ON THE AMERICAN QUEEN - VICKSBURG Vicksburg was incorporated in 1825 in honor of a Methodist minister, Newitt Vick, and was a prosperous city until the 47 day siege during the Civil War. There are several interesting museums in this small city, with a great deal of emphasis on the Civil War and the river. There are also several hills in town. Walking downhill is a lot easier than going up. It was a beautiful day today with sunshine and temperatures in the low 60’s. The hop on - hop off tour had seven stops. The first I got off at was the Old Depot Museum which had a nice diorama of the siege and several models of ships. Also, a working model train exhibit was well done. My next stop was the Old Court House ... read more

ST. FRANCISVILLE LOUISIANA - Interesting small town in West Feliciana Parish, population 12,500 including 5,000 inmates at Angola Penitentiary. St. Francisville has a population of fewer than 2,000 but is the parish seat. They have three traffic signals. A lot of the homes and buildings are ante bellum and very beautiful architecturally. The hop on - hop off tour included a stop at the Grace Episcopal Church built in 1827 and slightly damaged in the Civil War. Weather was cloudy and relatively mild but a cold front came through and rain started after I was back on board. There was a very good lecture by Lynn Roberts outlining her music career and talking about the various bands she sang with and, in response to a question from the audience, mentioned that she was born one day ... read more

I was unable to load pictures from New Orleans and my start on the American Queen. I'm trying again here.... read more

NEW ORLEANS FEBRUARY 22 - I flew in from Tampa via Atlanta arriving at 5:30 (CST) as scheduled. I had a nice surprise, I was upgraded from economy to first class. The mileage programs pay off! What a pleasure it was. The cloud formations were exceptionally beautiful! A shuttle to the Hilton Riverside was good, the only problem I experienced was the long lines at registration of this big hotel (they had a weekend competition for elementary and middle school age cheerleaders going on). I survived and got to my room and changed before going to dinner at Emeril’s. I walked from the hotel to the restaurant and made a stop at Gordon Biersch for a great draft beer. What an experience Emeril’s was! First class in every way. I sat at the chef’s bar and ... read more

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA - JANUARY 29 What a beautiful scene coming into Buenos Aires this morning. It was sunny and warm even at 8:00 am. We have logged 5,540 nautical miles since the ship left Valparaiso, Chile. The afternoon brought temperatures of 86 degrees on the ship and 98 degrees in the city on tour. Fortunately, the bus was air conditioned. Sunrise was at 6:10 and sunset was 8:01. I went on a morning tour covering the major highlights of Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires is a large city, 4 million residents with another 10 million in the metropolitan area. The downtown area and most residential neighborhoods were clean. The architecture is impressive and it appears to be a vibrant city, one that I could spend some time in. Statuary is prevalent in all the parks, and ... read more