A once in a lifetime chance to be among 9 Paddle Wheel boats on the Ohio River at the same time. What a way to experience the first national celebrations of our nation’s 250th birthday.
The Cincinnati Chapter in conjunction with the River Roots Festival organization sponsored a weekend long gathering of paddle wheel boats giving rides and lighting up Cincinnati’s riverfront. In addition to the paddle wheel boats, we had thirty-eight of our antique and classic boats, (five from the Blue Ridge Chapter) escorting them into town on Thursday October 9th. Did I forget to mention that our boats were the only boats allowed on the river with paddle wheelers?
On Friday, the Cincinnati chapter had a poker run for the boats going both upriver and downriver past the Cincinnati riverfront then back to the marina. None of us won but we all had a wonderful time. On Saturday we had our own parade, passing downtown as an announcer talked about each boat and their passengers.
The last event on Sunday was the race between the Natchez and the Bell of Louisville. With our boats leading them off the starting line and a second group behind them. Over a million people gathered along the riverbanks over the weekend. We saw two weddings by the river, set against paddle wheels and the Cincinnati skyline.
