At one time, more than 1,200 steamboats plied the great
rivers of America. It was America's Golden Age, and opulence was the name
of the game. In the East, the rich were building their summer 'cottages'
in Newport - each trying to outdo the other. On the Mississippi River, a
similar competition was in progress. Who could build the biggest, fastest,
most luxurious steamboat, with the most breathtaking grand staircase, the
most glittering chandeliers, and the most elegant staterooms' Whose grand
dining room would outshine the others with the finest wait staff, linens,
china, and crystal ' not to mention the richest cuisine' Which steamboat
put together the best show with the grandest orchestras of the day and the
prettiest girls'
The Delta Queen Steamboat Company operates the only three
remaining overnight steamboats on the heartland rivers, and has only the
ghosts of former floating palaces to compete with, they do have a tradition
to uphold. The luxury of America's great steamboats is legendary.
The three ladies of the river, are the legendary Delta
Queen, the magnificent Mississippi Queen, and the grand American Queen,
each with it's own uniqueness. This year, the Delta Queen and the Mississippi
Queen offer magical 3 to 12 night adventures up and down the Mississippi,
Ohio, Tennessee Cumberland, and four other fascinating waterways. Down in
New Orleans the American Queen offers the New Orleans & Riverboat Adventure
week with a 7 night experience where you mix a 3 or 4 night cruise experience
with a 3 or 4 night New Orleans hotel, dinners, and attractions tickets.
The steamboat experience offers themed vacations that
include Civil War, World War II Remembrance, Springtime in Texas, and Old
South. Also New 'Riverbonding' for Families allows you to immerse your family
in the history and wonder of this great country or ours. For the golfer
in you, steamboatin' offers Golf Trail Vacations where you can go from course
to course on this exciting vacation.
For Mark Twain, the river inspired not only his pen name,
but some of his most popular work. Both the Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)
and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) were drawn from Twain's boyhood
escapades beside the river; while Life on the Mississippi (1883) chronicled
his experiences as a steamboat traveler and pilot all the way from St. Paul
to New Orleans. Twain died on April 21, 1910 at the age of 74. He had sadly
proclaimed Steamboatin' 'dead' long before the turn of the century--but
today, more than 100 years later, the Delta Queen, Mississippi Queen and
American Queen continue to steam along the nation's rivers, heading into
a new millennium with Twain's fantasy intact.
