The first place we visit is this wonderful boat.
The ninth Natchez, the SS Natchez, is a sternwheel steamboat based at New Orleans in Louisiana. Built in 1975, she is sometimes referred to as the Natchez IX. She is operated by the New Orleans Steamboat Company and docks at the Toulouse Street Wharf. Day trips include harbor and dinner cruises along the Mississippi River. The Natchez IX is modeled not after the original Natchez, but rather the steamboats Hudson and Virginia. Her steam engines were built in 1925. The Natchez IX also features a steam calliope that can play 32 notes. The wheel is made of white oak and steel, is 25 feet (7.6 m) by 25 feet (7.6 m), and weighs over 26 tons.The whistle came from a ship that sank in 1908 on the Monongahela River.[citation needed] The Natchez IX was launched in Braithwaite, Louisiana. She is 265 feet (81 m) long and 46 feet (14 m) wide, has a depth of 7.9 feet (2.4 m), and measures 1384 tons. Natchez IX is mostly made of steel, to comply with United States Coast Guard rules.
On September 25, 1976, the SS Natchez was used by U.S. President Gerald Ford for a presidential campaign trip to the Southern United States. While on the campaign trip, which was about a month after Ford was nominated for re-election as President of the United States, Ford campaigned from the Natchez during the six-hour Saturday cruise from Lutcher, Louisiana to Jackson Square, New Orleans, a historic park in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. From there, Ford planned to spend three days in the south appealing to Southern conservatism by depicting his opponent, Jimmy Carter, as a free-spending liberal.To commemorate the event, Doc Hawley, captain of the SS Natchez, gave Ford a black hat with chinstrap and gold thread embroidering the word Natchez.
In 1982 the Natchez won the Great Steamboat Race, which is held every year on the Wednesday immediately before the first Saturday in May, as part of the Kentucky Derby Festival held in Louisville, Kentucky. She has also participated in other races, and has never lost. Those beaten by the Natchez include the Belle of Louisville, the Delta Queen, and the Mississippi Queen. During the Hurricane Katrina disaster, the Natchez was temporarily moved upriver to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.