Yellowstone 8/19-20/18 (Mississippi Riverboat)
Departing our hotel in Davenport, we made the short trip to LeClaire, IA. LeClaire is the birthplace of Buffalo Bill Cody (it’s been a Wild Bill sort of trip) and home to American Pickers ( popular TV show on History/A&E channels.
The Twilight Riverboat has three stories and upon boarding, we were assigned a table on the middle level. We would have this table for all of our meals, but were otherwise free to move about the boat. Various seating was provided outside including comfortable rocking chairs on the fore and aft decks. Some seats were under cover, something needed on day two of the trip as the weather was a little bit damper with intermittent rain showers.
The boat also had a gift shop, bar and live entertainment during the afternoons (a single guitarist playing riverboat favorites). The food was not fancy, but mostly tasty and appeared to be enjoyed by all aboard. It is cooked on the boat with many of the recipes being from the owner's family.
As the boat sailed up river to our overnight stay in Dubuque, IA, we learned about the Mississippi, her history, and life on the river and shores. We passed many rookeries (nesting homes for birds) of White Pelicans. One of the world's largest birds, they pass through the middle Mississippi River Valley in late spring and early fall on their migration between their summer home (Florida and Mexico) and their winter home (Northern US and Canada). We did not visit during the peak time, but were still treated to thousands of them.
This area is also home to 30-40 nesting American Eagles, and we saw many. Due to the presence of a local power plant, a section of the river does not freeze in the fall and, during the winter, as many as 250 eagles winter here in order to access fresh fish.
During the trip we passed through several locks and learned how they are operated. These were added to the river primarily to allow for large barges to navigate; we occasionally waited for our turn to use the locks. Tow boats are used to move the large barges up and down the river and up to nine barges can be lashed together to one tow boat. (Not sure why they are called tow boats, since they actually push the barges along the river.) Nine barges stretch almost a quarter of a mile long and will not fit in lock at one time. To navigate the locks, the barges must be untied from one another and move through the locks two at time and without a tow boat. This process takes about 45 minutes for one fully loaded tow boat to pass through.
We also had an upclose and personal visit by the local waterskiing club. They put on a brief show, creating a human pyramid for our viewing pleasure.
Arriving in Dubuque, we made our way to the Grand Habor hotel. Within walking distance of the dock, it is across the street from a casino and has an onsite restaurant and bar. Breakfast was included the following morning and the boat provided a shuttle bus to the local area attractions. We opted to visit the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium as the admission was included in our package. The museum was located next our boarding dock and we spent about an hour and half looking at the many exhibits and river wildlife.
We departed Dubuque at 11am and made the return to LeClaire. Although now traveling with the flow of the river, we arrived almost an hour late, as we waited at both locks; this included a very long wait for a tow boat to clear a lock and retie their barges. Even given the delay and dreary (rainy off-and-on) weather, we enjoyed the trip a lot. We were also glad we staying at a local hotel following the return trip, as we ran into several fellow travelers at the Comfort Inn.
Spanning both days on the river, the Twilight offered an optional trivia contest. The answers were provided by the captain's narration as well as signage along the route (name of a lockmaster, date a bridge was completed, etc). Day two was a good day for us as we won. The prize was a free drink from the bar...good thing we were running late, or we would not have had time to finish it.
Pictures 8/19-20/18
The Twilight Riverboat has three stories and upon boarding, we were assigned a table on the middle level. We would have this table for all of our meals, but were otherwise free to move about the boat. Various seating was provided outside including comfortable rocking chairs on the fore and aft decks. Some seats were under cover, something needed on day two of the trip as the weather was a little bit damper with intermittent rain showers.
The boat also had a gift shop, bar and live entertainment during the afternoons (a single guitarist playing riverboat favorites). The food was not fancy, but mostly tasty and appeared to be enjoyed by all aboard. It is cooked on the boat with many of the recipes being from the owner's family.
As the boat sailed up river to our overnight stay in Dubuque, IA, we learned about the Mississippi, her history, and life on the river and shores. We passed many rookeries (nesting homes for birds) of White Pelicans. One of the world's largest birds, they pass through the middle Mississippi River Valley in late spring and early fall on their migration between their summer home (Florida and Mexico) and their winter home (Northern US and Canada). We did not visit during the peak time, but were still treated to thousands of them.
This area is also home to 30-40 nesting American Eagles, and we saw many. Due to the presence of a local power plant, a section of the river does not freeze in the fall and, during the winter, as many as 250 eagles winter here in order to access fresh fish.
During the trip we passed through several locks and learned how they are operated. These were added to the river primarily to allow for large barges to navigate; we occasionally waited for our turn to use the locks. Tow boats are used to move the large barges up and down the river and up to nine barges can be lashed together to one tow boat. (Not sure why they are called tow boats, since they actually push the barges along the river.) Nine barges stretch almost a quarter of a mile long and will not fit in lock at one time. To navigate the locks, the barges must be untied from one another and move through the locks two at time and without a tow boat. This process takes about 45 minutes for one fully loaded tow boat to pass through.
We also had an upclose and personal visit by the local waterskiing club. They put on a brief show, creating a human pyramid for our viewing pleasure.
Arriving in Dubuque, we made our way to the Grand Habor hotel. Within walking distance of the dock, it is across the street from a casino and has an onsite restaurant and bar. Breakfast was included the following morning and the boat provided a shuttle bus to the local area attractions. We opted to visit the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium as the admission was included in our package. The museum was located next our boarding dock and we spent about an hour and half looking at the many exhibits and river wildlife.
We departed Dubuque at 11am and made the return to LeClaire. Although now traveling with the flow of the river, we arrived almost an hour late, as we waited at both locks; this included a very long wait for a tow boat to clear a lock and retie their barges. Even given the delay and dreary (rainy off-and-on) weather, we enjoyed the trip a lot. We were also glad we staying at a local hotel following the return trip, as we ran into several fellow travelers at the Comfort Inn.
Spanning both days on the river, the Twilight offered an optional trivia contest. The answers were provided by the captain's narration as well as signage along the route (name of a lockmaster, date a bridge was completed, etc). Day two was a good day for us as we won. The prize was a free drink from the bar...good thing we were running late, or we would not have had time to finish it.
Pictures 8/19-20/18
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