It takes me some time to get a feel for the large silver wheel in my hands. I give it a turn, and nothing happens right away. So I turn it even harder and suddenly the 60-foot, double-decker houseboat I am piloting is floating sideways down the mighty Mississippi. Lesson learned; I adjust modestly, wait for the result, and we’re back on course.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
Five friends and I had rented our mobile B&B on the water for the weekend from S&S Boat Rentals in Lansing, Iowa, a town right on the Mississippi River Trail. Novice sailors, we received an hour of instruction and a brief practice run before being set loose to explore the river on our own. Our first night’s stay will be a small, wooded island, and I’ll need to run the boat up onto a sandbar, which, frankly, sounds like something not to do. Not to worry: The company will send a fast boat if we can’t sort out a problem.
The houseboat has a simple kitchen, fridge, bathroom, shower and sleeping quarters for four couples. To avoid shallows or underwater wing dams, we must stick to the main channel, clearly marked by widely spaced green and red buoys. We are sailing Pool 9, a 31-mile stretch between Locks 8 and 9 (at Genoa and Lynxville, Wisconsin), though we could “lock through” to explore more of the river if we choose.
The bluffs along here rise as high as 400 feet. Eagles and herons are abundant. Pelicans circle overhead like something out of Jurassic Park, and cormorants make their long, running takeoffs right alongside the boat. Long barges occasionally lumber around the bend with their attendant tugboats, but they’re easily avoided by the faster and maneuverable houseboat.
We slip the prow into the sand and set anchors halfway up the beach on either side, then make a fire on the shore. In the evening, we sip sundowners up top. Out on the front deck, we fire up the grill to cook some Iowa steaks (which we acquired after-hours thanks to a local butcher’s meat vending machine). City lights are far off, and we lie back on deck chairs for some Milky Way and meteorite viewing.
On Sunday morning, I get up before dawn, the bluffs shrouded by morning mists. A rising rosy glow pushes away the gray world and the growing light reveals the occasional fish jumping and a man in a Bass Tracker heading out to catch it. An eagle flies past to do the same. There just isn’t a more beautiful and intimate way to experience the Mississippi.
The river is lovely throughout the sailing season, from May into October, with fall adding colors and many migrating birds along this corridor. S&S Boat Rentals, 563-538-4454.
More Mississippi River Cruises
Celebration Belle
A 750-passenger riverboat that offers 1.5-hour lunch sails and full-day cruises, departing from Prairie du Chien; Dubuque, Iowa; and the Quad Cities area.
La Crosse Queen
The 149-passenger paddlewheel riverboat hosts two- to three-hour sails for sightseeing, dining or music, with some trips that “lock thru” Lock & Dam No. 7.
Riverboat Twilight
Based in LeClaire, Iowa, this three-deck replica of a Victorian riverboat runs 1.5-hour and full-day cruises, plus a two-day with an overnight stay in Dubuque.
