Although we were married February 9, 2002 at the old Mission San Juan Bautista built in 1797, we didn't get a chance to take a honeymoon until March of 2003. It was certainly worth the wait. This is a small record of a most fabulous two and a half weeks of travel that included one week aboard the Steam Powered Riverboat Delta Queen. She was built in 1927 for the Sacramento River, used in World War II as the smallest troop ship of record, and moved to the Mississippi River system in 1947 by the Greene Steamboat Line. The Delta Queen is a National Landmark and the oldest moving post office on America's inland waterway system (she has her own postmark)! But I digress, you can find more history about this magnificent lady of the river at the Delta Queen Steamboat Company.
This page is about our honeymoon week aboard the Delta Queen! But first a quick picture of our wedding at Mission San Juan Bautista in San Juan Bautista, California. (Click any picture for a larger version.)
Our trip started by automobile from Loveland, Colorado to New Orleans, Louisiana. We took three days to get to New Orleans casually traveling back roads and staying off the freeways. (Such a great way to travel!) We spent two days in New Orleans checking out the French Quarter, Churches, shopping, and other tourist sites.
Our first night we had a wonderful early supper of soup (Ramona had Potage alligator a sherry and Bob tried the Gombo Créole), fresh baked bread and wine at Antoine's Restaurant in the French Quarter. This place is great. Established in 1840 with lots of wonderful little rooms for service by tuxedoed waiters. Oh, the food was wonderful along with the service and personal tour by our waiter
.
The third day was our boarding day for the Delta Queen, so we packed up, traveled the few blocks, parked our car and they off loaded our stuff to the dock for us. We walked on board and were graciously greeted by one and all. We were early, so while we waited, we took advantage of the 'little' buffet of goodies and morsels. When our cabin was ready we found everything to rights including all our luggage already delivered. We were in cabin 121 the New Jersey Room. (On the Cabin Deck - Port (left) and Aft section. Our windows looked, aft right at the big red stern paddles.) So we unpacked our goodies and readied ourselves for the week. Oh boy!
If you look closely at the picture of our cabin, you will see that not only are the beds turned down and a mint included, but they also provided a daily 'newspaper' The Steamboatin Times that tells all about the boat, our day's schedules, and lots of other interesting information.
(Note: If this were an ocean going vessel, it would be called a ship, but on the river these vessels are called riverboats or boats. So I will stick with the river tradition and call the Delta Queen a boat or riverboat and an elegant lady.)
We still have some time to kill, so we walk around and find, you guessed it, the bar with the music about the start. Elaine sets us up with a little libation and Walter Kross and the Riverboat Five start playing (the popcorn machine is always full). (Yea, the picture only has four musicians - one of the musicians would join us the next day because he missed his flight. They made good music with just the four!)
At five o'clock we all had to clear out for fire and boat drill. That is where you put on a life vest and they make sure you do it right. We did our part and they did their part. Then off with the life jackets and back to roaming the boat. (No pictures of us with our life vests on - Orange clashes with Ramona's beautiful blue eyes, and she wouldn't allow me to take any pictures.)
As we get ready to leave New Orleans all kinds of actions start. The boarding ladders are removed along with lines, hoses and the like. The fireman in the boiler room turns up the heat. The Captain prepares to cast off. The Captain Pilot blows the steam whistle. As we cast off, there is also someone playing music on the steam calliope, located at the stern! And they do this wonderful routine every time we enter or leave port unless it's too late at night, but it never was for us! They even will blow the whistle to honor a passing location or ship and the calliope could be played almost anytime. What fun! A group of us even got a chance to play the steam powered noise maker!
Our first evening aboard included the most wonderful dinner. There was a selection of two appetizers, two soups, two salads, four entrées, (actually five entrées if you count a special vegetarian selection), and three different desserts! Oh Oh, I think I'm going to gain weight on this trip! Each evening meal was the same sort of different selections. Never the same meal twice. Continental breakfast on the cabin deck, breakfast in the dining room, lunch in the dinning room, midday hotdogs available in the bar, afternoon cocktails with hors d'oeuvres available in the bar, dinner in the dining room, then a moonlight buffet on the cabin deck. We will never go hungry! Did I forget to mention live piano music for every dinner from Tony Schwartz the pianist from the River Boat Five? Our remaining days were no different. Every meal was great and wonderful. Dinner included five entrée choices and we always wanted to try them all. The best we could do was order two different and then share. (Our waitress told us that we could order some of each, but there's no way we could pack that much food into our tummies! So we just had to be satisfied with sharing two choices of each available evening's fare.)
Our Maitre d'Hotel Shelby assigned us our own private table for our dinners. Same table every evening, it was great.
That night we literally steamed up river towards our first landing at Houmas House Plantation. We get some night time calliope, wonderful night river sights and watched the paddlewheel do its job.
The first morning we're up before the cock crows and find Aaron fixing early morning coffee in the forward cabin deck area. We thought he was just our porter, but come to find out he also sets up coffee by six (often earlier) and continental breakfast from 6 to 10 for those early risers that want something before real breakfast at 7:30 to 9. In our case instead of real breakfast, we plan to leave the breakfast light so we can chow down on dinner. Here's a picture of Aaron at the coffee maker and Ramona's first breakfast of coffee and muffin.
