A little old, but interesting

[LUSportsFan]

With some time to kill, I was searching to see where the excursion paddlewheeler that used to be docked at Beaumont's downtown Riverfront Park currently was. I was unsuccessful in that search, but found another paddlewheeler associated with Southeast Texas. Probably old news for some, but the American Queen passenger steamboat spent three years as part of the Beaumont US Maritime Naval Reserve Fleet ("Mothball Fleet"). It was refurbished and is now back in service. Turns out it was the largest steamboat ever built.

 

Here's a youtube of what the ship looked like on the inside before being "mothballed".

 

 

Here's a link to a FoxNews article from May 7, 2012 about the ship's return to service.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2012/05/07/hail-new-american-queen/

 

There have been some interesting vessels in the "Mothball Fleet" over the years. One I was familiar with was the Texas Clipper. The Clipper was a training ship for the Texas A&M Maritime Academy and later Texas A&M University at Galveston. I got to spend my summer between high school and college sailing on the Clipper and got 6 hours of college credit in freshman English and Math to boot. After the Clipper was retired, it was berthed at the Beaumont US Maritime Fleet for around 10 years and was later sunk (intentionally) off of South Padre Island to create an artificial reef.

 

Here's a Texas Parks & Wildlife video about the artificial reef project.

 

 

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Continuing on the "Boat" theme, a great opportunity for the public is the Neches River Adventures trips out of downtown Beaumont's Riverfront park almost every Saturday from May through November. My family took one of the tours last year and loved it. It's a great opportunity to get out of the house. Our trip was conducted by a couple of Lamar University faculty members who helped make the experience more than just a boat ride. We learned a little about the area.

 

The trip is on a 45 X 12 pontoon boat fittingly named "The Cardinal". The trips are a service of the Environmental Learning & Research Center. Lamar University is a founding member of the center.

 

http://nechesriveradventures.org/

 

Pictures on the linked Facebook page below will give you an idea of what to expect.

 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Neches-River-Adventures/209311866070