Click here to return to SHIPPING NEWS
PK POV
Peter Knego Blogs from DELTA QUEEN: Part Two
The DELTA QUEEN's steam powered calliope came from the river boat WATER QUEEN, which sank toward the end of the 19th century. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2006.
REPORT TWO: Friday, 7 July 2006 (Green River/Bluegrass)
This has been my first chance to catch up on the blog installments in two days. Currently, I am swaying back and forth on a wooden hammock bench on forward Cabin Deck, typing away as a breeze and occasional June bug tug at my orange polo shirt. We are sailing eastward on the Ohio River, its densely forested banks lined with long, silty beaches, occasional clusters of timber and twigs, and the less occasional wood-framed dwelling. Slight rolling hills line the port (Illinois, vs. Kentucky to starboard) side, looking much like they would have in the early colonial days. Yet another working tug has rounded the bend beyond the suspended gangplank, whose red carpeted walkway leads into a misty blue sky. Oakland-based ship photographer and constant world traveler, Andy Kilk, has just stopped to chat before heading down to his early seating dinner.
A builder's plaque and gauges, top. Bottom, the DELTA QUEEN's port side paddlewheel mechanism in operation. Photos and copyright Peter Knego 2006.
I am about to go down to aft Main Deck and have a look at the upper level of the DELTA QUEEN's engine room, which is open for visits on a regular basis. As I understand, all the machinery is original, some of which has been salvaged from the DELTA KING, her identical sister, which currently serves as a floating hotel in Sacramento.
Bits of the DELTA QUEEN captured along the way. Top, the grand stairs, facing down from the Texas Lounge. Bottom, the plaque designating the vessel on the National Register Of Historic Places. Photos and copyright Peter Knego 2006.
Yesterday, when we awoke, the DELTA QUEEN was at Cape Girardeau, Missouri. As is the story with most river towns, the commerce has left the city center and spread inward toward newly built shopping malls, leaving many vacant spaces within their charming period brick and stone structures. We found a friendly coffee shop and checked our e-mail at the accommodating visitors' bureau before returning to the DQ for lunch and our 2:00 PM departure. I attended a mind-opening lecture on the history of Bluegrass music and spent thirty five minutes puffing away on an elliptical machine overlooking the paddlewheel as our little floating "palace" steamed down the Mississippi toward its junction with the Ohio at Cairo, Illinois. There was a chance to document portions of the DQ as passenger traffic gravitated to the Texas Bar and the dining room before getting ready for dinner.
Last night's entertainment was a concert by the Bluegrass artist, Marty Raybon, who boarded in Cape Girardeau. The band was lively and their musicianship impressive. It has been a healthy learning experience for me, a music industry veteran with somewhat rigid tastes. A few walks around deck proved to be fantastically evocative in the half moon's bluish light, a slight fog shrouding the riverbanks, and the vessel's searchlight roaming off to either side and into the sky. After carefully shaking off our clothes to dislodge the harmless, but ever-present river bugs, it was time to get some sleep.
In Paducah, KY. One street, two perspectives. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2006.
REPORT THREE: Saturday, 8 July 2006 (Signs Of The Times In Paducah)
This is written in the Cabin Lounge, while I sit in a high back chair drinking some custom made iced green tea. Outside the windows on our starboard side are the corn fields of Kentucky and patches of green forest. It is now Saturday, July 8, and we have just departed Henderson, KY, once the home of James Audobon.
Rosalinda de Leon is caught tickling the steamy calliope keyboards as DELTA QUEEN departs Paducah, KY. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2006.
Yesterday, we visited Paducah, KY. Another river hamlet, it is an artists' community with a charming, well-preserved "old town". A "blue patch" in a "red region", the main street had an interesting clash of political perspectives, from the red, white, and blue festooned Republican Headquarters to the neighboring movie theater marquee promoting Al Gore's global warming documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth". The local folk were friendly and helpful and we spent a bit of time in our usual manner, catching up on e-mail in the library and consuming caffeinated beverages. A familiar whistle blew as we awaited change at the local ice cream parlor. At 12:55, we stepped onboard the DQ just as the gangway was raised. Moments later, the calliope began its melodic, steam-powered salute to Paducah and DELTA QUEEN rolled on her merry way northeastward.
As seen facing aft from the observation deck, the DQ's forward superstructure has changed little in the vessel's almost 80 years. The golden antlers below the wheelhouse are soon to be surrendered to the MISSISSIPPI QUEEN, which beat the DELTA QUEEN in their latest "Great Steamboat Race". Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2006.
