Post Covid travel was opening up but I wasn’t ready to go out of the country yet. The Mississippi Riverboat cruise was a light adventure and a great choice.
The cruise started in New Orleans with stops in: Houmas House Plantation Landing, Baton Rouge, Natchez, Vicksburg and Memphis
New Orleans
I had been to New Orleans before a number of times, but I had never been there right before Mardi Gras. Although, I did not get to see any of the parades, we were able to walk along the parade route and see lots of people in crazy costumes, hats and face paintings. We also walked by one of the warehouses (near the ship) and could see lots of the floats. I also got to eat Beignets and hot chocolate at Café Beignet in the French Quarter.
The Riverboat
The boat has 5 decks. Our room was on the 3rd level, there were no lounges on this level so it is the quietest. The second level has a lounge forward on the ship where the music, bar, talks all happen. In the aft of the second level, (the back of the boat) is a lounge where people can play cards or talk/read. On the first floor is the dining room, on the 4th floor is a lounge with food all day long (breakfast, lunch, snacks, coffee & tea.) and the fifth floor has another lounge. There are out door areas on the 2nd, 4th and 5th floors aft and a small area on the 3rd floor forward. Although it was March, some of the time it was warm enough to sit outside.
It is fun to watch the traffic on the river. There are lots of barges, but no pleasure boats. There are no marinas along the way, so there are no re-fueling stations. This is still a working river. Here are a few fun facts about the river.
- With the Missouri River, it is the 4th longest river in the world.
- It is only 2 feet deep and 40 feet across where it starts in Minnesota.
- The state is named after the river, not vice versa
- The early boats only lasted a few years – there are some 3,000 wrecks at the bottom.
Houmas House
Our first stop was Houmas Plantation. Luckily we were docked walking distance from the plantation and did not need a bus trip. The house has been around for 250 years in its various forms (from little 2 room house to mansion). The land around was a sugar plantation some of the old sugar pots are now used as planters. The grounds are very beautiful. Originally there was a line of live oaks leading from the river to the entrance of the house, but many had to be cutdown when the levee was built to protect the house from flooding. The house was never flooded but the grounds have been. The property changed hands a number of times but the most interesting owner was an Irish immigrant who came to this country with $1.25 in the early 1800s and obviously became successful. I am pleased to say that he freed all his slaves prior to the Civil War and if they agreed to stay, built them houses and made sure they were comfortable.
The current owners were able to restore much of the furniture and art objects. My favorite was a 1854 harp. There were also fabulous dressers, cupboards, clocks, chandeliers and a solid silver statute.
In the evening we were entertained by two musicians playing Louisiana folk music – mostly Cajun. They were excellent, playing guitar (both of them), fiddle and a German accordion. How does this accordion differ from the Lawrence Welk type accordion? Main difference is that the Welk type has 12 keys, the 7 white piano keys and the 5 black piano keys, thus allowing for 1/2 steps and whole steps. The accordion that was played this evening has only 7 keys and therefore cannot play the sharps/flats. It can be tuned to different keys, however. It is also much smaller but loud. This are is Cajun country and there are about 1 million Cajuns living here and speaking a French dialect.
Baton Rouge
We landed in Baton Rouge on Fat Monday, which is a legal holiday here, as is Fat Tuesday. In honor of the holiday, many of the trees and houses were decorated with beads.
I went on a guided 2-hour walking tour of the city. The name Baton Rouge comes from the French “red stick”. There is a monument by the levee which memorialized the spot where one of the first French explorers came to this area. He saw a stick in the ground with animal skins and it looked reddish brown. He asked the natives and they said that it marked the boundary line between 2 tribes’ hunting ground. Hence the name.
Baton Rouge is Louisiana’s capital. The old State House, (no longer used) is beautiful. The new State House is the tallest State Capital in the U.S.
In 1803, the U.S. bought the land west of the Mississippi River from France. (The Louisiana Purchase). The land east of the Mississippi in what is now Louisiana was still in Spanish hands and was called West Florida. The Spanish people who were living west of the river, relocated to Baton Rouge at the Spanish Governor’s invitation and established Spanish Town. Many of the lovely buildings are still standing. Obviously they fell under U.S. control a few years later.
The USS Kidd, a fletcher class destroyer was docked near our bought. Since Jerry served on a similar destroyer, it was fun for him to show me all around it including his sleeping quarters and bathroom arrangements. The bunks are so close together that he could touch 4 guys without moving.
