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The River: Riverboats are coming back like fresh Spring blossoms; still waiting to Save the QUEEN


The riverboat captain is a storyteller, and Captain Don Sanders will be sharing the stories of his long association with the river — from discovery to a way of love and life. This a part of a long and continuing story.

By Captain Don Sanders
Special to NKyTribune

It looks like trade’s opening up again for the passenger boats on the Mississippi River System. After a year of total shutdown or greatly reduced public boating activity, the riverboats are coming back like fresh Spring blossoms.

The AMERICAN COUNTESS, is also out and about somewhere on the Lower Mississippi.

According to one industry source, “the American Queen Steamboat Company (AQSC) cited ‘unprecedented demand since it cruises started in mid-March” and are expecting a complete sellout of their 2021 inventory. Operating at a reduced capacity, the two smaller vessels of the inland overnight line aren’t subject to a United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dictum applying to boats carrying less than 250 passengers and crew. Only the larger AMERICAN QUEEN awaits the CDC go-ahead.

Already the AMERICAN DUCHESS is paddling her way up the Ohio River and should be in Cincinnati just in time for this column to be online. The company’s newest overnighter, the AMERICAN COUNTESS, is also out and about somewhere on the Lower Mississippi under the guidance of two of the smartest steamboat pilots of the 21st Century, Captains Mike Blitgen and Bert Suarez. Cap’n Mike and I were, together, on the DIAMOND LADY at Bettendorf, Iowa, in 1992. Cap’n Bert and I first met on board the New Orleans casino boat, the Hilton FLAMINGO before she was renamed the GRAND VICTORIA II. At the Cincinnati 2003 Tall Stacks, Bert graciously arranged for me to steer a trip on the CREOLE QUEEN.

Two of the smartest steamboat pilots of the 21st Century, Captains Mike Blitgen and Bert Suarez.

BB Riverboats in Newport is advertising a website full of river cruising adventures for the 2021 Season with daily sightseeing and lunch and dinner trips. Specialty cruises include an eleven-hour River Hop to Louisville, the Great Steamboat Race while in the Falls City, an Ohio River Murder Mystery, Pirates and Princess Cruises for the kids, and a Swashbuckler Ball for the bigger buccaneers. BB also dedicates a page to the COVID pandemic and how they, as cruise providers, make their cruises safer and what they expect from those enjoying them. “Understand,” BB adds, “everybody has to do their own part.”

A hundred miles downstream, the venerable steamboat BELLE OF LOUISVILLE and her little sister, the MARY M. MILLER, have the 2021 calendar filled with sightseeing, lunch, and dinner trips. Belle of Louisville Riverboats also announced they were lowering nearly all their ticket prices and adding more cruises “to make it more affordable to come aboard.” Somewhere on social media, someone posted that the City of Louisville recently passed an appropriation financially supporting the hometown riverboats. That’s good news in these strange times. Old relics from the Great Age of steamboats need all the bucks they can get – especially when that assistance comes from a source with deeper pockets than mine. Last year, despite the shallow depth between the seams of my cargo britches, I donated to assist the beloved BELLE as generously as possible. Like most everything else these days, dollars, inflated as they may be, are what keeps our nutty 21st Century world turning.

BB Riverboats Specialty Cruises include an eleven-hour River Hop to Louisville.

Way down yonder in New Orleans, while the Steamer NATCHEZ takes time off for inspections, repairs, and renovations, her younger sister, the CITY OF NEW ORLEANS (CNO), has been substituting for the older boat. Eventually, both boats will be cruising in unison, but with slightly different roles. The NATCHEZ focus will be on harbor sightseeing adventures without the sitdown food services she’s offered since her first days. The CITY, just three years on the NOLA waterfront, will, of course, cruise the scenic New Orleans harbor while offering a full menu service while paddling along. Although the CNO is a native Louisiana gal, she was built as the casino boat, CASINO ROCK ISLAND, for Jumer’s Casino in Rock Island, Illinois. After laying up for several years, the New Orleans Steamboat folk acquired her, ran her through extensive shipyard treatments, renamed her the CNO, and returned her as fresh as new to the state where she was born (built).

The venerable steamboat BELLE OF LOUISVILLE and her little sister, the MARY M. MILLER, have the 2021 calendar filled with sightseeing, lunch, and dinner trips.

No story concerning the river is complete without an update about the legendary DELTA QUEEN. According to an entry dated March 2, 2021, the owners of the QUEEN announced on their Facebook page:

“This past weekend, representatives of the Delta Queen Steamboat Company were honored to meet with the Jefferson County Port Authority to see progress on the new landing under construction at Kimmswick, Missouri.”

