Accents
Traffic? Try riverboat
Ensconced here on the other side of the globe (South Carolina of the U.S. of A. to be exact), I hanker for local scenes and what do I get online? A depressing photo of vehicles lined up bumper-to-bumper on the front page of a local paper. Gee, that jeep looks like the one I was riding on, clasping hard my hand because I was late for an appointment with the doctor. Instances of embarrassing tardiness surface in the mind all because of a heavy traffic photo in the homeland.
If land transportation is getting more and more difficult, try water – that is by sea or river, and in the case of Iloilo City, via riverboat through the Iloilo River. If my knowledge of geography serves me right, the Iloilo River starts in a labyrinthine way from up in the mountains, meanders down to Tigbauan and Oton, goes farther down to Arevalo and Mojon, passes Mandurriao, and opens to the Iloilo Strait that faces Guimaras Island. Tayo na to the hub of the city via a riverboat ride, or engine-powered sailboat ride to be a bit more specific, minus the fumes of carbon dioxide and the honking of jeeps by drivers who are just as impatient as their passengers to reach the city. Riverboat? Fancy idea you might think.
An evening spent at Savannah, Georgia last weekend gave birth to this imagined ride, nay, dream ride in our Iloilo River. Two riverboats ply the Savannah River from one bank across to the other bank, transporting a full load of passengers, tourists mostly – Americans themselves set to enjoy an evening out and foreigners glib in their own native tongue (count us in this group). Our son-in-law David had the van properly parked in the wide parking area between the Savannah Convention Center and the multi-storied Westin Hotel. Every half hour or so, two riverboats alternately ferry passengers to and from River Street, the famous cobbled street that is Savannah’s tourism haven. The ten-minute ride is free. We rode in the Juliette Gordon Low, so named in honor of Juliette Gordon Low, a native of Savannah, Georgia, who founded the Girl Scouts in America.
What’s so good about the riverboat ride aside from its being free? Savannah is eased up from more and more cars congesting its streets. People on short visits need not go round and round looking for a parking space, allowing them ample time to check out the many stores in the area which makes one wonder if the shops and eateries that line River Street contribute to the fuel consumption of the riverboats that daily bring customers to their doorstep. Maybe, or could be purely financed by the government’s tourism office in the hope of easing traffic.
What is fascinating about River Street is the Promenade Walk parallel to it – ideal for walking exercise or plain strolling, there are concrete and iron benches for tired feet to take a rest. A few enterprising souls make business. One playing an electric guitar, two doing gymnastics, a group of four seniors in a choral rendition, and all these performers have open cans in front of them for generous souls to drop a coin or a dollar bill. In our first evening out at River Street, a guy with a saxophone played Here comes the bride… as Rudy and I were walking very, very slowly, he holding a cane, the other hand holding my arm. How we smiled as he played while people nearby clapped in approbation. What else can you do but thank the guy with a dollar bill plunked into his waiting can. He does it most nights, playing different songs and, in a parody of the TV show, he would ask the delighted audience to Name that tune. We searched memory, hummed the tune, and guessed right a few of the songs.
One fellow had a display of palm leaves in flower designs. I picked the tiniest one and asked what it’s called. A palm rose, he replied, further saying that I could have it. I rejoined Rudy and our group, happily holding the palm rose and telling them about the guy giving it to me. “You’re hooked,” they said, “It’s not for free. Go back and give the guy some money.” Well, I went back and “paid” consoling myself that the fellow needed the dollar I shelled out more than I do. (I paused as I write this, went to the home altar to check, and still in a very nice shape is the palm rose which I had laid before the graven image of the Holy Family.)
No visit to Savannah is complete without a Riverboat Cruise! That in italics as the ad would have it, and that I have yet to confirm when I go for The Ultimate Savannah Experience, a 1½-hour to 2-hour cruise from the following choices: Narrated Sightseeing, Saturday Luncheon, Sunday Brunch, Dinner Entertainment, Moonlight Entertainment, and holiday cruises like Valentine’s Day, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. Unique settings are planned for special groups of 25 or more such as birthday or wedding celebrations, a party, meeting or convention. For all I know, the riverboats that ferry passengers in the Pasig River to ease Metro Manila’s traffic are also accommodating occasions of this sort.
I dream of a Riverboat Cruise in the Savannah River on a moonlit night before summer is over here in the States. And there’s my not-so-wild dream in the future not-too-far-away: a Riverboat Cruise from Oton to Iloilo City in the sparkling-clean Iloilo River without the flotsam-and-jetsam of noodle wrappers, sardine tin cans, and the like. I want a riverboat to ferry me from the elitist patio of Hotel del Rio to the boulevard across the river lined by low-end stalls where children out of school for the weekend help Tatay and Nanay sell boiled peanuts, freshly grilled corn-on-the-cob, bibingka, and other native delicacies – instead of the open palm waiting for dole-outs.
“In Dreams Begin Responsibilities” is the title of a short story we took up in college. I say, in dreams begin realities, too, and here’s where I need a dream catcher and a dream weaver to make my dream come true. Help! Is anyone out there? Somebody rich who’ll put up a riverboat cruise business or just a riverboat transport for the public. A retired official or newly elected politician who is as much a dreamer as I am, possessed with a history of accountability and transparency. Anyone out there?*
Email: lagoc@hargray.com
