Bring Back the Delta Queen for Just $4.75 Million

First, no, I don't have space personally for an 84-year-old, 285-foot steamboat that carries 176 passengers. But it's owned by Seattle's Ambassadors International, and if some millionaire from Oklahoma buys it, I'll have an aneurysm. Who'd pass up the chance to pick up a pair of queens?

Franz Neumeier of Save the Delta Queen says it's perfectly safe. And a steamboat tricked out like this can go anywhere:

The Delta Queen has four decks, Tiffany-style stained-glass windows, an 1897 calliope, and the same steamboat bell that graced a ship on which Samuel Clemens traveled in 1883.

It also boasts a "library, music, or theatrical area," so I'll go ahead and add this to the list of SunBreak initiatives. Put it just ahead of district elections for Seattle City Council, rather than our current lazy-ass at-large system.

Secondly, before you throw the Kalakala in my face, I was never really in favor of that. That was all editor Dan's idea, and he's since decamped for Chicago. Anyone who set foot on the Kalakala realized immediately that "restoration" of the ferry was akin to reanimating the skeleton of your dead girlfriend. Even if it works, it's pretty creepy.

Whereas the Delta Queen just had a $3.8-million renovation in 1998, and operates as a floating 88-room hotel. At the moment, the Delta Queen is tied up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which is a long paddle from Stockton, California, where she hails from originally. Once we get her back to the west coast, the possibilities are limitless, including: floating hotel/restaurant, cruise ship, museum, casino, or theme park.