Motley Saturday

62°f/16.6°C, cloudy with light rain off and on all last night and today.

Today was errands day---feed store for rabbit and chicken feed, picking up our checks at the antique malls, then to Mineral Wells for gas, a (very productive) Goodwill browse, Aldi's for a few things, etc. 

After all those were completed we moseyed up to Marietta for a look at the Sternwheel Festival. And look was all we did! The town was packed, parking was $10 everywhere, and it was raining. After looking things over, we decided we just weren't up for it, so we went back across the river, where I found a spot to snap a few zoomed shots. 

Disappointing, but after yesterday's long trip to Huntington neither of us were feeling like battling parking, crowds, rain and chilly weather. And at least I got to see the boats!

A few other pics from today:

A beautiful mural on the side of the Mother Earth Natural Foods store in Parkersburg. The store celebrated its 50th anniversary last week. I used to shop there occasionally, back in the 70s and early 80s, but I had no idea they were still in business. Next time we are on Parkersburg we need to stop in.

A fantastic wood carving outside the store, apparently done with the trunk of a tree that either fell, died, or had to be cut down for some reason.

I found this intersection rather sad. It was the site of the residence of Parkersburg's founder, as well as of a historic fort, and yet today? Billboards, rundown businesses and homes, and very busy traffic. Ivan intersection in more ways than one-- the intersection of the past and the present, of preservation efforts and the seeming desire to pave over or build over everything. 

And finally on the road home, where signs of autumn are everywhere.

Inland Waterways Festival

I'm storytelling this weekend at the Inland Waterways Festival in Marietta, Ohio. This festival happens every two years and I have told stories for it ever since its beginning. It's held at the Ohio River Museum on Front Street, on the banks of the Muskingum River.

It's the most fun! There's much to see and do, all free. The festival continues today. Here are some pics from yesterday's activities.

Josh Wilson of The Sail Loft in St. Albans, WV using a Marlin Spike to make a rope bumper.

Pilot house from the Tell City Steamboat was restored and open for visitors for the first time.

Inside the pilot house

Steam launch. It could spray water a LOT higher than in this pic!

Homemade blackberry ice cream. I couldn't even eat half of this giant cone.

Dragon boat club was there....

and so was part of their dragon!

the fish tank drew lots of lookers.

Learning about musseling. Fascinating.

A mussel boat.

Tellin' tales!

I got to sit at the wheel during the evening's sternwheeler dessert cruise! I didn't wreck the boat either.

The view from the pilot's seat.

Moon over the river

Nathan Lynn, folklorist, singer of roustabout songs and lots of others as well,
born and raised on the river at Paducah, OH, and a reference librarian was
our evening entertainment. He's really fascinating. I sat in on his session on
roustabout songs and enjoyed every minute. Very engaging.

Heading back 

big wheel keeps on rollin'...

It was a fine day, and today will bring more of the same. Hope to see some of you there!


Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Saturday's Sternwheelers in Pomeroy

We didn't get to Pomeroy until late Saturday afternoon and Larry was pretty tired, but I did convince him to stick around long enough for me to take a few photos of the sternwheelers in town for the annual Meigs County Sternwheeler Festival.

I love these boats. Maybe it's because they're a throwback to another time. I won't say a simpler time because I do believe people were just as busy, if not busier, then as they were forging a new nation, clearing land, establishing local governments, and discovering new and exciting methods of travel. 

 The steamboat trade on the inland waterways began in 1811 and picked up steam (pun intended) through the century, finally losing ground to the railroads and eventually to automobiles and trucks. But in their day, the boats were all over the place, carrying people and cargo from one community to another, billowing black smoke from their stacks, blowing their whistles and generally producing a lot of racket.

 And then of course there were the floating palaces, the showboats, that brought entertainment to remote places, and probably brought a good bit of trouble too with gambling and shifty types looking for opportunities to enrich themselves at the expense of the local population. But what excitement they produced with their steam calliopes playing music, hawkers running through the streets with handbills, gaslights blazing at night, and all the mystery of faraway places suggested by their arrival!

The sternwheelers today are strictly pleasure boats; the big ones still travel on river excursion cruises, providing luxury accommodations for those who can afford the (to me) high price of the trip.

 And then there are these gorgeous smaller sternwheelers, what might have been called packet boats back in the day of steam as they usually carried the "packets" of mail. Today these are usually privately owned or used for short excursion trips for tourists in river towns.

 Small or large, there is just something about these boats. Maybe it's their stacks, or their paddlewheels, or their perk shapes,

or maybe it's their bells and wood steering wheels, or their steam whistles...

 I don't know, but I never tire of looking at them and I will get on board whenever an opportunity presents itself.

Other boats were in town too, and the Ohio was big enough for them all on this beautiful day.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.