Riverboat Cruise & Road Trip - March-April 2014

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Day 1: Boarding & Starting Out
Day 2: On River
Day 3: Vicksburg, MS
Day 4: Natchez, MS
Day 5: St. Francisville, LA
Day 6: Baton Rouge, LA
Day 7: Nottoway Plantation
Day 8: Disembarkation & Back to Memphis

Day 1: Boarding & Starting Out
While boarding there was a band playing, welcoming us on board. Upon boarding the American Queen riverboat, not ship, we checked out the cabin and oriented ourselves with where things were on the boat. The cabin was very small, but it had everything we needed and enough space to store the luggage so we had no problems maneuvering around. The boat was much smaller than a cruise ship so everything was close by. When we left the cabin to explore the boat we were having some trouble locking the door, we had an actual key not a key card so the door did not automatically lock when closed and the lock worked in the opposite way than what we are used to. A uniformed officer of the boat stopped to show us how the lock worked and stayed to talk with us for a few minutes. Just before going on his way he introduced himself as the captain of the boat, Brent Willits. He is a very pleasant person.
There was assigned seating times for dinner on the cruise with an assigned table, so we ate dinner with the same people each evening. We sat at a table for 4, so our dining party each evening consisted of us and the same other couple. Breakfast and lunch were open seating so we sat with different people for those meals. Our dining companions were Bob & Fran. Bob & Fran were really nice people and pleasant conversationalist, we had interesting conversations about kids/grandkids, travel, hobbies, and work. We also would discuss what each couple had done that day on the boat or ashore. Something that was very nice was they joined us for grace before dinner each evening, at other meals the people we sat with did not join us for grace and some continued loud conversations as we said grace.
The Main Deck Lounge at the Captain's Bar is outside the dining room. Each evening before dinner and between dinner and that evening's main entertainment we would sit in this lounge and listen to "Phil Westbrook" play piano and sing. He had the largest repertoire of music of anyone we have seen, we can not remember anyone requesting a song in any genre that he did not know. There were a few of the more obscure requests that he could not remember all the words, but he still did a decent job on them. He was very entertaining.
The evening's entertainment was "Joyce Cobb & Her Band". She is described as a "Memphis Gospel & Blues Legend". It was an excellent show. (Pictures)
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Day 2: On River
The first full day of the cruise was "On River". We spent most of the day relaxing, reading, and watching the river scenery go by.
This was Sunday and we were pleasantly surprised to discover that they were having a non-denominational devotional service that morning. It was a very nice service with hymns and a very good message about faith & grace.
We decided to join in a trivia contest. When we were waiting for the shuttle to bring us to the boat we met a couple of nice ladies, Angie & her niece Barbara. We saw them at the trivia contest and joined them as a team. Mostly due to Barbara's knowledge of 1970's TV shows our team won the contest. The prize for winning was a glass paper weight with an etching of the riverboat in it. Angie & Barbara each received one and as a couple we received one.
Dale had been sending postcards from places we have stopped to grandchildren and others, she was looking for postcards containing a picture of the riverboat with no luck. At lunch one of the people at the table mentioned postcards in the guest information binder in the cabin. We checked our binder, but there were no postcards. Dale said she needed about six cards, Ernie went to the purser's office to ask for six or as close to that number as they were willing to give him. The person at the desk grabbed a hand full, counted to ensure there was at least six, and gave Ernie the stack. There were eight postcards. Dale used them all and decided she had a few more people to whom she wanted to send a postcard, she went back to the purser's office and they gave her four more.
In the afternoon we attended the "Captain's Welcome Aboard Champagne Reception". On the way back to the cabin to clean up for the reception we encountered the captain who stopped and talked with us for a while. We had been dressed very casually when we encountered the captain and had changed into what they were referring to as formal-casual a pant-suit for Dale and slacks & dress shirt for Ernie. When we met the captain in the receiving line he mentioned that we "cleaned up nicely". This was just another example of how much more relaxed he was than the captains we had met on cruise ships.
