Many B&B’s along the river offer amazing views, but one in St. Paul has more than just a view — Liz Miller’s Covington Inn puts guests right on the Mississippi River in a repurposed towboat. The Covington is a former Lower Mississippi towboat living a second life. Originally christened the Codrington of Canal Barge Line…
Emil in the River
When I see a photo of the Mississippi River around St. Paul it very often brings back a towboat memory. The view from Dayton’s Bluff in winter makes me remember a big adventure that lasted an extremely short amount of time. Right down there late winter or early spring of 1992 the towboat Lois E…
Waiting On A Train
Who doesn’t feel the romantic pull of a train headed for someplace new? But for many years this sight caused shivers to run down my spine. See, for towboat pilots who are pushing a heavy raft of barges downstream, the vision of a closed RR bridge is the source of nightmares. One afternoon on the…
Piloting with a Paddle
Programs to share cars and bicycles have become pretty common in larger cities, but for the last two summers Twin Cities’ paddlers have been able to use a credit card to rent a kayak, paddles and personal floatation device (PDF) from a locker on the banks of the Mississippi River. The first Mississippi River Paddle…
A Pirate Prowls the Urban River
A few seasons ago, a pirate ship appeared in the port of St. Paul. Not so much a river pirate as a Pirates-of-the-Caribbean variety. After several hundred passengers on boats I captained asked me, “Have you seen the pirate boat?” or “Are we gonna see the pirate boat?” or “Where is the pirate boat?” I…