A jazz band welcomed The American Queen steamboat when it docked at Cape Girardeau’s riverfront Tuesday morning, bringing 308 passengers to explore Cape Girardeau.
The American Queen was built in 1995, but went out of service in 2008. HMS Global Maritime bought the steamboat and renovated it in 2011, and it resumed river tours last year. Most tours last over a week.
Captain John Boyle said most of the ship’s passengers are retirees who want to see the nation’s heartland.
“The people are just wanting to see the heartland of America,” Boyle said. “We go right smack through the heartland from New Orleans, Louisiana to St. Paul, Minnesota to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. So I think that that’s what are coming on here [for], to see the heartland.”
After leaving Cape Girardeau, the American Queen headed upstream to Chester, Illinois.
