Ohio Riverboat Trip!

This afternoon, my son #2, John, and I went with our church group on a bus trip from Lexington to Louisville, Kentucky, for an Ohio River cruise on the boat, "Spirit of Jefferson."  After a proper blessing of the group and the bus by our Father Alan, we chatted and laughed our way to Louisville.

The Spirit of Jefferson, ready to board.

The crew served a large tasty buffet lunch.  There was a witty D.J. who played lively music in the background.  Our group of 26 sat together.  It's always fun to go with any church group.  I always see old friends and meet new ones.  It's never the same.

John standing near the sister boat, The Belle of Louisville

Me, Jan, in the middle of the river with the gangplank behind me.

The cruise was perfectly delightful.  This large boat ran very smoothly in the river.  Since I was born and mostly raised in Louisville, I enjoyed seeing the extensive riverfront development of hotels, restaurants, parks, docks, and the new arena, "Yum" Center.  Many years ago, one could drive on the River Road, park on the side, and directly walk down the bricked slope into the river or fish from there.  Now the interstate highways criss-cross nearby.

It was interesting to view the parade of passing boats, especially the long barges, pushed by tugboats.

Barge passing, cargo unknown.

We all enjoyed the riverfront homes and wished we had one of them!

A large, stately Victorian home on the Ohio River shore.

One friend tracked our trip on her phone's GPS.  It was neat to see the little dot representing the boat in the middle of the river!  Louisville is building another bridge.  What an undertaking!

A new bridge will cross the Ohio River at Louisville.

The old historic Louisville Water Company towers, viewed from the river.

After our most enjoyable river cruise, our group shopped the gift shop, then boarded our bus for the trip back to Lexington.  Out in the country, I noticed that my two friends on the other side of the aisle had both fallen asleep for a nap.  So had my son, John.  Later, he asked me, "Well, you had a nice nap, didn't you!"

Since I've traveled by boat on ocean, lake, and river this summer, I really can't decide which I like the best.  All have their advantages.  I had a nice discussion with a former Navy man about which sharks bite and which don't.  The main advantage of river and lake is that I can access them here, in Kentucky, hundreds of miles from the ocean!