Mississippi River Boat Road Scholar Adventure: Part 10

Sun. April 9: Our final Port of Call was in tiny Helena, Arkansas. Our bus had returned to New Orleans at the last Port of Call and so we were encouraged to ride the American Queen buses and enjoy their commentary and stops, which is what Chuck and Mary chose to do. Ann, Shelby, Marv and I reserved four of the boat’s bicycles and spent an enjoyable morning riding to and along the levy, and then throughout the tiny, depressed downtown area (where the now closed movie theater marquee welcomed the passengers of the American Queen) and visiting the few sites. Helena is truly the “Birthplace of the Delta Blues” and much of their tourism revolves around that. There were a couple of small but nice museums and several restored old homes. We visited the Pillow-Thompson House which, despite being a Sunday morning, was open and eager to host us (complete with cookies and scones, and lemonade and ice tea) before the large busloads of American Queen passengers arrived. We were given such a thorough tour of the lovely home that we ended up slipping out when the first bus came. But it was a beautiful day to be outside and we were happier just exploring the downtown and following the top of the levy until it was time to return to the boat. The saddest thing about this visit was that the clasp on my necklace opened and I lost the small crystal heart that Ken gave me years ago and I usually wear on our travels.

Getting to the levy at Helena. That's the
Mississippi River in the background.

The Pillow-Thompson House

Looking at the dining room from the front parlor.

A Food Warmer built into the radiator in the dining room.
Brilliant!

There was LOTS of gleaming woodwork throughout.

Along the top of the levy there was flood plain to the left (east) with the River
beyond, and the town of Helena to the right (west).

Ann and Shelby riding along the top of the levy.

The rest of the afternoon was spent cruising towards Memphis. We had our final lecture by Brian, this time on “Louisiana’s Free People of Color”. There was a Captain’s Farewell Reception with a champagne toast and dinner included lobster tail and prime rib. The evening performance was “Music of our Lives”. Afterwards, it was a very warm, clear evening with a Full Moon so Ann, Marv and I went in the tiny salt water pool on the top deck for the first time but it had a pretty disgusting scum along the water edge and floating on top so we didn’t stay in long.

The six of us cleaned-up "purdy good" for the Captain's Reception and Dinner.
(from left) Ann, Shelby, Marv, Mary, Peggy, Chuck

The Full Moon 

Music of Our Lives

All our stops on the way from New Orleans to Memphis

First thing after Breakfast in the morning of Mon. April 10 we boarded buses that took us to Memphis Airport, where we had a long wait for our flight. But around lunchtime we were on our way and had as uneventful a return trip as our trip had been to New Orleans. We all enjoyed ourselves very much and, although the Road Scholar Trips are pretty expensive, felt like we had gotten our money’s worth in both learning and fun. That does it for our spring travels. The next Savage traveler Adventure will be this fall to Iceland in October with Kris and Heidi. Be sure to check back here then.

Waiting.......

The Mississippi River we had just left

Mississippi River Boat Road Scholar Adventure: Part 9

Sat. Apr. 8: This whole day was devoted to cruising, with no ports visited, so it was very leisurely and relaxing. We got up a little later and enjoyed activities on the boat including a River Chat with the Riverlorian, ”A Conversation with Mark Twain”, another lecture by Brian (this time on Mississippi Floods), and time to watch the shoreline as we chugged along. Marv and I walked 6 laps around the Observation Deck, which equaled one mile. Clotile Kepashvili did a one-woman show called “The Many Faces of Love” for the evening entertainment and that was followed by a Sock Hop where we mostly just watched some really good dancers strut their stuff. 

There are surprisingly few bridges that cross the Mississippi River, even today.
Those that do are usually high and soaring. However, some are old enough and
low enough that the smoke stacks and even the Pilots House can't go under them.  Since
we usually went under them while cruising during the night, they did a demonstration of
how the smokestacks are lowered in the middle of the afternoon.  They didn't show us how
the "crown" is removed from the Pilots House and then the room is lowered into the boat.
But it was still really interesting to see. In the picture above, the smokestacks are going down.

Each smokestack has a "cradle" that supports it in its down position.

Here the smokestack is nearing its upright position.

We didn't see much wildlife along nor in the river. I saw a Bald Eagle at our first stop,
we saw a few cormorants flying low along the river, and there were a few Canada Geese.

On some of the bends there were white, pristine deposits of sand that would
make great beaches but we never saw anyone enjoying themselves there.

"A Conversation with Mark Twain"
This guy was pretty believable! 

Mississippi River Boat Road Scholar Adventure: Part 8

Fri. Apr. 8: Our lecturer, Brain, had us well prepared for a visit to Vicksburg, the site of what he called the “Most Complicated Battle of the Civil War”. He told us in great detail about the battle between Grant and Pemberton for the last big stronghold on the Mississippi River. Taking control of the Mississippi was one of the three goals of the Union Army. The 5000 citizens of Vicksburg withstood a 47 day siege by living in caves, but eventually Union forces prevailed and the city fell on July 4, 1863. As a result, Independence Day wasn’t celebrated in Vicksburg until after WWII. As usual, we had a local guide on the bus with us to explain what we saw at three stops in the National Park: The Visitors Center, the Illinois Monument, and the U.S.S. Cairo ironclad gunboat and museum. A flood in 1876 cut Vicksburg off from the river, leaving limited access to the new channel. Because of a canal General Grant’s troops began digging during the war (but never finished), the Mississippi River left Vicksburg. In 1903 the United States Army Corps of Engineers diverted the Yazoo River into the old channel to rejuvenate the waterfront, and that is where our boat docked. It was a bit of a quick trip on the bus to do our stops and return to the boat for lunch (on the Front Porch, like every other lunch and all but two breakfasts, when it was too cool). So we didn’t see much of the city itself other than from the bus windows. That gave us the afternoon to hear a lecture by the Riverlorian, watch the 30 minute documentary “Dare to Dream: The Making of the American Queen”, and attend our fourth lecture by Brian, this one on the Civil War. The after dinner program was “Singing the 70s”.

