Belle of the Night

Kevin: Thanks for the heads up on on what's become of the old BELLE ANGELINE restaurant boat. I'd almost forgotten about her, but your posting caused me to "flashback" to when it was first opened, moored just above the Eads Bridge in the late 1970's. When the DQ was in port I had a fun lunch on board the BELLE ANGELINE with a group of steamboat friends and I remember how Ruth Ferris LOVED the "make it yourself sundae bar"!

Speaking of restaurant boats, is there any news of the LT. ROBERT E. LEE? I saw her advertised for sale in The Waterways Journal some months ago, but haven't heard or seen anything recently. I assume the boat is still down at Kimmswick???

Keith, The LT. ROBERT E. LEE is still at Kimmswick, and was really looking pretty good last time I saw her, maybe 6 weeks ago.

Kevin,

Thanks for posting the update. I´m sorry, but due to copyrights I had to replace the text with a link to the article.

We saw the Belle of the Night in Havanna in 2001 and somewhere in my archives I have a photo.

Carmen

Belle of the Night?

Does anyone know when it acquired the name 'Belle of the Night'? That's kind of a silly name, unless it was once used as a Halloween attraction. I saw the former Belle Angeline a few months ago on local TV morning news. The traffic helicopter was flying around, and as they were going to a commercial, the news showed us some live footage of the helicopter while it flew over the river. I instantly recognized the boat, but didn't know where it was, because they only showed about 2 seconds before they cut for the commercial. My question of where was answered, but I now have the other one, which I posted above.

Darin, I think the boat acquired the name BELLE OF THE NIGHT while she was at Havana as a restaurant/nightclub. It was moved to Pekin after that, but I don't think it ever operated there.

Indeed, an unusual name! Seems like the St. Louis area has become a "graveyard" of sorts for old boats, what with the LT. ROBERT E. LEE at Kimmswick, the GOLDENROD SHOWBOAT at Kampsville, IL, the BELLE ANGELINE just above the Chain of Rocks Bridge and the PRESIDENT at Alton.

Now virtually barren of riverboats, here's a twilight photo of the bustling St. Louis levee in 1969. From left to right are the Steamer ADMIRAL, GOLDENROD SHOWBOAT, BECKY THATCHER and HUCK FINN.

St. Louis riverfront

Keith I had forgotten until looking at your recent photos but why was the Becky Thatcher moored with her bow downstream ??

Keith Norrington;5151 wrote: Indeed, an unusual name! Seems like the St. Louis area has become a "graveyard" of sorts for old boats, what with the LT. ROBERT E. LEE at Kimmswick, the GOLDENROD SHOWBOAT at Kampsville, IL, the BELLE ANGELINE just above the Chain of Rocks Bridge and the PRESIDENT at Alton.

Now virtually barren of riverboats, here's a twilight photo of the bustling St. Louis levee in 1969. From left to right are the Steamer ADMIRAL, GOLDENROD SHOWBOAT, BECKY THATCHER and HUCK FINN.

Nice pic Keith...good to see American boats & American cars!!!!

Bill: The RIVER QUEEN (ex-GORDON C. GREENE) was moored in the same fashion, as was the LT. ROBERT E. LEE, COTTON BLOSSOM (ex- Mayo steamer MINNESOTA that sank in 1978) and the BELLE ANGELINE. Ruth Ferris told me there was a St. Louis city ordinance which decreed that permanently moored vessels be turned with bow facing downstream. The boats also had to have a special fire escape stairway to the main deck and one had to be constructed in the engine room of the BECKY THATCHER.

Here are two more St. Louis riverfront scenes in happier times. These were taken by my friend Art Grossmann. The first, of the ADMIRAL headed downstream with the BECKY and GOLDENROD in the background, was taken in 1970.

The view of the BECKY THATCHER dates from early 1969. The landing barge for the BECKY was actually the hull of the first BECKY THATCHER, which sank in 1965 and had been the 1879 snagboat C.B. REESE, later converted to a towboat and named I.A. O'SHAUGNESSY and WOOD RIVER. The hull went to Marietta with the BECKY in 1975, but sank in 1984 and was eventually scrapped.

The "crow's nest" visible between the Becky's stacks is on the replica of the SANTA MARIA, moored alongside and which was later sunk when the BECKY broke loose in a horrific storm on June 28th. The flotilla was swept downstream, safely clearing two bridges before crashing into the Illinois bank. Some 100 diners were in the restaurant aboard the BECKY at the time and had NO idea that they were going to experience a very scary "dinner cruise" that night! The towboat LARRAYNE ANDRESS rescued the "passengers" and brought them to the safety of the Streckfus wharfboat. Damage was done to the BECKY's sternwheel and a bulkhead was bashed in, breaking glass and knocking down some exhibits in the museum on the main deck. The boat was towed over to the foot of Sidney Street (Fred Leyhe's dock at Eagle Marine Industries) and did not return to the levee until August due to a siege of high water which followed the storm. The SANTA MARIA was restored and suspended between two barges. She was reopened and remained at St. Louis as a tourist attraction several more years before moving to Florida where she was destroyed in a spectacular fire.

