Our final voyage on the historic General Jackson Showboat in Nashville

I heard on the news that the famous General Jackson Showboat was sadly coming to an end, and its final voyage is reported to be on December 15^th. This showboat is an important part of our Southern heritage. 10 years ago, while in Tennessee, I enjoyed my first dinner show on the General Jackson, cruising the Cumberland River, but I wanted my wife to enjoy this experience before he retired. So, we went online and booked a cruise before they sold out.

Since I’m a bit of ‘The Grinch who stole Christmas,’ I had to throw myself overboard (figuratively) and watch my wife choose the cruise. She chose the evening cruise, specifically “A Nashville Christmas & Showboat Holiday Spectacular.”

I was able to restrain the Grinch in me and went along for the ride; I mean, cruise. It was indeed most certainly “spectacular.’ The show, the food, the service, the live music, Nashville’s night‑lit skyline, and their Southern-Style dining experience were all spectacular.

My wife wandered off, disappearing onto the lower deck. I found her in the stern, standing close to the paddle wheel in the midst of darkness. This is where I started thinking of her life insurance policy. Thought to myself, ‘No, Bill, this is a date, not the time to be featured on Dateline’ (kidding). On a serious note, I’m glad I kissed her right there by the paddle wheel. Calm down, it was a quick senior-citizen kind of kiss. Yuck, girl cooties. Later she told me that was her favorite part. I asked her, “The kiss?” She said, “No, the paddlewheel” (not joking).

I shot lots of video, but I’m not sure I wanted to sort through it all. In the meantime, here’s some drone & regular footage by others.

Drone footage by drone pilot Ken Heron.

Drone footage by Tampa Ariel Media – of Nashville, The River & General Jackson

From Nashville & Co.