Steamboat passengers spend day in Cape

The calliope sounded early in downtown Cape Girardeau Wednesday -- about 4:30 a.m.

The Mississippi Queen, making its first stop of the summer in Cape Girardeau, steamed into town.

"We were running about seven hours early," said Candi Christie, passenger services coordinator on the steamboat.

But the Queen caught up with its time schedule by staying here until about 5 p.m. Wednesday, before deporting for the St. Louis area where it will add to its passenger list for the return to Cape Girardeau Saturday.

"We should have more than 260 aboard by then," said Christie.

New owners

The Mississippi Queen is under new ownership, but the paddlewheeler is still steaming the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, porting at New Orleans, Memphis,. Pittsburgh, St. Louis and many other cities, including Cape Girardeau, along the river routes.

The new owners of the Delta Queen Steamboat Co. is Delaware North, a multi-national food service, recreational and hospitality management company with operations throughout the United States, Canada and the Pacific Rim. Delaware North, headquartered at Buffalo, N.Y., includes seven operating units in traditional concessions and fine dining, hospitality and recreational services, sports -- the company owns the Boston Bruins National League Hockey team -- and leisure facilities.

Delaware North is one of the nation's largest private companies.

The Mississippi Queen, a 400-passenger paddlewheeler, and the Delta Queen, which can accommodate 188 passengers, are being used for the inland Mississippi and Ohio river cruises.

Evelyn Russell, one of about 165 passengers on the steamboat Wednesday, didn't mind the long stop in Cape Girardeau.

"We're so pleased that the river cruises are continuing," said Russell. "We flew from St. Louis to Nashville to take part in a six-day cruise back to St. Louis. We'll be doing it again."

Russell and her husband, Richard, have been on ocean cruises, but "we like the river cruises, where we can see land every day," she said. "The Mississippi Queen has ported at a number of sites -- Cave-in-Rock, Ill., Paducah, Ky., and Cape Girardeau, and, we'll be stopping at Ste. Genevieve en route to St. Louis."

She added that there's just a certain thrill that comes with boarding the paddlewheeler steamboats.

Steam powered

The Mississippi Queen was commissioned more than a quarter-century ago, on July 25, 1976. She is 382 feet long and 68 feet wide. It is a true steamboat, powered by an authentic steam engine. The huge paddlewheel is not just for show, it propels her along the river.

"The Queen offers a number of activities for its passengers," said Christie. "We have a regular list of activities and entertainment."

During the daylong stay here, some passengers were transported on tours to the Bollinger County Mill, and others were taken on historic tours of the city. A Jerry Ford jazz group -- Ford, John Quinn, Joe Blackwell and Dan Cotner -- provided musical entertainment at the boat-docking site, and Cotner presented an organ concert at old St. Vincent's Church at 2 p.m.

The 285-foot-long, 43-foot-tall Delta Queen, which was built in 1926 and spent 19 years in the service of the U.S. Navy before she began steaming the Mississippi River in 1947, has been designated a National Historic Landmark. The Delta Queen will make four stops in Cape Girardeau this summer.

It has been described as "an inn," and the Mississippi Queen as the "Hilton," by a passenger who has been aboard both vessels.

The Mississippi Queen will dock here from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Another river vessel, the River Explorer, a 730-foot-long hotel barge headquartered in New Orleans, will make 13 stops here this summer, three of them overnight visits. The River Explorer has already made two stops here and will be here again from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.