As he lets the boiler release pressured steam with a deafening hiss, Lake Highlands neighbor Dean Smith cruises by in his 22-foot-long steamboat. Fitted with a bright red paddlewheel that propels up to 4 miles per hour, near-deck length canopy and twin rudders, the Jessica Anne takes on the shape of a Mississippi River boat ripped straight from the pages of a Mark Twain novel, albeit much smaller.
“As far as I know, this is the only steamboat of its size in Texas,” Smith says.
The Jessica Anne made its first appearance on White Rock Lake in May. Its first voyage, however, took place almost a half century ago on Lake Ray Hubbard…