The Kentucky River Police kept their boat at Big Rock and our patio was where they would bring drowning victims to be picked up by the coroner. It only help to intensify my fear of the river. I fell into the river twice while we lived at Big Rock and was lucky not to have drowned. Each time I fell in helping a boat tie up to our dock. The first time I fell between the boat and the float and the second time I was washed under the float and someone had to jump in and help me find my way out. Thank goodness my parents made me wear a life preserver at all times.
A large patio was eventually added to the harbor and it really livened things up. “Mother”, as my mom was affectionately called by all the folks on the river, would make large pots of soups and stews and have them ready to feed anybody who came in hungry. The boat didn’t have a regular kitchen and we were not considered a restaurant so the food was just there for the sharing. On a busy day, she might need to add an extra cup of water to the stew so no one went hungry.
During that summer someone caught an extremely large turtle and brought it to the harbor for my mother to cook. After it was disconnected from its portable home, my mother cut up the meat, floured and cooked it. We kids were disgusted but all the adults enjoyed a large pot of turtle stew. We were happy with a hot dog and chips.
Dick Arnold, a close friend of my parents, purchased Tri-City Yacht Club which was just east of our harbor. While we had two small docks for maybe a dozen boats, Tri City had long docks with multiple slips. Although our harbor was small, we had great times when the patrons who harbored their boats at Big Rock. At least once a week someone would decide to go harbor hopping and a few boats would fill to capacity and we would venture up and down the riverfront stopping here and there to have a meal or just drinks.
During my fifth grade at Park Avenue School Mom and Lou were able to buy a trailer to sit on the top of the hill overlooking Big Rock and we were living a life closer to normal. It sat just about where the Chart House and Don Pablo’s are now located in Newport, as you go into Bellevue. The trailer had only two bedrooms so I had to sleep on the sofa in the living room but it was definitely better than the floor of the boat harbor. Sadly, when the river flooded in the late sixties, my stepfather didn’t get the trailer out before the river flooded the entrance through the floodwall and as they pulled it to high land, the floors of the trailer were filled with water. We had to stay at my grandparents’ house after that.
Back in the sixties, not too many people appreciated the view we had of downtown Cincinnati and Mt. Adams. Now people pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to live there whereas back in the 50’s and 60’s, living on the river wasn't something that you bragged about.
No comments:
Post a Comment