They also added:

“The Delta Queen project has been met with many challenges… as we worked to secure funding over the following 18-months, the COVID-19 pandemic hit crippling the tourism industry. We have persevered and kept the Delta Queen afloat. As the pandemic is now beginning to come under control, we see 2021 as the year of opportunity.”

In the meantime, the DELTA QUEEN lays moored at a berth near Houma, Louisiana, until the funds are found to get the historic steamboat restored and running. Many friends of the QUEEN have offered to contribute to any fundraiser designed to raise the necessary capital that some wags guesstimated is hovering in the $20 million neighborhood.


Way down yonder in New Orleans, the CITY OF NEW ORLEANS has been substituting for the Str. NATCHEZ. (Capt. Matt Dow Photo)

Two of the most bizarre ideas for getting the DELTA QUEEN running again came from an anomalous lot meeting in a small riverside saloon on the Upper Mississippi River where long winter nights sometimes play bizarre tricks on the minds of those not venturing south for the season.

Amongst the waterside setting, a member recalled a group of young musicians who, around 1969, formed a band in Stillwater, Oklahoma, first known as “The Rubber Band” before they changed their name to “Carp.” One of the few tunes the group recorded as a single, had the lyrics:

“Save the DELTA QUEEN… don’t let the termites get her… she pretty as a picture blowing steam.”

Eventually, the leader of Carp became the actor Gary Busey not long after he and his musicians spent around a week aboard the DELTA QUEEN promoting their recording while helping the QUEEN acquire an exemption from the SOLAS, or the “Safety at Sea Law” during the exciting “Save the DELTA QUEEN Season” of 1970.

Repeated attempts by the riverside revelers to promote Mr. Busey’s involvement in saving the DELTA QUEEN a second time ended in mixed results, according to a bystander listening in on the proposal formulated around a round table next to a frosted picture window overlooking the frozen Mississippi River. The eyewitness first reported that Busey might have been interested in a meeting with the group. Later, he revealed that after contacting the controversial Hollywood celebrity, Mr. Busey implied that he had no recollection of anything, including a steamboat, called the DELTA QUEEN.

Who knows what could happen to the DELTA QUEEN if…?

The second proposal suggested that the barflies contact Mister Elon Musk. Yes, that same Elon Musk, the one with the net worth estimated at some 175.5 billion US dollars. According to the source, they figured that Mr. Musk might find bringing a historic steamboat back to fruition could be every bit as challenging to his inexhaustible mental capacities as SpaceX, the Tesla electric car, underground superhighways, or any number of other of Musk’s nearly incomprehensible concepts.

After all, as someone said of Elon Musk: “His ideas sound far-fetched at the beginning, but when they begin to take shape, it turns out they may actually be realistic.”

Perhaps, in a similar manner, the ideas of the boys at the riverbank bar may not be as improbable as one may think. Who knows what could happen to the DELTA QUEEN if someone puts a bug into the ear of the idiosyncratic billionaire and he starts thinking like some of us?

The leader of Carp became the actor Gary Busey not long after he and his musicians spent around a week aboard the DELTA QUEEN during the exciting “Save the DELTA QUEEN Season” of 1970.

Captain Don Sanders is a river man. He has been a riverboat captain with the Delta Queen Steamboat Company and with Rising Star Casino. He learned to fly an airplane before he learned to drive a “machine” and became a captain in the USAF. He is an adventurer, a historian, and a storyteller. Now, he is a columnist for the NKyTribune and will share his stories of growing up in Covington and his stories of the river. Hang on for the ride — the river never looked so good. 


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7 Comments

  1. Judy Patsch says:

    Meanwhile on the Upper Miss, the Riverboat TWILIGHT ran her full season last year and is preparing for this season of 2 day and 90 minute cruises again.

  2. Ronald Sutton says:

    Oh, if Only some of the ideas launched in Riverfront and Water Front Bars came to Fruition, what a wonderful world we would have, including Great Jobs, and Great Boats.

  3. Marilyn Ezdon says:

    it may take a few years, but I am hoping to see the Delta Queen on the upper Mississippi again. Thanks for the stories and updates.

  4. Joy Scudder says:

    Happy days are here again! Thanks, Captain Don, for another great article.

  5. Cornelia Reade-Hale says:

    Wonderful news on all the boats. Thank you Capt for making in fun as well as informative.
    Great to see great Rivermen working passenger boats again..Here’s praying someone could convince that gentleman that the rivers and the Delta Queen are as important to transpiration and the future as spaceflights .

  6. Mike Blitgen says:

    Great article as usual Capt. Don! Those two modern Steamboat Captains are definitely legends in their own mind for sure!

  7. Cap'n Don says:

    Thanks for the comments. So far, Spring’s been great.

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