Kathy and I took a little side trip on the way to Miami to pick up some supplies to take a look at the old "African Queen" which we had seen a couple of years ago. At that time she was in worse than sad shape.

This is the actual boat from the movie from 1951. It turns out she was a working boat in Africa long before the movie and for a number of years after the movie. She is well over a hundred years old and still clicking along on her original steam engine.

We were pleasantly surprised to find out that a local business man had put great effort into an accurate restoration. The African Mahogany has been kept and the actual steam engine rebuilt to function. Unfortunately, the boiler itself was beyond repair or restoration and it had to be replaced with a custom new boiler. They retained the old design with riveted seams and true to the original shape.

We were even more pleased that they invited Kathy aboard for free since she works in a Visitor center directing tourists as to fun things they could do in the Keys. I on the other hand had to pay full price.... It was well worth it anyway.

As a final touch to an already good day , Captain Lance invited us to "take the tiller" for a while.

We feel very privileged to have both ridden and steered the African Queen even if we aren't as good looking as Bogart and Hepburn.! See picture above.