Steamboat NATCHEZ

Steamboat Natchez's guide in New Orleans starts with a question locals take seriously: why do people in the French Quarter check the sky by listening rather than looking. The answer runs through Debbie Fagnano, known on board as Miss Calliope, who has climbed to the open-air platform above the paddle wheel three times a day since 1989 to play the ship's steam calliope, a tradition on the river since 1856. You'll hear about her thirty-two note instrument, built in the gilded-age style of a Cincinnati organ maker, and about one song in her rotation that regulars have learned to pay close attention to. Stand at the wharf to catch the steam and lights along with the music.