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NRHS 2017 Convention - General Jackson Showboat 6/23/2017

The busses of conventioneers arrived at the General Jackson Showboat and I went to the ticket office which had 87 tickets for the show. Everyone formed a line while I was doing that and waited for me to give distribute the tickets. Each ticket had a table number and I made sure Elizabeth and I had a seat at the same table. The only small problem we had was when one gentleman obtained a ticket at one table and his wife, who was not with him at the time, received a ticket for another table. However, the wait staff on the boat fixed that problem and everyone was happy. When I had a few extra tickets left, I sent Elizabeth to find the bus drivers who had done an excellent job all week and she presented them with two tickets and they were very appreciative. One of them had never seen the show and I thought it was high time that she did.

General Jackson is a riverboat-more specifically, a showboat-based on the Cumberland River in Nashville, Tennessee. General Jackson was named after another riverboat of the same name that was built in 1817; that boat was in turn named for Andrew Jackson. The modern boat was originally an attraction at the Opryland USA theme park. The park closed in 1997, but the boat remains in service, docking at Pennington Bend near the Opry Mills shopping center that replaced the park. In addition to Opry Mills, the dock is located near the Grand Ole Opry House and the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.

The original captains were Captain E.A. Poe and Captain William Howell.

General Jackson was built by Jeffboat in Jeffersonville, Indiana and launched in 1985. Though built to resemble a vintage steam-powered riverboat, it is actually powered by diesel generators which power two 600 horsepower electric motors, which in turn propel a 24-foot-diameter, 36-ton sternwheel. The boat has a capacity of 1,200 passengers and 157 crew members. She is 274 feet long {300 feet with gangway extended}, has a 63-foot-6-inch beam (width), is 77 feet tall with her folding smokestacks fully extended (the folding stacks are necessary because of low bridge clearances), and has a draft of 7 feet.

General Jackson is designed to recreate the showboats that plied the waters of American rivers in the 19th century. Several different shows are presented during the primary March-December season, with two cruises usually taken each day. Evening cruises normally feature dining as well. Most cruises feature the country music for which the Opry is known, though variety musicals and gospel music are also featured.

The General Jackson Showboat.

As we neared the gang plank, this provides a better idea of the immense size of this vessel.

Looking down the river, although our journey would be up the river. We went in and found our table and visited the buffet where I chose fried chicken, mashed potatoes and a dinner roll, then asked for some water since I do not like iced tea.

Our group at Table 34. After my meal and after Alex Mayes had told me the balcony was a far better place to take pictures of the show, I decided to go up there to watch.

Looking down on our group from the balcony. The show was called "A Taste of Tennessee" and featured music from all over the state.

The band played an opening number.

Jimmy Miller performed the song "Tennessee River".

Bob Fortner and Katie Kerkhover performed a piece of music involving duelling violins.

Next were songs by Carl Perkins.

The songs of Elvis Presley were performed.

This was followed by a male duet.

Dolly Parton's music was performed next.

A song by another duet.

A fourth duet. At this point, I took a break which took me outside.

The paddle wheel of the General Jackson Showboat. I returned to the show.

Another song was shared with the audience.

The whole cast performed a song from the Smoky Mountains.

The final song had a patriotic flavour. This performance was extremely well done as I really enjoyed the violin-playing musicians and the singers who made for an unforgettable afternoon. A big thank you for an excellent show that I will never forget. I walked out of the theatre and went up one level where I found Elizabeth and we enjoyed the Cumberland River together.

Our journey up the Cumberland River. It was about at this point that the boat started to turn around to return to the dock.

The ship made the 180 degree turn with ease and almost no effort, and now we would travel down the Cumberland River.

We were enjoying the views until our un-favourite Tropical Storm Cindy decided to send monsoonal rains that made everything, even under the covered decks, wet. Elizabeth and I ended up in an unused lounge and sat at a table, then talked and she discovered that I wanted a T-shirt of the Showboat experience and she offered to get me one. While she was off doing that, a gentleman was bringing in tables, told me they were having a bigger crowd tonight and they would be using this room, but we were allowed to stay. All too soon, the boat was returning to the dock and we went out with umbrellas to fend off Cindy's wrath to be ready to disembark.

The dock that we returned to, ending a most interesting and educational cruise aboard the General Jackson Showboat. A special thank you to them for having our group here today. We were driven back to the Nashville Airport Hotel where we dropped the people off and the two of us returned to the Days Inn for a while. Later, Bob, Elizabeth and I drove back to the Nashville Airport Hotel for the social hour and banquet.

We went to the social hour then at 7:00 PM, the doors were opened and everyone entered the banquet room. We were greeted by John Goodman but this year for some reason, there was no invocation at the beginning which I found very strange as we were in the Bible Belt of America. For my dinner, I had the chicken which I have to admit was not as good as the Showboat's. After the recognition and introduction of guests, the Heritage Grants collection was announced and $3,168 was raised by those in attendance. Following that, Al Weber, NRHS President, spoke and afterwards, John Goodman then introduced Mr. Robert D. Tuke, whose speech included a Powerpoint presentation on saving Nashville's Union Station from demolition, but not the trainshed, which was the largest in America. Once he finished, the banquet was over and we returned to the Days Inn where we continued working on travelogues.

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