Riverboat Gambler

Recreating the Great Steamboat Race of 1870 between the Natchez and the Robert E. Lee, the Delta Queen and Mississippi Queen raced into St. Louis on July 4th.

It was another gorgeous day.  The Coast Guard stopped river traffic for us, so we could have a fair race, and the Mississippi Queen beat the DQ to the finish line by a lot less than a boat length. 

We tied the boats up right near the Gateway Arch, had a wonderful dinner onboard, and then went up to the top decks of both boats to watch the St. Louis fireworks display.  It's one of the great fireworks displays in the country, and it lived up to it's billing once again.  It was sensational.  What a great way to end a great river travel adventure!

As you may know, the Delta Queen is a National Historic Monument, and I can't describe in words the feelings I experience when I see her on the river.  The Mississippi Queen is an extraordinary sight, as well.  The great visual joy of the steamboat race is getting to see both boats on the river, side by side.

The above photo is not from a postcard.  My wife, Sandi, took this photo from the port-side railing of the Mississippi Queen while the two boats were racing together.  Visually, I just loved this. 

Here's a shot, taken from the port-side railing of the MQ, of the Delta Queen river pilot moving the DQ very close to the shoreline to travel in the slow-moving, slack water.  Again, while my wife was using her camera to get this shot, I was just awestruck with the visual beauty of being able to see this in person.

This photo was taken from the Caliope Bar, upper deck aft, on the MQ.  A beautiful river day with the two steamboats steaming up the river together. 

I'm wearing a special shirt made for me as the race "judge", fashioned by sewing together half of a Delta Queen shirt with a Mississippi Queen shirt, to signify, of course, an impartial love for both of the boats during the "judging" of the race events.

 I was onboard the Mississippi Queen in 1976, during her maiden voyage.  The company called her, accurately at the time, "the biggest steamboat that ever was afloat."

From a wonderful vantage point on the port-side railing of the Delta Queen, you can see the MQ paddlewheel, and the two layers of windows surrounding the upper and lower levers of the Mississippi Queen's Paddlewheel Bar.  I've had more fun in that paddlewheel bar than I will ever be able to recall!

Some years ago, I decided I wanted to become a professional sleight-of-hand magician, but I wanted to do it differently.  I had always been fascinated by that classic American character of the fast-talkin', smoothin dealin,' riverboat gambler with a heart of gold.  And so, I decided to create a card-table sleight-of-hand entertainment act as "The Last of the Riverboat Gamblers." 

Well, as luck would have it, Bill Muster, then Chairman of the Board of the Delta Quuen Steamboat Company, saw me performing my riverboat gambling entertainment act at a nightclub in Los Angeles, and put me on the Mississippi Queen for her maiden voyage.

I lived on the MQ for four years, performing onboard with a wonderful rotation of 30 days on and 30 days off.  I loved that rotation!  30 days on was enough to want to get off; and 30 days off was enough to want to get back on!

These days the only steamboat ride where I perform onboard is the Great Steamboat Race each year.  I've been entertaining onboard and "judging" the race events for each of the Great Steamboat Races for 12 years now! 

But this may have been my last steamboat race.  I'm pleased to report I've developed a thriving -- and very time-consuming! -- career as a keynote speaker at meetings & events across North America. 

Performing my riverboat gambler card act in the Paddlewheel Bar onboard the Mississippi Queen has been one of the great joys of my life.  There are two levels back there, and many times I've had 200 people in that room, some of them hanging over the railing of the top section to watch me create magic with a deck of cards.

Dining on the steamboats while going up the Mississippi River is a wonderful experience.  And, the two boats are so completely different, it is hard to compare them.

The Orleans Room on the Delta Queen serves as both the dining room and the showroom, and the atmosphere is as friendly as you will ever find on a travel journey.  The dining room on the Mississippi Queen is bigger, fancier, and a room unto itself; the showroom is separate from the dining room on the MQ.  I love them both, and so will you... when you choose to take a ride on these extraordinary steamboats.

Here we are having dinner with our two table mates in the dining room of the Mississippi Queen.  Our friends are Kerry & Kellie Pollack, from Cleveland, Ohio.  They've only been married 11 months, so it was like a follow-up honeymoon for them.  They had just taken ballroom dancing lessons back in Cleveland, to learn to dance together in the romantic way, so they truly enjoyed dancing to the dance band in the Grand Saloon Showroom later in the evenings.  They also reported they enjoyed being "unplugged" from the rest of the world... with no electronic cellphone access or wireless broadband access most of the time.

Riding on the Delta Queen Steamboats provides you with a vacation that is truly relaxing... a real vacation.  It's the kind of vacation you don't have to come home to recover from!

We had the pleasure of dining with the master of the Mississippi Queen, Captain John Dugger, and his vivacious wife, Janice.  What a treat it was to visit with them over a delicious riverboat meal.  He is one of the most prominent captains on the river, having spent most of his career as the no.1 river pilot for the Corps of Engineers.  (I just had to pose for a flashy photo with him, after our dinner.)

When I was performing on the Mississippi Queen in the early 1980's, as "The Last of the Riverboat Gamblers," I met a woman onboard who was the most beautiful & alluring creature I had ever seen.  I decided the moment I first saw her I wanted to marry her.  I can't explain this in any rational or logical way, as I was a confirmed bachelor at the time!  It took me 3 months to convince her to marry me -- she later admitted to a great sense of risk in doing so! -- and we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary this year.  This is us, having dinner together in the dining room of the Mississippi Queen on Captain's Dinner Night.