Cruise Ship Holidays - Mississippi, Ohio and Missouri River 

By David Ellis

The inventive Nicholas Roosevelt reckoned there had to be better ways of opening up the American inland than by slow-plodding horse and carriage and the railway that had yet to reach his hometown of Pittsburgh.

And the Ohio River, that flowed past his very door to join the mighty Mississippi and meander on to New Orleans on the Gulf of Mexico, looked just the place to start.

But his first venture at proving Old Man River could become a grand highway carrying crops from the bourgeoning cotton farms and sugar plantations of the inland to affluent markets on the coast, and bring new settlers back on return trips, proved anything but plain-sailing.

The year was 1811, and to start with the little paddle-steamer Mr Roosevelt built and named New Orleans caught fire just days into her pioneering journey. Then, after repairs, an earthquake created a tidal wave that nearly sank boat and crew.

They were attacked by Indians not happy with the intrusion of the white man and his strange craft into their territory, and no one had mentioned the Ohio Falls, a set a savage rapids they found they’d have to ‘run.’

And amid all this, his wife Lydia surprised him by prematurely giving birth on board.

But several weeks later the brave little New Orleans with the Roosevelt family and some loyal supporters arrived at her destination, proving Mr Roosevelt’s point. And within a few years dozens of paddle- and stern-wheelers were churning their way up and down the Mississippi and her tributaries, linking New Orleans with Pittsburgh, Minneapolis/St Paul and Chattanooga, and scores of newly-emerging communities along the way.

Not short of a dollar himself – his family was well connected and he was in fact great grand-uncle to Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt who was to became America’s 26th President – Nicholas Roosevelt went on to pioneer many new riverboat routes.

And for over a century they provided the main means of transport in the South, carrying everyone from blue-blood plantation owners and their Southern belles, to manacled slaves. And they created a whole new industry in riverboat gambling: because the Mississippi meanders through a number of States that outlawed gambling, the river boat operators got away with it as there were no laws at the time could be applied to the individual ships as they made their way in and out of those States.

And then the boats suddenly disappeared, victims to trains, planes and automobiles.

But late last century the Mississippi riverboat industry came to life once more, as a new form of holiday attraction for thousands who suddenly discovered these oft-dubbed “wedding-cake boats” (because of their ornateness) were a wonderfully unique and leisurely way to explore America’s fabled South.

Sadly their revival was short-lived, but travel agent Ed Smith of Cruise Specialist Holidays who has been successfully selling Mississippi holidays to Australians for years, says there’s never been more interest in Mississippi river cruising – and that in 2012 a brand-new replica of a 140-passenger old-style paddlewheeler will begin sailings between New Orleans and Memphis.

“Many cruise buffs see the Mississippi as a totally different alternative to ocean cruising,” he says.

“Cruising down the Mississippi is just something you never forget. And it’s not just the views and the history: dining on today’s modern riverboats is equally memorable with such traditional dishes as Southern fried chicken, pecan pie,and chocolate brownies, while entertainment embodies everything from Dixie to jazz, Delta blues and Southern-style cabaret depending on the vessel.”

“And this of course is Mark Twain country, so it rekindles childhood memories of black and white movies and the stories mum and dad used to read to us… and Civil War battlefields, grand Southern mansions, the bayous  – and Elvis Presley’s Memphis.”

Cruise Specialist Holidays has Mississippi, Ohio and Missouri River cruises with Blount Small Ship Adventures that sail 10-to-15 day from Chattanooga to Nashville or New Orleans and from Chicago to New Orleans.

Cruises include onboard historians, naturalists, wine tastings and culinary demonstrations, and shore-side biking and horse-drawn carriage rides. And because of their size they can also access many smaller towns and unique attractions mostly by-passed by road coaches.

Prices start from US$2829pp twin-share. 

For full details phone Cruise Specialist Holidays toll-free 1300 79 49 59.