Welcome to Elaine Exquisitecards@aol.com's Pictures / American Duchess River Cruise, July 2019

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Welcome to Elaine Exquisitecards@aol.com's Pictures

Check out my blog at: www.ElainesTravels.com & search: Great Riverboat Race

1 - Our river cruise started with one night in Memphis at the historic Peabody hotel, before embarking American Queen Steamboat Company's American Duchess for a two-week cruise on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to Pittsburgh.

1 - Our river c

2 - Scenes on Beale St.

2 - Scenes on B

4 - I have photographed the neon signs on Beale St. each of the four times I have been here. I just can't resist!

4 - I have phot

9 - Bruce, outside of Blues City Cafe

9 - Bruce, outs

17 - Can I buy a "T"?

18 - The bridge becomes an incredible light show twice per hour until 10 PM on summer nights. Check out: www.MightyLights.com .

18 - The bridge

21 - The Peabody Hotel. Notice the ducks in the fountain!

21 - The Peabod

22 - One of the resident ducks

22 - One of the

23 - Sun Studio, Birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll.

23 - Sun Studio

29 - A well-stickered pole outside Sun Studio

30 - The Memphis skyline as the American Duchess is underway.

30 - The Memphi

31 - Shooting up at the bridge as we cruised underneath.

31 - Shooting u

33 - A rainbow appeared in the spray of the paddlewheel.

34 - The Memphis bridge is affectionately known as the "Dolly Parton" bridge.

34 - The Memphi

36 - The National Quilt Museum, in Paducah, Kentucky, had beautiful stained glass windows in the lobby.

36 - The Nation

37 - Stained glass window

37 - Stained gl

38 - This "quilt" is actually carved from basswood! It is on display in the conference room at the National Quilt Museum. It was created by Fraser Smith, and measures 65" x 42" x 4".

38 - This "quil

39 - One of my favorite exhibits at the museum was of miniature quilts, measuring no more than 24" on one side. The quilts in this glass case were the smallest on exhibit, measuring just a few inches long.

40 - All of the quilts through #49 were in the miniature quilt exhibit. Unforunately, the pictures do not do these quilts justice. The amount of fine needlework in each of these pieces would need to be viewed with a magnifying glass to be fully appreciated!

40 - All of the

46 - This close-up view of a portion of this quilt shows just how much work went into sewing each of the flowers. What patience!

46 - This close

49 - The artist's statement of this piece: "I decided making a small quilt (14-3/4" x 21-1/4") would be a fun, relaxing respite from my current large quilt. How long could it possibly take? I figured a few hours work for a couple of weeks. Little did I know that this fun project would take two months of working seven days week for fourteen hours a day. It was a great accomplishment to complete this quilt, but believe me it was pure joy to get back to my usual large quilts." ~ Shirley P. Kelly, 2006

49 - The artist

52 - I first saw this quilt at the museum in 2017 during our "Mighty Mississippi" cruise. It was so disappointing at the time that photography was not permitted. This time, photos were allowed without flash, so I was thrilled to be able to photograph this amazing quilt.

52 - I first sa

64 - This quilt was HUGE!

64 - This quilt

69 - "Corona II: Solar Eclipse," by Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry, measures 76" x 94" and is made from hand-dyed fabrics. It is machine pieced and machine quilted. It was named one of the 100 Best Quilts of the 20th Century.

69 - "Corona II

71 - "Dance of the Twirly Girls," by Andrea Brokenshire won Hobbs Bonded Fibers Best Wall Quilt Award. It measures 43" x 53" and is whole-cloth painted silk and is quilted with a heavy free motion machine. Artist's Statement (in part),"This quilt is dedicated to my Aunt Esther and Aunt Helen...While stitching, I thought of my aunties twirling around in a joyous dance. They are my Twirly Girls!"

72 - "Breeze is the third quilt in my 'Simply Sensational' series using architectural settings to highlight each of the five senses. Touch is the only sense that involves the whole body. For this reason, I chose a rush of wind through and open window to completely surround the dog with the awareness of this sense." ~ Rachel Wetzler

72 - "Breeze is

75 - This was one of my favorites! "Port of Cassis," by Lenore Crawford, measures 52" x 48". It was created from a photo that she took in the south of France at dusk.

75 - This was o

76 - This quilt as well as the quilts in the next 32 photos (some are close-ups of the same quilt) were created by Danny Amazonas who started out as a professional floral designer in New York City in the 1970's. I was mesmerized by how these quilts looked like photographs when viewed from a distance.

76 - This quilt

79 - The further back I stood, the more this looked like a photograph. As I got closer, i was unable to decipher what it was.

79 - The furthe

82 - A closeup of a portion of the quilt in the previous photo.

83 - When you look at just a small portion of one of Danny's quilts, you can see the detail in the fabric he used and the invisible thread used to stitch it.

83 - When you l

92 - This fish (and the next photo) are portions of the previous quilt.

96 - A close-up of the quilt in #95.

96 - A close-up

101 - A close-up of the quilt in #100

101 - A close-u

109 - Cruising towards Louisville, Kentucky.