That evenings entertainment was "Bourbon to Beale", a musical journey from New Orleans to Memphis. The songs were performed by the "American Queen Ensemble" (the boat's song & dance ensemble) and the "Steamboat Syncopators" (the boat's band). The show was very entertaining.
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Day 3: Vicksburg, MS
The first place we docked was Vicksburg, MS. At all but one place we docked there was a hop-on/hop-off bus tour which was included in the cruise package. We did the hop-on/hop-off in Vicksburg.
The first stop we got off at is the Church of the Holy Trinity. This is a 125 year old Episcopal Church. It is famous for its's stained glass windows which include 6 Tiffany windows and the only known pair of stained glass windows honoring the deceased of both the North and the South in the Civil War. Tiffany windows are distinct from other stained glass windows in that the color is in the glass not painted on the glass and 3D effect, such as folds in garments, is rendered by differing thickness of glass rather than optical tricks of painting.
Our next stop was Anchua Mansion one of the most significant antebellum homes in Vicksburg. During the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863 the mansion was used to provide shelter for those who had suffered severely through the war.
Next we stopped at the "Biedenham Coca Cola Museum". This is the site of the first place that Coca Cola was bottled, up until Biedenham decided to bottle it and bring it out into the countryside on wagons Coca Cola was only available as a fountain drink. He sent two cases to the head of Coca Cola asking if it was OK to continue doing this, he received a nice reply that it was OK thus got the first Coca Cola bottling franchise for free. The family later bought two other bottling franchises. He often mentioned that he never got the bottles returned from Coca Cola.
We walked across the street to "Yesterday's Child Doll and Toy Museum". This is just a little store-front. There are thousands of dolls on display and probably at least 1,000 toys. The owners are an elderly couple. The wife had been collecting dolls since she was a young girl, when they moved to Vicksburg she had a few hundred dolls. She decided she wanted to expand her collection and her husband was willing to finance the collection. Through purchases and donations the collection has grown to the point that it fills the available space.
We hopped back on a bus and went to the "Old Depot Museum". The museum features the world's largest collection of ship models and a collection of riverboat models and naval vessels with Mississippi based names. Also featured in the museum is the only diorama of the Siege of Vicksburg. After leaving the museum we walked back to the boat enjoying the scenery along the river.
As we pulled out of Vicksburg we got a good view of the Ameristar, a casino/restaurant/hotel that was made to resemble a riverboat.
That evening's show was "Feeling Good", a one woman show by Michaelyn Oby, a member of the "American Queen Ensemble". We think she is the most talented member of the ensemble. Her performance was excellent. (Pictures)
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Day 4: Natchez, MS
Our next port was Natchez, MS. We once again we did the hop-on/hop-off tour.
We got off at the Rosalie Mansion. During the Civil War it served as Union Headquarters for the Natchez area. As well as impressive building and furniture there are several really nice gardens.
Next we went to the Natchez Visitor's Center. They have the usual displays and pamphlets you find at visitor centers and a very interesting film about the history of Natchez. As with many visitor centers they have free coffee and tea, but unlike others we have been to they also had a free soda dispenser.
We next got off at the William Johnson House. William Johnson was the son of a white slave owner and one of his slave. This meant that William's father was also his owner. At the time it was illegal to educate persons of color, but William Johnson's father made him a free person of color when he was 11 and ensured that William was well educated. He became a very successful and powerful businessman often holding advantage over his white adversaries. William kept a daily diary for the last almost 16 years of his life. This diary was made into a book with footnotes explaining dialect and viewpoints pertinent to the stories. We bought a copy of "William Johnson's Natchez: The Ante-Bellum Diary of a Free Negro" which Dale has just started reading.
From there we walked to Magnolia Hall and then to Stanton Hall. These two places were impressive buildings. Stanton Hall stood out as the home and grounds take up an entire city block.
