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We took a seven day cruise on the Mississippi Queen in July of 2000 from St. Louis, MO to St Paul, MN. The Mississippi Queen is a paddlewheel steamboat in service from 1976. It is one of the first steel riverboats, 382 feet long and about 81 feet high. It can hold 416 guests, but only slightly over 300 were aboard on our trip. When moving, our average speed was about 7 miles per hour. With many hours spent waiting for lock access, etc. we averaged about 4.2 miles per hour in the 660 mile trip. It was peaceful! No TV, no internet, NO INTERNET?? The highlights were the fantastic food and the regular morning talks by the “riverlorian” who related the history of each section of the Mississippi as we passed through it. We were never bored. We had elected to book one of the best cabins and enjoyed the king size bed, full bath, and both inside and balcony sitting rooms.

Our first stop was at Hannibal, MO., which revels in it’s connections with Mark Twain. A statue of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn has a prominent spot. Second was Dubuque, IA where we visited a casino until the smoke drove us out. Third was LaCrosse, WI where the local people met us and provided a welcome with bands, skits, etc. Nephew Ron, Kareen, and her mother, met us in LaCrosse and visited us on board the boat for lunch and conversation. Our last stop before St Paul was Red Wing, MN which is known for shoes, antiques, and pottery.

We went through 26 (count them) locks between St Louis and St. Paul. Our highest lift was 27 feet, but the average was about 4-6 feet. Many of the dams were open as a very rainy season in the north caused the river to be unusually high for July. The dams & locks were built starting in the 1930s to keep enough water on the upper parts of the river to permit navigation. Believe me, there is navigation on the Mississippi! Barges were everywhere, going both directions. There were many recreation watercraft on the river during the weekend. After reaching St Paul, we were transported to the airport where we flew back to St. Louis for our car.

Overall, the cruise experience was great. It would be hard to find anything wrong with it. Oh! While in St Louis, we did go up in the Arch. It provided an opportunity to take a picture of Busch Stadium. We were not able to see a baseball game because we could not get a hotel room within 50 miles of St Louis at that time.