The sights of the Ohio are even more impressive than those of the Mississippi. The flora is greener, the waters more clear, and the topography (especially that on our port side) more varied. We are now passing the 140,000 strong city of Evansville, Indiana on our port side. The familiar gamut of abandoned industrial buildings and warehouses, a coal loading dock, and a faux paddlewheel casino boat have come into view. Two speed boats have been circling us for a couple of miles. I envy their views of our majestic steamer as she continues on her upstream way.
An old truss railroad bridge frames the DELTA QUEEN at Henderson, Kentucky. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2006.
This morning, we awoke rather late, skipping breakfast and the DELTA QUEEN's leaden coffee to go ashore at Henderson and seek out something a bit more satisfying. It was yet another sleepy river town, devoid of traffic, save for the occasional pickup truck with small boat in tow. Again, the local people were very friendly and happy to give us directions and recommendations. The Library allowed us more time on the internet and a quick stop at the local diner provided a satisfying chicken sandwich and delicious iced tea before we returned to the DQ.
The casino boat is now saluting us with its diesel horn, and DELTA QUEEN responds with her lovely steam whistle. We are passing what looks like Evansville's downtown. Down below in the Orleans Room, the blue grass duo, Casey and Chris (and the Two Stringers) are performing various river tunes to strum yet more local ambiance into this lazy afternoon. One of the boat's hardworking crew unhooks the components of a nearby ceiling light and begins to clean each crystal piece. He explains it is a two day job to clean the two hundred fifty such lamps on the DELTA QUEEN.
Mary Charlton, one of the boat's dedicated bartenders and self-professed "steamboat obsessive". Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2006.
A favorite crew member, Mary Charlton, used to watch the DELTA QUEEN sail in and out of her native Cincinnati in the 1960s. After raising her children, she began working on the vessel last year and is living her dream. Her free time on board is spent admiring the fine details and visiting the engine room (the upper portion of which is open to passengers). She readily admits she is obsessed with steamboats and the DELTA QUEEN is her greatest love.
Later that same day...
At the entrance to the Smithland Lock, a group of spectators on a platform waved and called out to the DQ. Once again, her funnel was hitched back to allow passage under the concrete overhang. After dinner, we decided to skip the show, a tribute to the "Hee Haw" television series and watch the nighttime scenery.
PART FOUR: Sunday, 9 July, 2006 (Bloggin' Up The River)
It is now the end of a lazy Sunday. We lost an hour in our eastward journey last night and I woke at 11:30, feeling as though I may have finally caught up on my sleep. Lunch is served "family style" in the dining room with offerings of fried chicken, catfish and barbecue ribs. The whole "Picnic" occasion seems to be a big hit with the passengers. I attend a lecture by Jim Claypool about horse racing and the Kentucky Derby. Without any visual aids, he has managed to fascinate us with the subject.
You never know what you will see from the DQ's decks as she steams along the river. Top, a hanglider in a jalopy? Center, the DQ's magical wheel creates a long ducktail. Bottom, a slice of Kentucky, as seen from the river. Photos and copyright Peter Knego 2006.
We passed some glorious plantations, abandoned farm houses, palatial manors, and thick, forested riverbanks on either side. Today was relatively overcast and warmer than the prior days. An iridescent blue/black Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly flirted with those of us on port Cabin Deck who were lucky enough to take notice. On the starboard side, as the late afternoon sun began to break through the gray overhead cover, the DELTA QUEEN's shadow darkened the wavy brown waters. Her magnificent paddlewheel had kicked up a serpent-like froth of a ducktail.
Following the captain's dinner, Rosalinda de Leon returned to play a colored steam calliope concert on deck before the evening show in the New Orleans Lounge. Afterwards, most of us returned to the forward decks for a nighttime lock passage and a sail-by of Louisville, Kentucky on the starboard side. The modern skyline of this moderately sized city looked like Metropolis after so many days of rural river cruising. The wonderful old steamboat, BELLE OF LOUISVILLE, lay discretely along the waterfront, lit only by a strand of running lights. In some respects, her wooden structure and wide cambered decks resembled the DELTA QUEEN, but she has twin chimneys in proper Mississippi River tradition. As Louisville began to disappear behind us, we passed the Jeffboat Shipyard in Jeffersonville, Indiana on our port side. This was the birthplace of the MISSISSIPPI QUEEN and is now kept active with barge and casino boat building.
As I lay in our cabin, the creaks and rattles of the DELTA QUEEN are working in sonic collusion to deliver me into the realm of the unconscious.
PART FIVE: Tuesday, 11 July 2006 (Ohio And Good-bye)
The fountain at Madison, Indiana. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2006.