We then walked to the Natchez Trails, Gazebo & Riverwalk. On our way there we walked through the Eola Hotel, which looks pretty much as it did when built in the 1800's. We spent some time reading plaques in the park and enjoying the scenery, before walking back to the boat. As we neared the boat Ernie noticed a sign beyond the entrance to the dock and so we went over to read what it said. It told us what the building directly behind us was. We cannot remember the name of the place, but it was the first place that Jerry Lee Lewis performed professionally. We remember that the word blue was in the name, the building behind us was red brick, but there was a blue wooden building connected to it. The cafe in the blue building was open so we went in to ask if they knew which building was the one mentioned on the sign, we were told it was the brick building.
The evenings entertainment was "Through The Years", the boat's band and song & dance ensemble performed hits from the 1950's through the 1970's. It was a very good show. (Pictures)
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Day 5: St. Francisville, LA
The boat next stopped at St. Francisville, LA. Nothing on the hop-on/hop-off tour looked interesting to Ernie so he stayed on board that morning, to do some Bible reading and a little work on this story for our website. Dale took the bus to the post office to mail some postcards, while there she visited one of the local shops. When Dale returned we had lunch then we both boarded one of the buses to just ride the circuit. Dale told Ernie what the tour guide had said about some of the things we passed, the tour guides were only on the buses in the morning so there was not one on with us. Upon returning to the boat, we had a couple of hours to relax and clean up before dinner.
That evening's show was "Bravo Broadway!", the boat's band and song & dance ensemble performed songs from Braodway plays. Dale went to the show and thought it was very good. Ernie was still a little behind in his daily Bible reading, so he stayed in the cabin to read the Bible.

Day 6: Baton Rouge, LA
We docked in Baton Rouge, LA. This is the one stop at which we decided to do a "premium" tour. We did the "Life in Bayou/Swamp Tour&qout;. We went out into a bayou on a flat-bottomed boat. We saw quite a lot of alligators, raccoons, egrets, herons, an osprey and a raven. The captain/tour guide was very informative and entertaining. There was a small alligator on the boat, everyone who wanted to had a turn holding it. Of course Ernie was first in line to hold the alligator and he was able to convince Dale to hold it. (Pictures)
About an hour before we were to meet the tour bus, We went out on deck to see what the area looked like. Ernie noticed we were docked next to the "USS Kidd Veterans Memorial". We walked over, got tickets and walked onto the USS Kidd. The self-guided tour is very extensive with access to almost every place on the ship, we decided we did not have time to do a good job of touring the ship before we had to catch the bus and decided to do it when we returned from the swamp tour. When we got back from the swamp tour we quickly walked to the USS Kidd and spent better than an hour and a half going through every section we were allowed to go. We only spent about a half hour in the veterans memorial museum, but we were able to see quite a bit of it.
This was without a doubt the best ashore day of the cruise.
There was a really good show that night. Comedian Dick Hardwick did a very funny show, with good clean humor. (Pictures)
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Day 7: Nottoway Plantation
Our final stop before reaching the end of the cruise was at the Nottoway Plantation. There were scheduled start times for guided tours of the plantation house. We walked to the tour meeting location a few minutes before our start time. Our tour guide was a young man who was very knowledgeable about the plantation and the history of the area. After a short talk outside the house we were led in and we were told that this is not a museum so with the exception of a few items it was OK to touch the furnishings and sit in the chairs. After a couple of rooms Ernie started to feel uncomfortable because of the crowd and went outside to stroll the grounds while Dale completed the tour of the house. Dale really enjoyed the house tour and joined Ernie in strolling the grounds which we both enjoyed.
That evenings show was "New Orleans All Stars". A quartet of some of New Orleans' best Dixieland jazz musicians put on a great show. (Pictures)
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Day 8: Disembarkation & Back to Memphis
The next morning we reached our disembarkation point, New Orleans. We picked up our rental car and returned to Memphis to get our car. After returning the rental car we started out again going into Arkansas before stopping for the night.

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Last updated: jul 14 2015