[Judy Patsch]

There was a great response to my suggestion that we homeless overnight steamboaters book a cruise on the JULIA BELLE SWAIN. I am posting now a change in plans - sort of the "A bird in hand is worth two in the bush" theory. The JBS trip has not been scheduled yet and won't be until probably March at best. The SPIRIT OF PEORIA, a sternwheeler diesel powered, has a 3 day/2 night trip from Peoria Illinois to St. Louis already on her schedule. I have conferred with a few people regarding this and got the go ahead to pull this switcheroo from the JBS to the S of P. If you want more reasoning behind this, please email me at wzc8491@aol.com I don't wish to comment further publicly.
Anyway, here's the deal: The SPIRIT OF PEORIA will leave Peoria on Saturday August 22 and arrive in St. Louis Monday August 24. This should be good for those of you still having to report to a job. The first night is spent in a hotel in Jacksonville IL. The second night is in Grafton at the Pere Marquette Lodge. Day 3 is the arrival in St. Louis. After a few hours to sightsee, a bus will return the passengers to Peoria. Just as on the TWILIGHT and JBS, all meals and lodging are included in the price, and there is plentiful entertainment. This trip is on the Illinois River to Grafton, and then down the Mississippi some 40 miles to St. Louis. The cost is $475 per person double occupancy. But here is the good news: if we get just 10 or more, we get the group discount of $30, and we get it by booking individually giving the group name. I couldn't remember exactly who we were last year, so I said: Rambling River Rats. The trip is limited to 120 people, which will allow plenty of space both inside and outside to move around. I see plenty of advantages in this trip over the JBS, with the only drawbacks being she's not a steamboat and we won't be cruising a beautiful stretch of the UMR. Here is the website to get a fuller view of the trip: http://www.spiritofpeoria.com/display.php
I am excited about this opportunity and hope it meets with your approval. If you are interested in going, please email me so I can tell Alice that we indeed will have at least 10 in our group to qualify for the group rate. If you know for sure that you will go, feel free to call Alice at 800 676-8988 to book with the Rambling River Rats.
Not to overload the information, but there is also a possibility of extending the trip into a round trip with day trip and deadheading segments, but that is not finalized yet.
Judy wzc8491@aol.com
photo by Lee and Kathy Havlik, taken at Tall Stacks 2006 (with their permission, Franz!)