Brunch Aboard a Mississippi River Paddlewheeler

We arrived at a county campground just outside of La Crosse, Wisconsin last evening (July 5th) that is situated on the La Crosse River. If you have been following all our blogs, you might recall from our trip to Lake Superior last fall that Jack fished the Bois Brule River and found out that early French explorers used that river to get to the Mississippi River. They did this by rowing upstream and then portaging a small tract of land over to the La Crosse River. The La Crosse flows into the Mississippi at a town called (you guessed it) La Crosse and that is where we planned to travel on the La Crosse Queen, a paddlewheeler, up and then downstream. The French explorers paddled all the way up to present Minneapolis/St. Paul and down all the way to New Orleans. Maybe we will do that sometime. (Note from Carol: Oh, yeah??!!)

Carol at our campground beside the La Crosse River.

  We got up early this morning so Carol could go to church while Jack figured out where the Queen was moored and find a place to park. La Crosse is a beautiful town with a gorgeous river walk.

Most of the Protestant churches in La Crosse are Lutheran. Carol attended this one. The folks were very welcoming.

Carol along the Mississippi River walkway with the La Crosse Queen in the background

The La Crosse Queen is a unique paddlewheeler. It is seven years old and is the seventh ship to bear that name. Unlike many imitation paddlewheelers, the paddle wheels on this one actually propel the ship. The ship has two diesel engines and each drives one of two paddle wheels through hydraulic motors. Jack took these movies of the paddle wheels in motion.

The La Crosse Queen at the dock.

A bow-on view of the Queen. The main deck is for dining and the upper deck is for viewing.

The paddle wheels on the Queen. There are two paddle wheels and each are driven separately by a hydraulic motor attached outboard of each wheel. One wheel can drive forward and the other backward during turning. While not as efficient as a modern marine propeller, these paddle wheels make a pleasing sound and look great underway. See the movie.

We signed up for this trip a long time ago and that gave us prime seating in the dining room and first in line for the delicious buffet. We both had mimosas (champagne and orange juice) and a cup of coffee while the ship got underway.

View of the dining room while ship is loading.

Carol and Jack toasting. Note name place cards. The buffet serving area is just off Carol's right arm. Our view of the river is on her left.

Our trip up river was pleasant. The river was high and flowing at about three knots. The Queen managed around three knots over ground against this current. We saw three bald eagles and a large tow (tug boat and barges). One of the ship's officers served as a tour guide and gave us history of both sides of the rivers, bridges, locks and the town. Very entertaining.

A bald eagle perched nearby and let everyone have a great view before flying off.

The tour guide told us about a war memorial in the park so we had to take a look after our voyage was over. The memorial was dedicated in 1918 to commemorate vets from World War 1 and the Spanish American War. A plaque made out of steel from the USS Maine commemorates the loss of that ship and her crew. In addition there is a Spanish cannon built in 1787 which we presume was captured during the Spanish-American War.

The captured Spanish cannon. Click here for more information.

Remember the Maine.

After our tour, we decided to start our drive to Montana. We are now stopped for the night at a motel in Worthington, Minnesota. Lots and lots of corn and other crops growing in the plains along with a new crop of wind generators everywhere. Great job, America! Let's minimize our dependence on Arab oil imports.