Yes, the city ordinance required that permanently moored vessels be pointing downstream. I don't know if this is a rule anymore. The Admiral currently points upstream, just like in it's cruising days. The former floating McDonalds always pointed upstream, but the former Spirit of the River (Burger King) pointed downstream.

Keith, you are right, the St. Louis area is full of sleeping riverboats. I wish we had some that were awake and operating. At least last year's resident, the AQ, is back in service, even with the dumb paint scheme.

Darin: I'd forgotten about the SPIRIT OF THE RIVER. During the BIG flood of 1993 she made national television news when she broke loose and slammed into the Poplar Street Bridge. All was caught on camera and she must have looked HUGE, what with that HIGH stage of water, as she hit the bridge, knocking down her stacks and doing lots of other damage to the pseudo sidewheeler. I'll bet the people driving over the bridge at the time had quite a sight to behold!

The McDONALD'S riverboat seemed to "vanish" and I never have heard where it ended up. I always thought it was a gold mine, as everytime I was on it, people were ususally lined up over the gangplanks to the levee. It was a nice fast food restaurant boat, even if the service was VERY poor.

Keith Norrington;5157 wrote: ... the SPIRIT OF THE RIVER. During the BIG flood of 1993 she made national television news when she broke loose and slammed into the Poplar Street Bridge.
...
The McDONALD'S riverboat seemed to "vanish" and I never have heard where it ended up. I always thought it was a gold mine, as everytime I was on it, people were ususally lined up over the gangplanks to the levee. It was a nice fast food restaurant boat, even if the service was VERY poor.

We lived in Webster Groves from 1994-1998. The first I heard of the McDonald's boat was after we arrived. I took the kids there once, and discovered that the prices were MUCH higher than the regular McDonalds a few blocks away.

I'm not sure when that was exactly, but I would guess that it was closer to when we arrived.

P.S. This page has a report that the McDonalds boat closed in 2001

McDonald's riverboat

Yes, the McDonald's riverboat was unique. It was the only floating McDonald's restaurant at the time and it's prices were indeed different than the land-based restaurants. I always chalked it up to it being a mild tourist trap. But, there could have been other factors, such as licensing, maintenance, and supply costs, which would naturally be passed to the consumer. I would guess that most McDonald's restaurants are supposed to adhere to a national consistent pricing strategy, but maybe this one was exempt.

I think the restaurant business dried up as the riverfront in general dried up after the flood of 1993. The President was gone, the Robt E Lee closed, the Goldenrod gone, the helicopter pad and Inaugural sunk, and the only things left were the Admiral, the aging excursion boats, and the crumbling cobblestones. The City appears to have only spent about $12.50 on maintenance in the last 10 years, which is unfortunate.

As for the Spirit of the River, yes it did make a big "hit" on the news, crashing into the Poplar Street Bridge. It would have been interesting to hear of an eyewitness who watched it coming at them. That must have been a little eerie.

Life is SLOWLY returning to the Riverfront. The helicopters are back, and there is a new bike rental facility. The Robt E Lee opened, then closed and moved to Kimmswick. The aging excursion boats are still aging, but they have a spruced up landing barge. Someone is interested in restoring the Inaugural (after first raising it from the river mud). And, there seems to be some interest in revitalizing the Riverfront in recent years. But, as you have seen, the plans so far are complete disasters. They'll have to start again.

Carmen,

Oops! My bad! Sorry about that...forgot about the copyright rules!

Kevin

I wasn't aware of all those boats in the St. Louis area! are any for sale?
Someone was asking about the Belle of the night, It was moored in Havana, about 20 miles from where I live. A tragic story from day one. The owner ( Wm. Kelso ) an Insurance man from Spfld. Il. Built the boat ( Barge) to be operated as a Restaurant/Casino but could not get a casino license. His wife & son ( who never stepped foot on a boat much less ran a restaurant) opened it up as a restaurant / banquet / lounge. The first order of business was to hire an alcoholic as their Bar manager ( big mistake) whenever my wife & I went down there too eat, it might be open but most of the time it would be closed. Kelso was a man who had more money than GOD, decided to sell the boat. I offered him $750 thousand, he turned that offer down , saying he wanted $2.75 Million. Eventually, the boat was run out of Havana and taken to Pekin Illinois , where the Economic Development Director thought she could sell it, after 2 years and several vandalisms, Kelso gave the boat to a local developer who had no idea of what to do with the boat ( most people think it was Kelsos way of stalling since he didn't pay any rent ) the last we heard, the boat was being towed south, and that as Paul Harvey would say " is the rest of the story" I have asked around as to it's wereabouts, but no one seams to know where it went.