In author Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld series, everyone who has ever lived on Earth (up to a certain date) is reborn on a vast planet constructed by a mysterious alien race. In every portion of this manufactured world, people from different ages, cultures, races, and beliefs mix freely. So aborigine cultures would mix with the most advanced peoples, and everyone in between. This allows people of great flexibility and willpower, such as Sir Richard Burton, the world famous explorer from Torquay, England, to shine in book one of the series.
In The Fabulous Riverboat, the second Riverworld novel, Samuel Clemens opts not to spend this second life writing as a novelist under the pseudonym Mark Twain. Instead, he uses his humor and smarts to convince others to help him build a steamboat. This allows him to return to the love of his youth, that of piloting a steamboat on the Mississippi River. This early career had been taken from him, when river travel routes were cut short by the American Civil War.
In Horning, England, you can step aboard a ship similar to the one Samuel Clemens built in Farmer's novel, and cruise the byways of the Norfolk broads. Like Riverworld, the area exhibits natural splendor. It's a scenic wonderland protected against development by the English government.
Sitting in comfort aboard the Southern Comfort, you'll cruise along natural and manmade rivers. The ship's modern engine are far quieter than the primitive steam engines of Samuel Clemens' day. So you don't have to worry about the engine exploding, and setting the vessel on fire, such as in the accident that claimed his brother's life. Nor will you see workers digging new river channels for peat to keep their families warm in winter. But, depending upon when you visit, you might spy them harvesting the thatch lining these natural and manmade rivers, which they use to roof their houses.
A cruise aboard the Southern Comfort allows you to see how many people love to get out in the water, explore these tree-lined byways, and watch the swans, ducks, coots, and grebes swim past. As you cruise past the wide variety of nearby houses and villages, you can chat with those seated next to you. Most will hail from other regions of England, and happily tell you about the places they live.
The Mississippi River Boat Company calls their ship the Southern Comfort, but the way they service their customers is thoroughly English. So you can sit back, and watch the world go by, while sipping tea, and crunching a biscuit (that's English for cookie, mind you) with a proper cup and saucer. If you travel with a group, the leader may even purchase your tea for you, and bring it to your seat, as he did on our river cruise.
Who would have guessed that one could tour the famous Broads of England aboard a fabulous Mississippi riverboat?
Samuel Clemens, take a bow.
Dragon Dave
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