Topic starter
14/06/2010 4:05 am
In this my first hotel stay in NOLA in 25 years, I've been kept busy since arriving Saturday afternoon, so that I'm not in my upgraded room, make that a suite, at LeRichelieu. I think its bigger than my apartment! I didn't get over to the NATCHEZ until the dinner cruise, which had a very 'interesting' entertainer in the Magnolia Suite's private party. Let's just say the old AVALON's brig would have made things easier on the watchmen and Capt. Steve. No harm done, other than a smashed toilet, more or less. Today's crowds were more refined, the usual type we see on the NATCHEZ. It is still strange to narrate and say that the NATCHEZ is one of only two steamboats still operating on the Mississippi River system. Matt and Mat - I did mention there were two steamboats on NY lakes too... Business on the NATCHEZ continues to improve as she runs all three trips every day of the week. The Dukes of Dixieland play the dinner cruise, as they have done since 1994, and Duke Heitger and his Steamboat Stompers entertain on the upbound of the day trips, as they did preKatrina. With Troy Delaney on vacation, today's pilothouse crew was Capt. Don Houghton and Capt. Steven Nicoulin, with Capt. Steve Nicoulin getting a well deserved day off. While we were underway I phoned Larry Walker, who asked how his acorns are doing - all but one are still in great shape, and I believe these were made at least 15 years ago. Larry is 92 and doing well in his apartment in Cincinnati, but certainly misses the times on the NATCHEZ and in NOLA.
Now this will probably come as a shock to most, but this morning I drove over to the Westbank and down Peters Road, which parallels the Harvey Canal. Yes, I found the MISSISSIPPI QUEEN and yes I ventured up to, but not on, her. It is sadder than it appeared at Perry St. A couple of NATCHEZ officers have been aboard and have been negotiating with the owner for some parts to use as spares on the NATCHEZ. So far the price isn't right. They say that many things are missing since they first went aboard, for example a washer and dryer. Someone tried to take an inflatable life raft, but it inflated as they made their egress, so it now lies on the levee as trash. The owner is trying to sell items before cutting her up - he plans to take her down to the hull, remove the stuff in the hull (remember that held the theater, beauty shop, crew dining rooms, storerooms, etc.) and then redeck it to be used as a barge. Seems to me that the hull itself was one of the major problems (sounds like the ADMIRAL, eh Jim Blum?) But if they don't start cutting soon, there won't be much left to sell. I left the site with digital pictures, nothing else. I didn't have the desire to climb aboard , which would have been possible. As I headed back on Peters Road, I found the MISSISSIPPI BELLE II at the Bollinger Quick Repair Yard. The Harvey Canal is a fascinating area - worthy of a boat trip maybe entitled The Working and not Pretty Side of the Port. One of the industries which I saw was oil containment materials and booms - I suspect they've been quite busy.
So 33 hours in NOLA have yielded 4 trips on the NATCHEZ, a couple narrating opportunities, a field trip to the Westbank to visit the MQ and the MBII, and a calliope concert by CCH. And heat indices into the triple digits. Ah, New Orleans!
1) Capts. Steven and Steve Nicoulin on the wing bridge on a stormy afternoon, Capt. Don Houghton in the pilothouse
2) sunset on a very muggy evening
3) those stars we've talked about on boats, here on the NATCHEZ bow
Topic starter
14/06/2010 4:16 am
More NOLA pictures
1) Capt. Robbie Mitchell on the wingbridge for the Sunday evening departure. Capt. Don is battling brochitis so didn't climb the perch for this one. Robbie has been Captain on both the JJA and the COTTON BLOSSOM.
2, 3) sunset on a more pleasant evening. Deckhand Mark is taking down the flags and an empty ship is upbound to a grain elevator, most likely. Roddy always said the dinner trip was his favorite because it was so laid back and quiet, compared to the others. And with sunsets like this and the DUKES playing right below my roof seat, it can't get much better.
14/06/2010 4:21 am
Judy,
Wish I was there with you...sounds like it is a facinating time already! My sister was just in New Orleans a couple of days ago. I should have stowed away with her on that trip! They just left for Louisville today. Give my best to all there and who knows when I will have reason to come down there...but, know I am waiting with baited breath to do so!
Travis
Topic starter
14/06/2010 4:22 am
More NOLA pictures
Three more pictures from Sunday evening's dinner cruise.
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14/06/2010 4:40 am
On to the Harvey Canal
1) this is an unknown sidewheel gambling boat which has been in the Canal for several years.
