One of the banner events of the Kentucky Derby Festival is racing old river paddle boats up and down the Ohio River. The cornerstone of this race is the 100-year-old “Belle of Louisville” who turns 100 later this year. She is an authentic steam-powered paddle wheel that drove transportation in the 1800’s and 1900’s up and down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. The Great Steamboat Race has been held since 1963
For years this battled the Belle against the “Delta Queen”, based out of Cincinnati. That boat is now permanently docked in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Now the opponent is a more modern diesel-powered paddle wheeler named the “Belle of Cincinnati”. The race is for bragging rights and a pair of silver-plated antlers.
The rules of the race have changed over the years and cheating is encouraged in the race. Because the Belle of Cincinnati is considerably faster the current version of the race includes a crew competition called the “Big Bounce”, a Calliope contest, and of course the race. During the race both boats have to stop and pick up a special guest, for the Belle of Louisville, it’s the University of Louisville Cardinal mascot, the Belle of Cincinnati picks up the University of Cincinnati Bearcat mascot.
Next they have to snag a flag attached to a buoy. This is their turn around point. The Belle of Louisville turns about two miles early to make the race fair.
We scored tickets to ride on the Belle of Louisville back In January. My wife has always wanted to ride the Belle on Race day, and this year we got the chance. With my mother-in-law in tow, we headed to the river front around 3:30 for a 4:30 boarding. The sun was shining and it was a bit breezy. We were pretty close to the front of the line and we got seats at the starboard bow that would have the best view of the picking up of the Louisville Cardinal.
At 6:00pm, the steam horn blasted and black smoke bellowed from the chimneys of the Belle. She steadily pushed out into the Ohio while the Belle of Cincinnati sat at the 2nd Street bridge waiting on the start. The Belle of Louisville got a running start, but before long the Belle of Cincinnati had a commanding lead up-stream.
It was a wonderful cruise, wind blowing through our hair and the bourbon flowing freely. Everyone got a chance to partake in a buffet as well. Miss Kentucky made her way around meeting the guests.
The Belle of Louisville made it to its pickup point at Cox Park to pick up the Cardinal (mind you I’m wearing my University of Kentucky shirt!…. On purpose….). At this point the Belle of Cincinnati was almost out of site up the river. After heading back into the river, the Belle of Louisville made it to a buoy with a UofL flag on it. The Belle of Cincinnati could be seen pulled over picking up its special guest. In theory the Belle of Louisville at this point had a commanding lead as we headed back to Louisville.
As soon as she turned west, the temperature felt as if it plummeted 30 degrees and the wind picked up in intensity. Most people, not dressed for the cold headed below to watch from the heated area of the boat. (Mind you the temperature really didn’t drop 30 degrees, but the fact that we were pretty shielded from the wind and now heading into it made it quite cold.
The Belle of Cincinnati never seemed to catch up and the Belle of Louisville rolled under the Clark Memorial 2nd Street bridge well ahead of its competitor. It was a blowout.
After disembarking and seeing the news later that night, it seems the Belle of Cincinnati conceded the race in honor of the Belle of Louisville’s 100th birthday celebration. But we are going with a butt kickin’. That’s our story and we are sticking to it.
