Waiting for the water to rise... Truly a long way from the river and will be waiting a lifetime before the tide reaches this small River Boat in a middle of a field off I-78 in Shartlesville, Pennsylvania. Without a drop of water in sight, She sits lifeless a few hundred yards from the River Boat Saloon which apparently acquired it's name from the already existing River Boat.

Without a vehicle to be found at the Saloon nor adjacent buildings, I had to stop and take a few photographs with my Consumer grade Canon PowerShot A10 Camera. It was the only camera I had with me at the time. When stepping out of my pickup, I felt like I stepped into a different dimension. The lights appeared to be on at the Saloon, but not one car in the lot... Complete silence except for an occasional roaring Semi barrelassin' down the freeway.

While walking around the River Boat taking some photos, it looked as if she been here for quite some time, neglected and withering away. The outside seem to need a mere cosmetic scrubbing and paint job. Though the inside had something to be desired with falling ceiling, holes in the floor and the growth of Moss and Grass.

 

 

She's not actually as old as she looks. The Suwannee Belle was built by the Lacrosse Riverboat Company in Wisconsin back in 1985. However, she was based on the much older paddle wheel that used to run on the Suwannee River in Florida many years earlier. Initially she carried up to 150 passengers at a time between the Hudson River and East River Bay in New York. The Suwannee Belle only stayed there a year or so before moving down south to Mobile Alabama, then again, relocated to John's Pass in Florida.

Eventually the Suwannee Belle started operating on the Suwannee River in January 1988 mimicking the vessel she was based on. Unfortunately she didn't last very long and in November that year, she was ripped from her moorings by a storm and drifted more than sixty miles from port breaking the hydraulic line before running aground at Hernando Beach. The Suwannee Belle was damaged so badly that she was decommissioned in 1991. Ten years later, the wreck was bought and moved to Shartlesville, Pennsylvania by a business man that intended to turn her into a restaurant. As bad luck would have it, the company went bankrupt and the Suwannee Belle was left to rot where she stand.

 

 

 

Her name "Suwannee Belle" clings onto the vessel as long as her bolts will allow

 

 

 

Snapping this photograph, my leg went through the floor up to my knee.
I decided to retreat, but still was amazed the pic came out as good as it did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At first I was torn between the decision of weather this River Boat was in Dismay or Restoration mode. But after extensive research and when passing by this vessel almost a year later, it appeared that it hadn't been touched. The Suwannee Belle still sits in Shartlesville today and is in far worse shape than when these photographs were taken. It seems the she was hexed from day one with no real place to call home or having a chance to be the beautiful historical replica that she was made for.