CREATIVE RIVER CRUISE

 

When Shelia McLeish first contacted me about having the Golden Agers join the fifth and sixth grade classes from Fourth Baptist Christian School on a river cruise, my first thought was that they needed chaperones.

Nothing could be further from the truth. They simply wanted us to enjoy a ride on the Mississippi with them. They had their own chaperones and we were just along for the ride. And a great ride it was.

We boarded one of the Padelford Riverboats on Harriet Island in St. Paul. The day was chilly, not unusual for May in Minnesota, but the interior cabin was warm. The students, and some of our Golden Agers, enjoyed brief forays out to the upper deck as well.

We headed down the Mississippi past the Smith Avenue High Bridge and the Omaha Railroad Bridge. We observed the Pig’s Eye Parrant Cave and learned that St. Paul was once known as Pig’s Eye. We navigated the Mighty Mississippi down as far as Fort Snelling, the site of the oldest existing building in Minnesota, the Commandant’s house.

The Golden Agers enjoyed the energy of the students and some of the students gathered around one of the Golden Agers with questions about his time in the military. And we all made it back to the dock safely. It was a wonderful cruise.