Goodbye To The Steamboat "Delta Queen"

This is a photo from the Net, not one I took, of the legendary "Delta Queen" steamboat cruising majestically on the Mississippi River. When she docked at Vicksburg, I could not get a good shot because of the strange position she tied up on the west side of her sister the "American Queen". On November 3, 2008 I took these photos of the steamboats "American Queen" and "Delta Queen" at the Vicksburg river landing. The barely visible "Delta Queen" is moored to the far side of the "American Queen" in the foreground, and this is the last stop she made going downriver to her retirement in New Orleans. It was sad to see this famous steamboat's last call here. Many people including me came to see her and bid her farewell. Thankfully the modern luxury steamboat "American Queen" will still continue to operate up and down the Mississippi River and stop at Vicksburg as usual and perhaps one day the "Mississippi Queen" will resume operation. All passengers on the "Delta Queen" boarded the "American Queen" to finish their trip downriver to New Orleans. This welcome sign is painted on the flood wall at the riverfront landing where Mississippi River steamboats tie up to shore still as they have done so since the 1820's. The river gage marks on the flood wall at the river front in Vicksburg show the high record levels the Mississippi River reached in certain years.