Monday, July 10, found us in the charming town of Madison, Indiana. DELTA QUEEN was fast to the riverbank when we awoke in the midmorning. The quaint Main Street had a very familiar feel and has been the setting for several major motion pictures, including the Oscar-nominated "Some Came Running" starring Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine, and Dean Martin in 1958. More Hollywood lore was discovered as we passed a marker dedicated to the elegant film star Irene Dunne, who was raised here in the early part of the twentieth century.
With funnel hinged back, the DQ's boilers blast away accumulated smuts as she prepares to depart Madison, Indiana. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2006.ÊÊ
A while later, we were back aboard DELTA QUEEN for one last calliope concerto by the ebullient Rosalinda de Leon at sailing time. The funnel had once again been collapsed to allow passage under a nearby cantilever bridge. A pillar of black smoke towered over us as the boilers were blasted clean and we get underway. For the rest of the afternoon, the Ohio River offered up a dramatic contrast of scenery from coal-fueled powerplants and their towering chimneys, corn fields, palatial homes, and historic towns to dense forest.
Last night's show in the Orleans Room featured newcomer Amy Baker. It was a wonderfully camp and eclectic set combining elements of Sarah Vaughan, Eartha Kitt, Marilyn Monroe, and Lena Horne. This girl could really sing and the show was one of the best I have seen in a long, long time.
That evening, as we drew closer to Cincinnati, the river was very still and reflected the full moon's light. The Xenon lamps shone off the port bow, in search of a fuel barge. Soon, the smell of Bunker C permeated the outer decks. It was time to finish packing and leave our luggage outside the stateroom. Our time in DELTA QUEEN was almost done.
The DELTA QUEEN, framed in raindrops at Cincinnati. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2006
Friday, July 11. It is our first day of rain since boarding the DELTA QUEEN and, following breakfast, time to disembark and begin our tour of this cosmopolitan midwestern city. The stone towered Roebling Bridge, a relatively small precursor to the famous Brooklyn Bridge, is the first standout sight on our tour. Cincinnati's skyline is a blend of aging yellow stone and the usual modern glass structures.
Cincinnati's Union Station is an Art Deco masterpiece. Top, the soaring lobby. Bottom, one of the beautifully rendered mosaic panels in its ceiling. Photos and copyright Peter Knego 2006.
Our tour bus takes us to the phenomenal Art Deco Union Station. The scale and opulence of the domed lobby is breathtaking, but meets it match upon our arrival at the magnificent 1931-built Netherland Plaza Hotel. We would stay the night in the Netherland Plaza, whose cathedral-like lobbies and grand stairtowers are adorned with nickel and brass grillwork, heavy hand railings, ceramic mermaids, painted murals, and rich Brazilian Rosewood paneling. The overall look is a cross between the NORMANDIE, L'ATLANTIQUE, QUEEN MARY, and The Chrysler Building.
A final view of DELTA QUEEN as she steams under the Roebling Bridge at Cincinnati. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2006.
At about 5:30 PM, I ventured out into the muggy surroundings and walked down to the riverfront. The DELTA QUEEN's steam whistle was audible before I could actually see her from the walkway on the Roebling Bridge. When she finally came into view from the base of the northern tower, her funnel was being lowered in preparation for her departure. I crossed the bridge and awaited from the Covington, Kentucky bank. At 6:00 exactly, her paddlewheel edged her away from the embankment and excess blasts of steam shot out of the forward portion of her hull.
DQ moved forward and turned starboard to catch the current, which led her down the river. She steamed majestically under the Roebling Bridge, the sounds of her calliope growing louder, then dimming as she passed. Moments later, as she rounded a distant bend in the river, the calliope steaming over her paddlewheel, the grand old boat slipped out of view.
Resembling a grand lounge on an Art Deco oceanliner, the Palm Court of the Netherland Hotel was originally the main lobby. Now it serves as a restaurant. Photos and copyright Peter Knego 2006.Ê
I rejoined the Uncommon Journeys group at the Montgomery Riverfront Inn for dinner and good-byes, and then spent some time wandering the palatial lobbies of the Netherland Plaza.
Saturday, July 12. We head for the Cincinnati International Airport to pick up our rental car for the eight hour drive to Muskegon, Michigan to visit Scott Davis, a good friend and avid ocean liner collector. His home is a virtual Midshipcentury showroom filled with a number of wonderful artifacts from the NORMANDIE and UNITED STATES to the STELLA SOLARIS and IVERNIA.
Continue to: Liners On The Lake
Return to: DELTA QUEEN Page One
Click here to return to SHIPPING NEWS
