "stick-built," like any other building in Southern California. Interior and exterior decor was "riverboat."

When it first opened, it was simply tied up to its "dock." There was enough slack on the mooring lines to allow for the tides. But, they didn't figure on the pretty good chop and fairly large wakes that can develop in that part of San Diego Bay. The boat would start to roll, then one of the mooring lines would come up taught. JERK!!! I saw more than one of the wait staff drop a fully loaded tray because of that. They eventually put in a lot of pilings around it to sort of enclose it in its own little "bay." IMHO, there is nothing really "historic" or "authentic" about it. I'm surprised that the Maritime Museum (a great place) had any interest at all in it.

(The San Diego Maritime Museum is also home to the Star of India, the world's oldest active ship. She was built in 1864 (or 3), and they now take her out to sail in the ocean several times per year. Think the SOLAS exemption is a hassle for the DQ? You should have seen the hassle they had with the Coast Guard in 1976, the first time they sailed her after her restoration. My dad was on the Museum's Board of Directors at the time).

The Bahia Belle started her life in the 1940's (or earlier) as a "nickle snatcher" passenger ferry between downtown San Diego and NAS North Island. She was essentially a 65 foot barge, with a two or three deck superstructure, powered by a couple of diesel (maybe gasoline at first) engines. Propellors. When the San Diego-Coronado bridge opened in the '60's, all ferry service had to stop. The Bahia Hotel bought her, added some gingerbread decor and a fake paddlewheel, and voila, a riverboat!