Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 19, 1993 TAG: 9309190241
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: F-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By Arline Bleecker
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
For instance, The Intracoastal, a 1245-mile-long ribbon, meanders down our eastern coast from Norfolk, Va., to Key West, Fla., all the way up the Gulf Coast to Brownsville, Texas.
In between, it harbors regions reflecting the influences of the peoples who lived along its shores, from Native Americans, Spanish settlers and Blackbeard to the post-Civil War African-American culture of the Sea Islands and the Jewish community that was crucial to the cultural life of Savannah, Ga.
Clipper Cruise Line plans a fall voyage along the Intracoastal, where the waterway links the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida and where the old South of colonial, antebellum and Victorian vintage still lingers in the architecture and culture.
The seven-day cruise, aboard the 100-passenger Nantucket Clipper, is sponsored by the University of Mississippi's Center for the Study of Southern Culture.
Beginning Oct. 30 in Jacksonville, Fla., it visits St. Augustine, Fla., the oldest city in the United States, founded by Spain in 1565. Other stops include Amelia Island, a 300-year-old coastal town once a pirate's haven, and the Okefenokee Swamp, where a boat ride draws passengers through this 1,600-acre wildlife sanctuary.
In Georgia, the ship visits Jekyll Island, the turn-of-the-century kingdom of American financial and industrial barons, and St. Simons Island, which had an active colonial history as headquarters for English ships more than 250 years ago. Also included is Savannah, the city that capitulated to the Union without a fight, thus becoming Sherman's Christmas gift to President Lincoln on Dec. 22, 1864. Many of that city's exquisite historic buildings survive for today's visitors to enjoy.
On board will be a prestigious group of Southern authors, historians, musicians and folklorists, including Dr. Ann J. Abadie, associate director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, who will discuss Southern literature; Dr. William Ferris, folklorist, photographer and filmmaker; Dr. Charles Joyner, a professor of Southern history and culture at the University of South Carolina; Dr. Clyda Stokes Rent, president of Mississippi University for Women, the first public college for women in the United States; and North Carolina native Doug Marlette, a Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist and author of a new book "Faux Bubba: Bill and Hillary Go to Washington." In addition, a naturalist will illuminate the Intracoastal's ecosystem of coastal rivers, lagoons, barrier beaches and narrow channels.
In addition, a naturalist will explain the Intracoastal's ecosystem of coastal rivers, lagoons, barrier beaches and narrow channels.
Cruise fares, from $2,590 per person, include one-night hotel accommodations in Charleston, S.C., and gratuities (excluding bar and special services). Call: (415) 325-3325 or your local travel agent . If any
waterway symbolizes America, surely it's the mighty Mississippi, the third longest river in the world.
When the riverboat Virginia first navigated the upper Mississippi in 1823, it heralded in an era when steamboats ruled the river. They chugged slowly past riverfronts that were either bustling centers of commerce or pristinely beautiful. In those days, a trip on a steamboat meant safety from attack, colorful river pilots, riverboat gamblers and opulent comforts a la Scarlett's Tara.
Today, it's possible to relive those times and to see the river the way Mark Twain did during his days as a river pilot.
Melodies from steam calliopes beckon passengers aboard several paddlewheel steamboats, though only one company offers overnight cruises. The Delta Queen Steamboat Co. makes trips ranging from three to 12 nights on its two authentic paddlewheel steamboats, the Delta Queen and the Mississippi Queen.
The company has just announced the building of yet another steamboat. Measuring 425 feet long and six decks high and accommodating 420 overnight passengers, the new riverboat is the first overnight steamboat to be built by an American shipyard in more than 15 years.
When it debuts in April of '95, it will be christened the American Queen.
by CNB