mv AEP Mariner at RCB

On the way to grandma's house to spend a few days of spring break, Adam, Joey and I swung by the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam to see if any boats were around. I saw one in the distance. I guessed it was a Crounse boat of the sort that I have dozens of photos of, but Adam knew differently. He recognized the pilothouse as belonging to one of his favorite boats, the mv. AEP Mariner.

So while Joey stayed in the car (he's not a boat fan), Adam and I went down closer to the river.

Adam got out the field glasses he keeps in the car for such occasions.>

We saw the boat approach the lock ...

... enter the lock ....

... leave the lock ...

... and head downriver.

Point Pleasant River Museum

Yesterday, Adam reminded me that the next time we were near Point Pleasant WV that I had promised to take him to the Point Pleasant River Museum. Well, we were in the neighborhood, so we went.

I had been meaning to go to the museum for several years. But it was so close by and so convenient that I kept forgetting or procrastinating.

So yesterday we went, and I kicked myself for taking so long.

Adam spent some time looking at the model of the Silver Bridge. I explained what I knew about what caused its collapse. I also told him that I wrote a paper for my History of American Journalism class about the Silver Bridge using contemporary newspaper and magazine articles as sources. He made sure we watched a video about the collapse, and we were both impressed by the computer animation of what happened.

We had to make at least three trips through the room with the aquarium holding several species of Ohio River fish.

Adam spent some time looking at this model of the towboat AEP Mariner. Of course, he found a couple of differences between the model and the actual boat.

Adam tried out the calliope ...

... and he rang a bell, but I couldn't talk him into operating an old steamboat whistle. My grandfather, who died in the 1950s, used to sit on his back porch by the Ohio River and identify far-off boats by the sounds of their whistles.

The museum is a must-see for anyone interested in the Ohio River or the Kanawha River. You don't have to be a riverboat fan or a local history hobbyist to enjoy it.

For more information, the museum's Web site is here.

If you're on Facebook, the museum's page is here.

A few things

The Columbus Dispatch has a travel article about Louisville. The second paragraph:

Actually, most Americans can probably learn, or relearn, a thing or two about their native land by visiting Louisville.  

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I guess this is good news: Bald eagles are making a comeback, and their numbers could grow along the Ohio River because it provides access to their preferred diet of fish, according to the Courier-Journal of Louisville.

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This next is not about the Ohio River per se, but it's about Huntington, where I've lived and/or worked for many years. The Daily Mail of London does a piece that makes Huntington look really bad, but it does concede that many cities in the US and elsewhere have problems with obesity.

I was in a couple of other Ohio River cities yesterday, and I can say I saw a large number of kids who are a lot heavier than I and my schoolmates were at that same age.