Altar Call – Opelika-Auburn News
Walter Albritton
Steamboating on the
People have
been traveling the
We all agreed the experience more than met our expectations. It was fun being with family, seeing new sights, and most of all, very relaxing. Was it expensive? Costs are relative to old folks. It cost no more than what we spent on “hamburger helper” while raising four sons. We must have bought a ton of that stuff. Any way, we enjoy spending our sons’ inheritance since we don’t want money to ruin them.
Can you believe
Robert Fulton helped build the first steamboat to travel the
Our boat, the “American Queen,” was about four times as large. It was so big the stacks had to be lowered to pass under one bridge. We were surprised to learn that the stacks and the pilot house could be lowered hydraulically more than eight feet to accommodate the bridge.
The Queen had room for 436 passengers and 167 crew, plus at least 50 tons of food. The rear-end paddlewheel, steel-reinforced, is powered by steam, thus the term “steamboatin’.” The meals were excellent, comparable to those offered on most cruise ships. We all complained about being “forced” to eat too much, of course.
We drove 80
miles an hour down to
How much money did we lose in gambling? None. There were no gambling casinos on board. There are some on the river but we declined to check them out. Wasting money gambling has never been a temptation for me. Chocolate? Well, that is another story.
Our journey
was not long. We went upriver only as far as
James was full of old jokes. He did have one good new one. There was this man crying in the cemetery, saying repeatedly, “Oh, why did you die and leave me in this mess?” A compassionate pastor upon hearing the poor man, said to him, “Brother, I am so sorry your wife died.”
The man turned and said, “Wife? No, my wife is still living. The one who died was my wife’s first husband. He is the one I wish had not died!”
Native
Americans were the first people to use and enjoy the mighty
It cuts
While
Americans owe much to Thomas Jefferson, few of his accomplishments were more
important than the
We do owe
much to the visionary founders of our nation. So, a few days ago, traveling
slowly on that large river, I gave thanks for the vision of one Thomas
Jefferson, and for the priceless treasure that the