The gateway for the park drive through the battlefield.

All states that had troops at Vicksburg (except for a few southern states)
have built a monument in a place near where their troops fought.
The Michigan monument shows an angel holding a gear.

Illinois had one of the biggest and most imposing of the monuments because
they had so many troops there and because...well, you know, Lincoln.... 

On the floor of the rotunda in the Illinois monument

Even today, viewing the terrain, one can see why the Union troops
(at the bottom) had no hope of  climbing the hills to overcome
the Confederate troops who had the bluff around the city.

Old Vicksburg Courthouse, now a Civil War Museum

The protective tent shades the USS Cairo

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Marv's hand shows how thick the iron pieces were.

The biggest surprise of the trip was how few buildings, factories, or homes are built
along the river.  In places the levies are as much as ten miles away, and all land
along the banks is considered flood plain. This is one of the few dwelling places we saw.

Mississippi River Boat Road Scholar Adventure: Part 7

(It won't let me move this to the bottom, where it should be.)
This is the Mark Twain impersonator we enjoyed after dinner.

Thu. Apr. 6: For the first time on the river cruise, the boat stayed for a 9 hour day when we docked at Natchez. The area has been inhabited since around the eighth century, when the Mississippian culture built mounds there. In the 17^th and 18^th centuries the Natchez Indians occupied the lands and were visited by Hernando de Soto and his men as they crossed the river nearby. Bienville built a crude fortification called Fort Rosalie there in 1716 and the French clashed with, then killed or enslaved, the Natchez Indians. Here there is a terminus of the Natchez Trace, the 444 mile pathway that flatboatmen followed to return home after floating their goods down the Ohio and Mississippi for further transport to New Orleans. Cotton made Natchez wealthy and there are many restored plantation homes to visit. The steamboat docked at Natchez-Under-The–Hill, the notorious rough area at the bottom of the bluff. Once a noisy, thriving area five streets wide, the stretch along the river is now reduced to just Silver Street. After breakfast our bus took our group to Longwood Plantation, which was an exotic departure from typical homes of the period, octagonal and in the Oriental Revival style. Most interestingly, it was begun in 1860 but interrupted by the Civil War and the owner’s death, so only nine of its 32 rooms, all in the basement, were finished. It was eerie to wander the second floor and try to imagine how magnificent it would have been when finished. 

Longwood Plantation House

The finished rooms in the basement are partially lit by
"sky lights" in the ceiling that bring light from above.

Highly unusual floor plan for the second floor (third level)
because of the octagonal shape of the home.

Ann is on the left, looking down into one of the "sky lights" that send
ambient light to the basement rooms. The brickwork and a rudimentary
stairway (on the left) are all that were completed above the basement level.

Bedrooms would have been added on the third (and fourth?) levels,
with a towering dome letting in light far above. 

A finished porch on the second level

After our visit there, the bus went back into town and dropped us at Stanton Hall, built in 1858 and the quintessence of elegant Greek Revival splendor. Carrera marble, mahogany doors, massive Corinthian columns, and delicate cast iron railings adorn the façade of this mansion that covers a city block and is now run by one of two rival gardening clubs who have never reconciled after their split back in the 1930s! We had enough time there that Marv and I walked around the old neighborhood and admired the buildings, many of which are marked with historical plaques out front. 

Stanton Hall 

Outside Stanton Hall

The back third of the Parlor could be closed off by huge folding
doors so the Women could enjoy Music while the Men had whiskey
and cigars in the front area. The Parlor, opened, ran the
entire length of one side of the mansion.

The upstairs hallway is wide and welcoming. Ann chats
with a costumed guide about the home.

If you can enlarge this sign, it tells the history of
Stanton Hall and two other nearby homes.

The Wilkins Town House, built in 1835, is one of the oldest
buildings remaining in Natchez and serves now as a B&B.

This one was for sale! Keeping up the old tile
roof would be just one of the challenges.

We heard about this historic race from our Steam Boat captain back in New Orleans.

A nice view of the American Queen moored at Natchez.

We returned to the boat for lunch and then headed out again in the afternoon. There was a quick stop at a Presbyterian Church to see the magnificent stained glass windows, two of which were made by Tiffany Company. 

Then we traveled on to Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, where some members of the Natchez Gospel Choir sang some songs for us before inviting us up to sing along. Shelby, Marv and I went up to the choir loft to sing, then Chuck joined us when we lined up on the floor in front of the sacristy to do some movement with a song. It was a rollicking good time! 

Marv and Peggy, front row left, and Shelby, second row middle,
make a joyful noise unto the Lord.

Shelby and Chuck rockin' with the Gospel Choir.

There was a calliope concert as we left Natchez at 5:00. After dinner we thoroughly enjoyed “An Evening with Mark Twain” by impersonator Lewis Hankins.

Because we had been busy with Road Scholar activities, we never had a chance to a regularly
scheduled tour of the Pilot's House. Chuck made arrangements for the 6 of us to have our
own private tour before we left Natchez. 

The Pilot on duty (one of two on board) looked about 16 years old!

Marv, Mary, Shelby, Chuck (sitting in the Pilot's Chair), Ann, and Peggy

The Calliope playing 

Two Balloon Animals from our very own Balloon Lady, who was a
fellow cruiser, commune with John Hesse's Tiger.

The one dessert I couldn't pass up--Mississippi Mud Pie.