So, come along for the ride! It starts at your doorstep in Vancouver B.C. - at your hotel, convention centre, office or even, if you wish, at the airport. Climb aboard an old-fashioned, sassy red Vancouver Trolley car. Okay, it doesn't run on rails, but it does go 'ding-ding-ding' as you set off on your adventure. If you're an old-movie buff and listen very, very carefully, you might even hear Judy Garland singing "The Trolley Car Song" in the background. But if not, you'll be entertained, anyway, with droll anecdotes about Vancouver's landmarks en-route to your destination. Which is the historic City of New Westminster.

The "Native" under way with real power-driven paddles

Waiting for you at the Westminster Quay, is the "Native" a pretty little Paddle-Wheeler ready to take you on a Mississippi-style river-boat cruise along the Fraser River. You won't hear the strains of '01 Man River', but a Dixieland ragtime band-in candy-striped jackets and boater hats-are out on the deck to welcome you with a swinging rendition of "When the Saints Go Marchin' In".

The bartender is jazz-age 'twenties too. He wears snappy suspenders, and a cloth cap pushed to the back of his head. With his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, he's ready to plunk down a tankard of foam-topped beer in front of you. Or, if you prefer it, your hostess in a long gown with a locket around her throat, and a smile in her eye, will serve you a glass of chilled Sauvignon Blanc or a robust Merlot Reserve, both fine wines produced right here in the Fraser Valley. Nibble on cheese, pate and crackers as the Native casts off, paddles churning, and you begin your leisurely cruise along the Fraser River.

Your Trolley is ready! (Margaret Deefholts photo

As the scenery unfolds, so does the history of the Fraser River ... the old gold rush days, (when there were more paddle-wheelers along the Fraser than on the Mississippi) are gone, but the Fraser remains at the heart of B.C.'s economy, the lumber industry in particular. Logs braided into raft-like booms, lie against the shoreline, and cheeky little boom-boats dance around them, nudging errant sticks into place. Self-important tugs draw barges piled high with wood chips or sawdust-perhaps not as shiny as nuggets or gold-dust, but in today's marketplace, almost as valuable.

"The Entertainers" aboard the "Native." (Margaret Deefholts photo

Bartender Frank asks "Can I get you a beer?" (Margaret Deefholt photo)

The "Native's" Dining Room. (Margaret Deefholt photo)

If there's a cool breeze off the water, slip downstairs to the comfortable wood-panelled dining room and browse through a fascinating collection of black and white photos of British Columbia in the early years of the century; scan old newspaper cuttings and dip into the lives and times of local characters, ranging from bank bandits to belles-of-the-ball. Or just shmooze with friends over a cup of coffee.

The band plays "The Entertainer" as the Native draws up at the dock and you are ushered into an elegant banquet room at the Delta Vancouver Airport Hotel & Marina in Richmond. And, if you've ever yearned to be a swaggering riverboat gambler ... well here's your chance! Wild Bill's Casino is in business at one end of the banquet hall and will let you role-play, without having to re-mortgaging your property. "Fun" money - a thousand dollars worth of chips-and you can roll the dice recklessly at craps, defy the odds at the blackjack table, or risk all on one turn of the roulette wheel.

No riverboat outing would be complete without a generous helping of traditional Southern hospitality-the Louisiana buffet-table in the banquet room, invites you to feast on an array of salads in Cajun style (lots of tomatoes and peppers), rice, chicken gumbo and a variety of jambalaya seafood specialities a la Creole. Linger for an after-dinner drink at the banquet room's bar-no worries about driving home-your private Vancouver

Trolley car will pick you up from the Delta Vancouver Airport Hotel and carry you back to your doorstep at the end of the evening.

Whether you join a group, organize a group, or celebrate that special occasion with your honey-for an old-fashioned good time, the Showboat Trip is a winner!

(For further information about the Trolley, Showboat & Delta-Vancouver Airport Hotel & Marina "Time of your Life" Trip call: 276-1963)

Margaret Deefholts is a B.C. freelance travel writer. Follow her other stories in Travelwise Online.