111 - Louisville

111 - Louisvill

113 - We took a behind the scenes tour of Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby.

113 - We took a

126 - We had a Q&A session with Mike Manganello, 1970 Kentucky Derby winner on Dust Commander.

127 - Bill Shoemaker was one short jockey! We toured the Churchill Downs Museum and learned about the great jockey.

127 - Bill Shoe

128 - Standing next to Wilt Chamberlin proves just how short he was-- and, how tall Chamberlin was!

132 - This 360 degree screen was awesome! We saw a great film about the history of the Kentucky Derby while sitting on stools in the center. The stools spun 360 degrees, so we could follow the horses racing by on the screen! The sound went right along with them, so it was a heart-thumping experience!

133 - Madison, Indiana, was once called "the most beautiful rivertown in America" by Charles Kuralt. We thought it was quite charming!

134 - Broadway Fountain

151 - Lanier Mansion, built in 1844.

151 - Lanier Ma

155 - The mansion's backyard.

155 - The mansi

156 - Madison's

161 - I love the Little Free Library's concept of "Take a book, return a book." Our little county, Spalding County, has 28 Little Free Library locations!

161 - I love th

170 - American Queen Steamboat Company's first riverboat, American Queen, tied up next to us in Cincinnati.

171 - Home of the Cincinnati Reds

171 - Home of t

171 - It was so good to see TJ again! He was our favorite crew aboard the Queen during our "Mighty Mississippi" cruise, so we were happy to get to see him again.

171 - It was so

173 - We enjoyed walking the streets of downtown, Cincinnati.

173 - We enjoye

176 - What a cool way to disguise a parking garage!

176 - What a co

178 - Another great disguised parking garage.

178 - Another g

179 - Bruce with the Reds's mascot.

179 - Bruce wit

183 - After walking around downtown, we took American Duchess's hop-on, hop-off bus for a tour of the city. Even though the botanical gardens were closed that day, we hopped off anyway to see the surrounding gardens. Check out the next shot!

183 - After wal

183 - This petrified tree was beautiful.

183 - This petr

187 - We had th

188 - We didn't visit the aquarium, but we did enjoy the murals on the side of the building!

188 - We didn't

197 - The view of the boats from the bridge.

199 - The park alongside the river had some interesting playground equipment! This pig really could "fly" if you pulled on the cables.

200 - This is the world's largest foot organ, made by Cincinnati's Verdin Company, the makers of bronze bells, street clocks, and tower clocks. Bruce had fun giving it a go.

200 - This is t

201 - We got a kick out of watching this dog bite at the water while his buddy looked on. That's the Reds's mascot kicking back on the bench across from the stadium.

204 - Instead of building an ugly concrete wall, the stadium wall was built with beautiful stone.

204 - Instead o

206 - John Waggoner, owner and CEO of American Queen Steamboat Company, was interviewed by a local TV network about the upcoming Great Riverboat Race.

206 - John Wagg

207 - The American Queen heads to the bridge for the start of the ace.

207 - The Ameri

209 - Check out my blog post about the race: https://elainestravels.com/2019/08/22/american-duchess-river-cruise-cincinnati-the-great-riverboat-race/

209 - Check out

217 - Bruce and I with Claudette and John Waggoner

217 - Bruce and

218 - Augusta, Kentucky

236 - Maysville, Kentucky. The 'Duchess organized a 3K run/walk race for the passengers, this is me at the finish line with Jeff, Courtney, and Dustin, the singers/dancers/cruise staff. I was the first walker in and the 7th overall of 65 participants.

236 - Maysville

237 - Bruce at the finish line.

238 - Me and Br

241 - The Kathleen Savage Browning Miniature Collection at the Kentucky Gateway Museum Center. All of the miniatures were 1/12-scale

241 - The Kathl

246 - Princess Diana's ancestral home, the Spencer House

256 - Old Pogue Distillery Museum

256 - Old Pogue

261 - Washington Opera House

261 - Washingto

264 - The Russell Theatre

264 - The Russe

293 - Point Pleasant, West Virginia is located on the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers. It is one of the oldest cities on the river.

293 - Point Ple

299 - Fort Randolph

299 - Fort Rand

310 - Marietta, Ohio

310 - Marietta,

343 - "Van Gogh in Bloom" exhibit at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. We spent a few days in Pittsburgh following our cruise.

343 - "Van Gogh

378 - Pointe State Park

378 - Pointe St

397 - The Strip District

397 - The Strip

423 - Roberto Clemente at PNC Park

423 - Roberto C

424 - PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates

424 - PNC Park,

These are additional pictures from the cruise I forgot to include above. Oops!

These are addit

Our tablemates, Jaque and Rick with Abbey.

Our tablemates,

Our wonderful pastry chef, Rebecca Stanley!

Our wonderful p

Bruce was invited to sit in with Bobby (guitar) a couple of times. They had played together on the American Queen.

Bruce was invit

Bruce and Bobby

Bruce and Bobby

Kye was also on the American Queen

Kye was also on