Phil,

That's pretty amazing! The City Of Baton Rouge is STILL the warfboat for the riverboat TWILIGHT operating out of Leclaire, Iowa--where Interstate 80 crosses the Mississippi River. When I was singing on the Twilight (from 1986 to '96) the crews, when not working, stayed/slept on the City Of Baton Rouge.

I also sang on the steamboat Julia Belle Swain from 1986 to 1993. The JBS was then sold to Bob Gehagen (1993 or '94) -- mainly because the advent of gambling on the river spelled the death knell for many wonderful excursion boats that did not have, or want to have, gambling. It was a sad time for John Hartford and me and many others who hated to see that grand steamboat have to be sold by Capt. Dennis Trone---the man who designed and built both vessels. Lower ridership made it necessary though. But, the more things change, the more they get different!

You can still ride on the Julia Belle Swain! It operates out of LaCrosse, Wisconsin. The riverboat Twilight is now owned by Captain Kevin Stier and makes wonderful 2-day excursion trips out of Le Clair, Iowa. For all I've heard, the passengers have all come back--now that they realize that the gambling boats rarely ever leave the shore!

The old City Of Baton Rouge is a bit worse for wear--to say the least----but it is still used as a boarding vessel warfboat for the Twilight. -----

------Maybe I ought to ask Bruce Kallick to put some of my river years photos up on the website too. We hshall see what he feels about that possibility...

All the best,

Art