[Judy Patsch]

SPIRIT OF PEORIA
With a little over a week before the Rambling River Rats do the Peoria-St. Louis-Florence trips, I did a little scouting trip. My sister and I rode the Saturday sightseeing trip, which went upriver into the scenic area of Peoria Lake and the Narrows. Our trip will be downriver, and for those who have never been on the Illinois, don't expect the scenic beauty and bluffs of the Upper Miss. It is a working river.
Here are pictures of the SPIRIT. She was built in 1988 at Walker Shipyard in Paducah, and she has the good old steamboat sheer, I didn't notice much camber (compared to the NATCHEZ of course). She's about 140 x 38 and her stack feathers are 43 feet above the waterline. They had a private party in the main deck, where the bar and food service facilities are. The second deck has an air-conditioned dining room with good views of the scenery, and some outside seating on the bow and stern. The side walkways are too narrow for chairs. The top deck has outside seating on all sides, and a gift shop/auxiliary bar near the stern. There were some lounge chairs stacked up, presumably for the longer trips. It appears that there is plenty of room for 150 or so passengers on the 3 day trip to spread around the boat. I don't know how much narrating will be done on our trip, but on this 1 1/2 hour trip it was excellent and very professional - no canned music filling space, just peace and quiet.
The night we were there they had a special Jimmy Buffet themed dance cruise. The daily sightseeing trip is from 1-2:30. See their website www.SpiritofPeoria.com for more info.
1,2) at the Peoria dock
3) forward half of second deck