Caught in my own game ... but I liked it

I was up on the bridge a couple of days ago to get a picture of the M/V Paula Ruble as it passed through the Huntington area. Unknown to me, my older son, Joseph Ross, was down at Harris Riverfront Park trying out his new drone by getting pictures of the bridge I was on. He didn't know I was up there until yesterday, when he was showing me the photos he got and I noticed the Paula Ruble in some photos. Long story short, he went through his photos and zoomed in on one to find me shooting the Paula Ruble after it had gone under the bridge and was heading down the river toward Catlettsburg. 

I tried cleaning it up, but this was what I got. I might try again later.

Here are two pictures I got of the Ruble while I was up on the bridge, one approaching me and one heading away, as you can tell.

These were taken before the ones I posted yesterday.

M/V Paula Ruble, 5/25/24

 There was good light late yesterday afternoon for getting photos of one of my favorite boats.

American Queen meets the scrapper

Most of you probably know by now that the steam overnight passenger boat American Queen was delivrered to a metal recyling yard at Houma, Louisiana, this week. I don't know what to add to the conversation you've probably alreay heard other than to say ...

I enjoyed photographing that boat. My then 10-year-old son and I got to tour it and shoot stills and video for the company I worked for at the time. We saw the wheelhouse and the engine room, if I recall correctly. The visit to the engine room may have come on a different tour in 2017. I don't recall right now and those photos are on a hard drive that needs its power source repaired.

I can think of lots of business reasons for the boat's new owner to have it scrapped, but that doesn't mean I or we have to like it or approve it. At least the Delta Queen is still sitting somewhere, waiting for the day it can be considered refurbished and ready to travel under its own power again.

Point Pleasant River Museum

The Point Pleasant River Museum and Lakin Ray Cook Learning Center is open again. It opened back in September, but a grand opening event is scheduled for this summer, possiblythe first week in July.

I wrote about it in my column in The Herald-Dispatch of Huntington.

Here are a few pictures I got when I was invited up there on Wednesday. Mason County Commissioner Rick Handley invited me to be his guest at a Rotary meeting in the museum because I had bugged him about the museum for a while.

First, a model of the Silver Bridge.

A model of the Delta Queen.

A relic from a beautiful boat that was scrapped a few years ago.

A model of a Dravo Viking with an interesting name.

A model of the W.P. Snyder Jr.

And in the lobby is a portrait of the late Jack Fowler, who is credited with having done the work to make the museum what it is today. Fowler passed away after the old buildinb burned and before the new one opened.

M/V Evanick and the Henry M Shreve heading upriver 5/11/24

 

M/V Sally LaPeyre

 

Big money for riverfront development in Ohio

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine came to my neck of the woods -- Lawrence County, specifically the park at old Lock and Dam 27 -- today to announce a series of grants for 21 projects in 12 Appalachian counties to expand access to waterways, revitalize historic riverfront downtowns and create new tourism and recreational opportunities.

We knew he was coming to make some sort of announcement about the Lock and Dam 27 property, but not many of us expected something that big.

You can read the official news release here. The full list of projects is here. It's a pretty big list. Before I get to the projects in Lawrence County, three stand out to me. There's $34.2 million in Portsmouth for riverfront murals, an amphitheater, a fishing pier and campsites, along with a better connecting the riverfront to downtown.

Then there's Racine, Ohio, an incorporated community of about 683 people, which will receive a little over $10 million to upgrade its riverfront park. From what I've seen, Racine already has a nice riverfront park, so it will be interesting to get a look at plans for these changes.

And Gallipolis is getting $9 million, part of which is for building a dock to accommodate larger boats. By that I assume it means the town wants to get some of the passenger boats that cruise by to stop in town so people can spend a little money.

As for Lock and Dam 27, which is one of my favorite places along the river to photograph the river, sunrises, sunsets, people fishing, boats, weather, wildlife and about anything else that's there, the plan is to spend $5.2 million to repair the 1,400-foot lock wall that''s more than 100 years old and install a 100-boat marina with a boathouse.

These projects were chosen because they are close to being shovel-ready, Plans have been drawn up, and the state expects them to be pretty far along if not open for business in two years or less.

I will have more thoughts later. This is a lot to process. For sure the riverfronts of a lot of communnities in Ohio are going to look at lot different in a couple of years. Because of term limits, that will be DeWine's last year in the governor's office, and between this and other Appalachian initiatives he has launched this year, I expect him to have a pretty active farewell tour in 2016.

Catlettsburg, May 3, 2024 (3 of 3)

 Last batch of photos from Friday afternoon and evening.

Catlettsburg, May 3, 2024 (2 of 3)

 More photos from Catlettsburg this past Friday afternoon and evening: