Expect the Unexpected

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By Timothy Rubacky, Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Product Development

American river cruises with the American Queen Steamboat Company are not like any other vacation. When was the last time you were on a cruise and stopped at an extra port? Or been touring the country on a bus trip and suddenly spent the day in a location that was added to the tour? In other words, when’s the last time you go something for nothing?

Along the Gulf Coast in Louisiana and Mississippi they have a word for that. It’s called a lagniappe. Take a gander at Wikipedia and you’ll see it’s described as “a small gift given to a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase (such as a 13th doughnut when buying a dozen) or more broadly, as something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure.” The word is an amalgamation of several languages but came to the region via Louisiana French.

Appropriately, Mark Twain talked about the word in the quintessential book on steamboating, Life on the Mississippi.

“We picked up one excellent word — a word worth travelling to New Orleans to get; a nice limber, expressive, handy word — "lagniappe." They pronounce it lanny-yap. It is Spanish — so they said. We discovered it at the head of a column of odds and ends in the Picayune the first day; heard twenty people use it the second; inquired what it meant the third; adopted it and got facility in swinging it the fourth. It has a restricted meaning, but I think the people spread it out a little when they choose. It is the equivalent of the thirteenth roll in a “baker’s dozen.” It is something thrown in, gratis, for good measure. The custom originated in the Spanish quarter of the city. When a child or a servant buys something in a shop — or even the mayor or the governor, for aught I know — he finishes the operation by saying — ‘Give me something for lagniappe.’ The shopman always responds; gives the child a bit of licorice-root, gives the servant a cheap cigar or a spool of thread, gives the governor — I don't know what he gives the governor; support, likely. When you are invited to drink, and this does occur now and then in New Orleans — and you say, "What, again? — no, I've had enough;" the other party says, ‘But just this one time more — this is for lagniappe.’ When the beau perceives that he is stacking his compliments a trifle too high, and sees by the young lady's countenance that the edifice would have been better with the top compliment left off, he puts his ‘I beg pardon — no harm intended,’ into the briefer form of ‘Oh, that's for lagniappe.’”

On July 3, we gave our guests a lagniappe with an unexpected, extra port call in Chester, IL on our way to St. Louis for the city’s Independence Day celebration under the mighty Arch and fireworks extravaganza above. The Mississippi River’s current wasn’t as strong as expected and the American Queen was making excellent time. So excellent, in fact, she was running considerably ahead of schedule. That schedule called for her to spend the day on the river and we could easily have done just that. But why would we when, instead, we could present a lagniappe stop? So that’s what we did.

Steamboating is about friendship, hospitality and pleasant surprises. And a lagniappe is just that “little something extra” for our guests that we strive to deliver whenever we can. We’re delighted to be able to share that gift with all of you.

Chester is the birthplace of Elzie Crisler Segar, the creator of the Popeye cartoon character, and his childhood home. The town has been decorated with numerous statues of Olive Oil and other characters and has fully embraced its cartoon heritage. Guests spent a few hours in the stores, cafes, the Spinach Can/Popeye Museum and, of course, posing for pictures with the many large bronze statues.