Halifax, Nova Scotia is home to a friendly little tugboat. If you haven’t heard of Theodore Tugboat, he was the main character of a children’s show in the 1980s and 1990s. See the intro song here.
During the tourism season (ending in late October), he welcomes fans for a 30 minute tour of the Halifax harbor and introduces you to his friends from the show. This experience is not only for kids. In fact, of the 13 on board, only 3 were kids. Thirty minutes may seem a bit short but was a perfect amount of time to explore the harbor.
Memphis, specifically Mud Island, was on my list for several years. Maybe I expected too much from the city because the long weekend included several let-downs. A year later, however, most of my memories are positive.
Problems started right off the bat. Our hotel had issues with our reservation, we left our luggage to go explore the city hoping to come back to a clean King room only to find two queens. We stayed downtown and were steps away from the Blues Hall of Fame Museum and National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Hotel. Both were moving experiences, one to remember great musicians and one to remember Martin Luther King Jr..
After enjoying the afternoon, my driver’s license flung out of my pocket near Beale Street. The sad part is, I didn’t even partake in the fun of Beale Street and wasn’t able to after losing my only ID. Furthermore, we soon found out riding a scooter wasn’t an option – they require a driver’s license too. To top it off – I started a new job the following Monday and I needed my driver’s license for orientation. Asking to come-in late the first week of a brand new job is not something I recommend. Losing my license overshadowed the whole weekend but we continued on and tried to make the most of it.
The next day, we trekked across the bridge to Mud Island Riverpark. Given, we made this trip in early November past peak tourism season, the museum on the island was closed but we could still access the Mississippi River model on the island. In the summer months, the model river is full of water and flows all the way to Gulf of Mexico. This weekend, crunchy leaves replaced water and the whole island looked unkept. One of these days, I’ll make it back to see the island in the Summer and give the model a fair chance.
From there, we walked down to the Bass Pro Shops store in the pyramid. This was the most unexpected delight during the trip and I highly recommend a visit. The store itself has several different areas with wildlife. Ducks wandered from pond to pond through the store and, as you can see, didn’t mind shoppers coming very close. You can also go bowling, eat in a couple of restaurants, see several aquariums, and pet alligators. Okay, maybe not actually pet the alligators, but you can wave from a safe distance.
Spend the extra few dollars to take the elevator to the top of the pyramid for the best view in town. From here, you can walk out to the observation decks to see the boats and towboats ply the river and enjoy the restaurant at the top. The grits were out of this world!
Something else on my bucket list was seeing the Peabody ducks. Glad I saw them but not much else to say here. If you’re in Memphis, take a few minutes to see the ducks but they aren’t worth a special trip. The hotel lobby itself is a bit crowded and stuffy and the ducks weren’t anything special. The ducks at the Bass Pro Shop beat these ducks any day!
Most of the time, I schedule every activity for trips way before hand but since this trip was changed at the last minute, the only thing scheduled was a dinner cruise with Memphis Riverboats. What a great way to end the weekend! Good food and good music but the best part was watching the light show on the bridge. I haven’t seen anything quite like this anywhere else and made for a romantic end to the trip.
Come along as we make a road trip up the Great River Road from Hannibal to Le Claire while stopping at some great boating and river history sights.
Hannibal is a must see for every Riverlorian. For this trip, we used this quintessential river town as a jumping off point and only spent a few waking hours there. After arriving, we took a stroll around town and enjoyed the live music and active night life before making the climb up 244 steps to the Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse. In daylight, I am sure this is a magnificent view. At 10:00 PM, all we accomplished were very sore knees the next morning.
Bright and early the next morning, we slowly made our way up to Le Claire, Iowa by taking the Great River Road. This route weaves in an out of river towns and gives glimpses of the Mississippi River along the way. My goal was to stop at as many historical markers and out of the way places as our time allowed.
In Keokuk, IA we toured the George M. Verity. The friendly volunteers were opening everything up for the day when we arrived and offered us a guided tour. This vessel is much like a smaller version of the William M. Black located in Dubuque, IA or the Captain Meriwether Lewis, located in Brownville, NE. Admission is $4 per adult and well worth the stop, even if just for a chance to stretch your legs.
Inside the Captain’s stateroom on the Verity
Up the road about 30 minutes, we detoured through Nauvoo, IL. By this time, it was almost 10:00 and tourists were already roaming the streets and enjoying carriage rides. This historic town has been on my list to visit for quite some time, although we only spent around 30 minutes walking around. Since I am not Mormon, I felt a little out of place and would recommend various other historic towns for a visit over this one (see the Amana Colonies description in a future post). My favorite photo opportunity in town was this replica ferry boat once used to transport the wagons across the river to start their journey on the Mormon Trail.
Ferry in Nauvoo, IL.
Soon, we came to Burlington, IA and Muscatine, IA. While we didn’t get any pictures, I recommend a drive down Snake Alley in Burlington.
Finally, we made it to Le Claire with about an hour and a half to explore before boarding the Riverboat Twilight.
The American Pickers show seems to have made this a popular place for day trips. Normally, I try to steer clear of touristy places, but this town is well worth a few hours of your time. We did make a quick tour of Antique Archaeology, mainly for bragging rights. If you are looking for a warehouse full of antiques, look elsewhere as you will mainly find souvenirs now.
We purchased some flavored garlic olive oil and mushroom pasta at the Le Claire Olive Oil company before touring the Buffalo Bill Museum located right on the river and next to the dock. To be honest, I didn’t look at any of the Buffalo Bill exhibits as there wasn’t anything unique. Most of the antiques and artifacts are in every small town museum I’ve been through. We really paid the $5 to tour the Lone Star Stern Wheeler! This wood hulled boat was used from 1869 to 1889 and makes one imagine why most wooden boats had a short life span. One can easily dream about the constant creaking these boats would have constantly made. The museum has built an addition to house the boat and protect the wood from the elements, which makes it a great place to escape the summer heat.
The Buffalo Bill Museum also houses several model boats. As I am also a collector of dollhouses and miniatures, I snapped several pictures and below is one of my favorite.
A model boat
Side view of the Lone Star Side Wheeler
Now it was time to board the Riverboat Twilight. Stay tuned for a future post!
Rivers have always been part of my life; I grew up working on the Missouri River. Although my life has moved on, I am still drawn to boats and the change of pace rivers offer. Come join me on my journey to ride 100 boats.
So far, I have enjoyed rides on more than 15 boats across the country. My most recent trip was to the Quad Cities to enjoy two in one day. Stay tuned for the reviews.
Stacks & Packs 