Our first stop is not a city, but simply aground on the river bank just off the Houmas House Plantation. So we are off the Delta Queen for a tour of the home (we op not to take the swamp bus and boat tour, but just the house tour).
That evening before dinner is the Captain's Welcome Aboard Champagne Reception with Captain Gabe Chengery.
The next day we are in Baton Rouge where we took advantage of a tour called the Cajun Fiddler Walking Tour. May not sound like much, but it was the most enjoyable time. A woman fiddler and folklorist by the name of Ann Vidrine gave us a wonderful tour of Baton Rouge telling us about history of the city, Cajun history, folklore and more while occasionally stopping to play her fiddle and sing us a few Cajun songs. What a treat! We ended our tour with Cajun Cafe Latte and Southern Pralines - Yum!
Our next stop was Natchez. Our trip coincided with the Natchez Spring Pilgrimage which opens many of the historic antebellum homes. We opted for a tour of the city that included a few of these beautiful antebellum mansions. Here's a few pictures of the homes we visited. I could fill this page with pictures of these beautiful old homes, but I'll just limit it to a few. I've also added an evening shot from the Delta Queen towards a gambling casino that looks like a riverboat, floats like a river boat, but never moves from the concrete enclosure it's floating within.
Our next day's stop is Vicksburg and a tour of the Vicksburg National Military Park. Not many antebellum mansions here but a lot of history. Here's a picture of the Delta Queen at the Natchez river dock and some of the National Military Park.
After Vicksburg we had a full day of steamboatin' up the river. There were lots of things to do aboard like watching the scenery and paddlewheel, playing the calliope (that's Tony Schwartz at the console), touring engine room. There are also planned events like making hats, flying kites, watching movies, listening to the 'riverlorian' give history of the river, boats, navigation and more.
By the way, the steam calliope was built in 1897. It was originally installed on the Showboat Water Queen which sank in the Kanawha River in 1937. The whistles were salvaged, later discovered, then installed aboard the Delta Queen in 1960.
While steamboatin' there's also lots to eat and drink! That's Paulina with a Rob Roy for Ramona, and Jason tending bar. Ramona's in a hot game of Canasta, then Ramona and Bob on the foredeck.
There's Jerry the riverlorian and Capt. Gabe busy at work!
You can even casually tour the boat.
The Captain's Champagne Dinner is the second night of steamboatin' and we are lucky enough to be honored with an invitation to the captain's table! After the dinner Captain Gabe treats us to a colored steam calliope concert, where he serenades Ramona and others with wonderful tunes!
The Captain's Dinner was fantastic. For those of us at the Captain's table, the evening started with a wonderful cocktail party of drinks and lovely hors d'oeuvres (cream stuffed strawberries, tiny new potato wedges stuffed with red and black caviar, stuffed mushrooms and more)! Then there was the dinner for everyone. I thought I would include the menu for you here. (Although it was the Captain's Dinner, all the menus were just as nice as this for selection and finery.) That night Ramona chose the Roast marinated Tenderloin of Beef and Bob chose the Pesto Crusted Sea Bass. Yum!
Our next stop is Helena, Arkansas. We decide to stay aboard relax and tour the engine room and pilot house. By the way, we toured the engine room while we were underway. It is meticulously clean and wonderfully quite.
Our final stop is Memphis where we leave this lovely lady of the river the Delta Queen. We get a chance to visit with Bill and Dee (our relatives) for a day. Then it's on the Amtrak train back to New Orleans to fetch our car and return home.
Our travels home took us to the Natchez trace, another antebellum home, an old inn along the Trace, the Pawnee Bill Museum (a contemporary of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show), and more of those wonderful back roads and out of the way places away from the freeway as much as possible to return home to Loveland, Colorado.
We would like to thank the Delta Queen and her crew for a wonderful time. Everyone mentioned above was fantastic and we thank you all. We also want to thank some of those not pictured above that had direct contact with us:
Bob the Steamboatin' Director
Keith the Hotel Manager
Kathy the Shore Tour Manager
Chris our Room Steward
Plus thanks to all those we didn't get to meet directly, but certainly made everything perfect. Our two pilots, the Engineers, Mates, Pursers, Stewards, Porters, Crew, all their Managers and the Entertainers.
Let's not forget the Chefs, thank you Donavan and your crew. The food was wonderful, the weight gain was unfortunate but unavoidable.
Cooks Motto
Much Work - Much Food
Little Work - Little Food
No Work - Burial at Sea
Certainly not a problem here!
Ramona and Bob Snyder
We enjoyed this trip so much, we have decided to celebrate Ramona's cancer
treatment completion by taking
another trip. This time it is a 'Big Band theme trip' for 5 days. January 13
to 18, 2004.
Check back for more pictures of the new trip!
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1215 Limestone Ave
Loveland, CO 80537
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© 2003 Robert Snyder
URL: http://www.snyderville.net/deltaqueen/index.html
First created: April 16, 2003
Last updated: June 18, 2005
Counted from: April 29, 2003