Henry Tunnell, left, of Pontotoc and Nancy Simmons of Water Valley admire the front view of the Mississippi Queen and Delta Queen docked together at City Front Sunday. The two steamboats stopped in Vicksburg Sunday on their way from New Orleans to St. Louis as part of the 25th Annual Great Steamboat Race.(C. Todd Sherman The Vicksburg Post)

[6/30/03]Two steamboats quietly docked at City Front about 6 Sunday morning, bringing guests to shop, tour and rest in the river city.

“We came in without blowing our whistles because it’s early, and we don’t want to disturb the townspeople,” said Delta Queen Capt. Mike Williams. “So here we are in Vicksburg, the old Gilbraltar of the South.”

But once passengers got up and moving, it was time to pound the pavement and see the sights.

The unusual double-docking by the Delta Queen and the Mississippi Queen was part of the tour company’s annual “race” on the river, held during the week of the Fourth of July.

Passengers visited downtown shops that opened for them Sunday, toured the battlefield, made several trips to Wal-Mart, and others just took it easy.

Paul and Elsabeth Fraser of New Braunfels, Texas, said they stayed on the Delta Queen to work on a banner to be judged when the vessel docks in Cape Girardeau, Mo., Saturday.

“We’re all involved in a competition for the best banner,” Paul Fraser said. The couple would not reveal artwork planned for their banner, as the competition is tense, although good-natured, between passengers aboard the vessels.

Rather than speed alone, the steamboats competed in a variety of events as the race, from New Orleans to St. Louis, re-creates the 1870 contest between the Robert E. Lee and the Natchez.

“When I’m on the Mississippi River, I’m traveling the greatest highway of them all,” said Joe Cahn, 55, a New Orleans native who helps judge some of the competitions among the passengers and crews of each boat. “These two boats, side-by-side, is the history of America.”

“We can recapture our youth,” he said. “It’s about Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. We may grow in years, but we don’t have to grow up.”

And with the activities scheduled throughout the 11-day cruise, passengers have a chance to live it up.

When the boats docked in Natchez two days ago, women passengers and crew members dressed to the hilt for the “Floozie Parade.”

The Delta Queen is ahead in the race, having won the first stretch of the race by about an eighth of a mile and for having the “flooziest floozie.”

Other competitions include Capt. Foghorn’s Floating Follies, scheduled today when the boats dock in Greenville.

After Greenville, the boats will travel on to Memphis, Paducah, Ky., and Cape Girardeau, Mo., before finishing up in St. Louis.

“We enjoy the historical aspect of the cruise through visiting the towns and being on the boat,” said Elsabeth Fraser, 67. “And we learn more as we go.”

Capt. Williams said the tradition of steamboating is alive and well. “It’s a grand old American tradition that has survived,” he said. “It’s something like baseball and apple pie.”

“Passengers are taking a voyage to America rather than away from it, which is especially important these days,” he said.