Breakfast was at 7am. The ladies all had the cinnamon bun
French toast that I had raved about last week. Unfortunately, it was not as good this week as
last week. It hadn’t been soaked in egg. The flavors were the same, but the
textures were different. Mine was literally like someone had just smashed some scrambled eggs with a cinnamon bun and called it French toast. Pretty disappointing, but then we have come to expect that now every time we enter the dining room, I am sorry to say.
We took the complimentary tour of the National Park at Vicksburg Battleground. It was enormous and it has the remains of an armored paddlewheel
boat, the Cairo (pronounced kay roe). The bus tour took from 8:30am to 11:30am. It was very
well done and informative. It was very hot downtown when we got back to the
boat. But, we still walked along the levee wall and viewed all the murals and brass plaques on our return to the docked boat. Nicely done!
We went in for lunch. Mom had special ordered a grilled cheese sandwich. She had a chocolate éclair for dessert and pronounced it her 2nd best meal of the cruise. First best meal was the tamales we brought back for lunch yesterday. How sad a state is that? I had special ordered a pb&j sandwich. I had an éclair too and we were both happy. First course lunch was cauliflower cheddar soup or cornbread salad. Entrée was spinach salad or crab & crawfish baked mac & cheese. Dessert was chocolate éclair or ice cream.
We went in for lunch. Mom had special ordered a grilled cheese sandwich. She had a chocolate éclair for dessert and pronounced it her 2nd best meal of the cruise. First best meal was the tamales we brought back for lunch yesterday. How sad a state is that? I had special ordered a pb&j sandwich. I had an éclair too and we were both happy. First course lunch was cauliflower cheddar soup or cornbread salad. Entrée was spinach salad or crab & crawfish baked mac & cheese. Dessert was chocolate éclair or ice cream.
After lunch, Clay called a cab and we headed over to Cedar Grove. Judy had 2 wishes for this cruise, one was to see Graceland (check) and the other
was to see an antebellum plantation. Since Judy & Mom were leaving New Orleans on arrival pretty much, this wasn't going to be possible. We asked Mike the Riverlorian about it and he said if we were doing the Rural Life tour in Baton Rouge, we would see the working buildings of a period plantation but not the mansion. He suggested Cedar Grove as a good example of a plantation mansion. He was right, this one was pretty good. It is an inn and
restaurant now, but for $6 each you can go on a self-guided tour of the house
and grounds. It has repaired and retained cannonball holes and there is still a
cannonball lodged in the parlor wall!
After that we called the cab and went
back to the boat. There were pilot house tours this afternoon, but no one went. Clay and I
walked through Catfish Row and I played in the splash fountain before we
arrived at the Lower Mississippi River Museum. It was free and cool and
interesting, especially the boat sitting outside. Queen of the Mississippi had a free downtown
shuttle running most of the day that stopped at the Old Depot Museum which was
right across the street ($5.50) and the Old Court House Museum (Admission) and
the Museum of Coca-Cola ($3.50). We never made it on the shuttle or to anywhere
else in downtown. The heat index was 100F and the hills were so steep!
Dinner was first course of beet salad or shrimp & tomato
bisque. Entrée was chicken breast or salmon or flank steak. Dessert was pecan
pie or orange sour cream cake or ice cream. Damin set his own new record
tonight by completing our entire 3 course meal in 51 minutes. We congratulated him on it and
told him we had waited that long onboard for fried eggs before. He was appalled
and it is appalling. He asked to make sure we told Gerardo. With all the bad
service we have had I am not sure how our lone praise can help one conscientious
and hardworking waiter in a bunch that don’t seem to care. But, we did confirm with Gerardo what Damin had already told him.
Photos
Photos