2) The BOOMTOWN BELLE. This is the boat that was in the background of Capt. Ted's MQ pictures. It is nosed into a bay perpendicular to the canal and MQ. This was originally either the GRAND PALAIS or the CRESCENT CITY, the two mustard colored gambling boats of Christopher Hemmeter that ran for a whole two months out of the River City complex just above Robin St. Doc and Roddy both worked on them, but they had the shortest existence of any gambling boat venture anywhere.
3) The MISSISSIPPI BELLE II in a drydock at Bollinger Quick Repair Yard. There's an Artco towboat to her starboard. There must be at least six drydocks there. They must be sandblasting her hull, since the drydock is covered. I thought of Pete Sisak there, as there was a seagoing barge under repair which was registered in Ludington Michigan. Sorry but I can't remember the name.
Topic starter
14/06/2010 4:50 am
and finally, the MISSISSIPPI QUEEN
Look and weep.
1) optical illusion. No, she's not being towed again. That towboat just happened to be going up the canal and I caught it at the right moment.
2) Note the name Northrup Grumman. NG is a shipyard, but there are no drydocks or shipyard contraptions where she is docked.
3) She's up against the wall at this empty lot, guard even with the top of the wall. There is a lot of activity just behind me, but not up at the boat.
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14/06/2010 4:55 am
More MQ
Now those first three didn't look too bad...
graffiti, mold...
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14/06/2010 5:01 am
more...
1)Look at the spiral staircase - the railing is gone. It was brass, wasn't it?
2,3) Windows broken under letters, drapes hanging out, over
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14/06/2010 5:09 am
continuing...
1)Another broken window
2) oops... it inflated, so now its trash
3) I guess the stage is still at Perry, it isn't around here.
Topic starter
14/06/2010 5:17 am
the last
3) I once was so powerful I tore out the cobblestones on the Memphis levee. Now here I flounder, helpless and powerless...
I suspect these will be my last images of the MQ, as I doubt if I'll get back here until November, and surely she will be gone by then, one way or the other...
I've posted these from the lobby of LeRichelieu, as the wi fi isn't working in my suite. Strange, but this lobby has the feeling of the AftCabin Lounge on the DQ... spirits working on me so late at night????
14/06/2010 12:50 pm
Judy,
Seeing the MQ like this is very sad. I wanna come down there and grab her and make it all better...but, I couldn't do it if I put all my energy and money towards it (I might be able to repaint the FCL by myself, though). I like the pic od the bow thruster grate showing above the waterline. I know she is degassed by that pic! Poor thing...I love all the pics I am seeing of her...but they are bitter sweet...watching the poor girl fade away isn't what I was hoping to do at this age...I was hoping to still be working on her.
By the way, I am looking for a job...have any ideas?
Travis
14/06/2010 1:01 pm
Judy,
Thank you for posting the MQ pictures. Now that we've seen several groups of photos from different posters here on the message board, I'm not sure if I could bear seeing any more . . . it's just too sad.
At the River Ramblings program at Howard Museum in August, I'm going to bring along the videos that Jonathan and I shot of the MQ and DQ underway for the last time on the UMR. We shot these views from a friend's boat out in the river up at Mud Lake with the Upper Mississippi bluffs in the background -- much happier views of these boats when they were still plying their trade.
Please give my warmest regards to the crew and to Doc. And have an exquisite almond croissant at Croissant d'Or for me!
Topic starter
14/06/2010 1:07 pm
Job
Are you handy with a cutting torch???? That looks like the only thing available on the MQ now...The bow is drawing just about 5 feet, couldn't see the stern since it was against the wall.
Topic starter
14/06/2010 7:47 pm
mid afternoon Monday
I'm soaking up a bit of a/c before heading to the golf course - I figure no natives are going to be out there in this steam bath, so I should be able to zip around. This morning as I was peddling my bike rapidly to beat an approaching train to the boat, I heard sirens nearby. Real nearby, like at the Moonwalk. When I walked aboard the NATCHEZ, Capt. Don told me we had our rescue boat in the water. Someone jumped in the river around the steps at the Moonwalk and the current was taking him down towards the Gov. Nic Wharf. Here are some pictures of the boat returning, under the command of Capt. Steven Nicoulin (the younger). The person in the water managed to reach the Gov. Nic ladder on his own, where he was met by a large contingent of flashing lights. The NATCHEZ crew has participated in many a search/rescue effort over the years. Just a ho hum start to a Monday morning...
14/06/2010 10:13 pm
Just another interesting day on the River. Can anyone identify the serious safety violation in one of these pictures?
15/06/2010 3:54 am
the unsnapped work vest in picture number 2?
Topic starter
15/06/2010 5:12 am
wrapping up the day
Sorry if my previous posting showed an egregious error. I'm sure if the crew had rescued the person, as they have before, he wouldn't have cared about the safety violation. My kudos to the NATCHEZ crew for helping out.
