Cruisin' in style

It's always a sight to see the riverboats docked in downtown Cape Girardeau. If and when you can peel your eyes away from the paddlewheelers, you start to notice the passengers as they make their way around downtown, taking in the sites Cape Girardeau has to offer. A commonality among the passengers of the paddleboat are hats. So many hats of all different styles and colors. Some wear visors. You may even spot a bonnet or two. Two male passengers aboard the American Queen, one from Indiana, the other from Australia, both had on "genuine Panama hat(s)" they bought in Panama, but were made in Ecuador. Some couples wear matching hats, which is nothing short of adorable. One couple, Dr. Fred and Martha Goldner from Nashville, Tennessee, walk hand in hand back toward the Queen of the Mississippi, with their heads down, you only see their matching hats. Martha Goldner pauses after being asked to take a portrait of her and her husband. She pulls out a different hat from her bag, saying it's a better hat, and switches her husband's hat just for the portrait. She also said it's not just the hats that are fashion statements on the boats -- "Oh, it's also the shoes!"