Natchez
Up to this morning the schedule was faultless. But a passenger became ill overnight and the boat made an unscheduled stop to drop him/her off along the way. I slept right through the night and did not know we had stopped. Our boat did not land until 10am instead of 8am. Some tours were canceled, but luckily we had signed up for an afternoon musical excursion.
Before that excursion, we took a hop on/hop off tour to see the historic houses. Natchez, a fairly small town on a fairly high bluff, was very prosperous in the early 1800s. Supposedly, it had more rich folks than NY City; many of them Yankees who came to deal in cotton. Natchez did not suffer much from the Civil War, because many union sympathizers lived there. Therefore, there are many 19th century mansions still standing and have now been refurbished. They are lovely.
The musical tour took us to the Joseph Newman Stone house, a private home. The original part of the house was built in 1850 for 2 sons of a rich plantation owner whose Natchez house was next door. The current owner’s family, bought it in 1877 and expanded it. The front of the house, which was an addition, was made to mirror a Greek temple.
Our host, who is the great grandson of the original owners, grew up in the house, then went away to study music at Eastman and Manhattan music schools. In 1999 he returned, bought out his sisters and now has a B &B and also makes money from house tours, in which he plays the piano, gives a history talk and serves champagne. It was a delight.
Vicksburg
Just a bit of history: Vicksburg was very strategic for both sides in the Civil War and it was under siege for 47 days.
We toured on our own and just loved the Episcopal Church’s Tiffany windows and the Coca-Cola Bottling Museum.
The Episcopal Church: This being Lent, there was a noon service that we were in time for. Two volunteers ladies greeted us and gave us a private tour of this 1880 church and its 28 windows. First we learned that the stain glass windows at the back of the church are called reconciliation windows. The dedication reads, “To the dead who fell in battle at Vicksburg in the years 1862 and 1863” to memorialize the nearly 2,000 soldiers and sailors both Confederate and Union who died.
Six of the side windows are by Tiffany. These windows are so full of life.
The Coca-Cola Museum: Coke started as a fountain drink in 5c and 10c drug stores. It wasn’t until Mr. Biedenharn had the idea to bottle it in 1894 that people in the countryside, not near soda fountains could also get the cola. Vicksburg is where it all started. We saw the washers, drying racks, filling and capping machines. The fillers had to wear protective gear because the glass was not very strong and would sometimes explode from the fizz. The bottles were washed one at a time with a rotating brush then put on a drying rack which held about 10 bottles. Obviously this was very labor intensive. The museum also had Coca-Cola memorabilia. Lots of fun.
The boat was supposed to start off at 5pm, spend a day at sea and then arrive in Memphis. Unfortunately, while in Vicksburg, one of the many logs floating on the river jammed the propeller. The boat could not continue the cruise. We therefore, spent an extra day in Vicksburg and would continue to Memphis by bus the following day.
Because the boat is in Vicksburg rather than in transit, the crew arranged for some tours. I chose to relax on the boat in the morning and take a shuttle in the afternoon to a casino. I am not much of a gambler but I do enjoy video poker. I played for 40 minutes and came out even. Jerry won a couple of hundred dollars in craps.
Memphis
In the morning we were bused to Memphis to the Peabody hotel. It is an old hotel and is best known for the duck walk. The ship company provided a fabulous lunch in a private dining room with a delicious desert. Jerry and I were dropped off at the Civil Rights museum, which I expected to take us about an hour. But two hours later I ran out of steam, not out of things to read and see. It is an incredible museum.
It is located at the motel site where M.L. King Jr was shot. The motel is preserved and a wreath hangs in front of his room on the balcony. You can view the inside of the room from the museum. Although the museum does cover slavery, its main focus is the Civil Rights movement with the Freedom Marches, and fighting the Separate but Equal laws. Being in the museum was a reminder.
After the museum, we walked back to the Peabody, through Beale Street. Beale street is a fun with lots of restaurants and shops, which hop in the evening. It was only 4pm therefore it was relatively quiet.
We got back to the Peabody by 4:45 in time for the ducks. The ducks spend their day in the center fountain in the lobby and their nights in their penthouse apartment. Apparently many years ago, the Peabody had a valet, who had been in the circus and suggested to management that they get 4 female ducks and 1 male duck and he would train them. He trained the ducks to come down the elevator each day at 11 am and walk across the lobby to the fountain and then at 5pm each day they leave the fountain and go up in the elevator. It was very cute.
Final Thoughts:
- This was a low stress, enjoyable cruise. The boat was comfortable and the food and entertainment, excellent.
- Not everything works like clockwork. But sometimes, that can add to the fun.
- I had very little knowledge about the lower Mississippi towns and was glad to learn a great deal.
Nili's Adventure 