After a torrential deluge with the CBD looking like during Katrina with the winds, rain, and lightning, the day ended with a congenial gathering in the bar of LeRichelieu. 7 or 8 officers who had worked a 4 trip day stopped by for some liquid libations, along with Suzy Cobb - formerly of the purser's office and gift shop; and my BK neighbor Ott Howell. Things are much quieter here at the hotel after the festival weekend crowd left. Tomorrow brings another shot at playing a whole round of golf without the atmospheric percussions, followed by a NATCHEZ trip, and concluding with dinner at Ruby Reds on the Westbank, a hamburger joint which used to be on Esplanade. When they closed that location, Doc was afraid to break the news to me - it isn't the same since it isn't in the neighborhood and convenient, but the food remains the same. Onward to another day on the steamy links and levees of NOLA...
15/06/2010 2:17 pm
Those MQ pics are very sad. she's too young to go like this. she has a lot of life left in her. I wish I could do something about it
15/06/2010 2:21 pm
its a sad, sad ordeal. I can't beleive it, the DQ either
15/06/2010 2:31 pm
sieng the MQ like that would bring an erie and haunting feeling for me. Like the stuff you would see in a movie. can you still hear the whistle blow, see smoke rise from the stacks or hear that big paddlewheel churn up the river?
Topic starter
19/06/2010 3:42 pm
NOLA wrapup
It occurred to me as I mopped the water from the basement floor after yet another Midwestern deluge, that I hadn't written a final posting regarding my New Orleans visit. So here goes: On Tuesday I did manage to get a full round of golf in, without rain although there was thunder in the area. Sitting out on the roof during the 2:30 trip ended my NATCHEZ rides for the trip, as I took Doc over to Ruby Reds on the Westbank for dinner. Doc continues to work at the antique auction house and play the calliope a couple times a week, and getting interviewed for river articles, like the MQ demise one. He's doing just fine. Its hard to look at him and believe he is just 6 weeks shy of his 75th birthday. A funny anecdote: the BK House has a new docent, the 16 year old neighbor of Doc. When I was telling her the history of the BK apartment, including Capt. Hawley's time there, she told me he looks mean when he's out on the sidewalks early in the morning hosing down the concrete and watering the plants. ... but she says he's really not mean - let's hope she never is in the vicinity when he's giving someone the 'blue flame' treatment! So Doc has not only brought up many in the steamboat world, now he's getting young people involved in local history and the BK House.
By the way, the apartment sits vacant. They have to fix the porch flooring to stop the multiple leaks into the apartment before they can start any apartment repairs. Hmm. They've missed $700 in rent so far....Appropriately as I was loading my car for the trip to the airport on Wednesday morning, the daily deluge opened up and necessitated switching from soaked to just dirty clothing in the airport restroom...ah summertime in New Orleans! I'll venture back there in August, a time when no sane person visits the city, but the hotel rates are great then and I'm sure there won't be any lines at Cafe du Monde (which I missed this trip) or Croissant d'Or. This hotel setup will be just fine although different than having the apartment. While seeing the MQ was depressing, seeing the NATCHEZ vibrant and carrying goodly numbers again and running 21 trips a week was good to see. Don't forget to include the NATCHEZ in any New Orleans trip you might be planning -
20/06/2010 2:14 am
Treme
I just watched the repeat of the latest episode of Treme, the hit HBO series about NOLA, set about three months after Katrina. One of the most popular characters, played by John Goodman, apparently commits suicide by getting on a ferry and jumping overboard into the Mississippi.
I had seen the original broadcast, but tonight noticed that the last thing he heard before he "jumped" was calliope music. Just sayin'
I think it was the calliope from the Natchez. There was a steamboat in the background tied up where I think the Natchez lives. Judy, can you confirm this?
Paul
Topic starter
20/06/2010 2:50 am
Treme
I don't get HBO, so I haven't seen it, but the NATCHEZ is the only calliope in town and she's near the ferry, so it must have been her. I've been reading comments about the series in the TP, and it seems to be very acceptable to the natives and quite authentic. There are occasional suicides from the Canal St. Ferry, although jumping from the bridge outnumbers them.
20/06/2010 4:07 pm
Judy Patsch;22092 wrote: I don't get HBO, so I haven't seen it, but the NATCHEZ is the only calliope in town and she's near the ferry, so it must have been her. I've been reading comments about the series in the TP, and it seems to be very acceptable to the natives and quite authentic. There are occasional suicides from the Canal St. Ferry, although jumping from the bridge outnumbers them.
Judy, any fan of NOLA should see this series. I know the first season will be available on Amazon.com. Give yourself a present.
Paul