Cape tour for steamboat travelers uncovers history

Although natives of Cape Girardeau may have experienced some of the rich heritage the city possesses, to many, a drive around town is anything but exciting.

But with Linda as your tour guide, a boring drive around the small town of Cape Girardeau may quickly turn into an exciting adventure down memory lane.

Linda Hill, a volunteer tour guide for the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau, knows the ins and outs of this river town, and she is eager to share her knowledge with tourists that get off from the many Mississippi River steamboat cruises that dock in Cape Girardeau.

From April 22 through Nov. 22, the visitors bureau will be host for tourists from 29 steamboats.

The 40-minute tour on a chartered bus, paid for by the steamboats, takes guests from the riverfront to Broadway, through the Southeast Missouri State University campus, by Capaha Park and eventually back through the downtown district. The tours continue to run until the last passenger has returned to the boat.

"It doesn't matter if we only have one person wanting to take the tour," Hill said. "We want to cater to our tourists."

As the tourists come off the boat, a tent full of locals at the corner of north Water Street and Broadway welcomes the visitors to the "City of Roses on the Mississippi River."

While the bus is contracted by the cruise lines, the local volunteers eager to help the tourists have given an added boost to tourism in Cape Girardeau, Hill said.

After the ride, the guests are able to meander through the downtown district, many times, purchasing from local businesses, before returning on their journey down the Mississippi, she said. Volunteers continue to stay in the downtown district, waiting for tourists that may need help, until all passengers are aboard.

"We give all of the guests a Cape Girardeau pin," said Hill. "That way the local store clerks know they are tourists."

Once the journey begins, Hill highlights general history about Cape Girardeau, but also points out lesser-known facts concerning Cape Girardeau people and structures that may even come to a surprise to many natives.

"The rose garden to your right is one of 141 display gardens in the United States," Hill told a group of about 20 Wednesday morning over a speakerphone on the bus as they passed Capaha Park. "It has about 200 varieties of roses."

From the history of the El Tule tree behind the court house on Lorimier, to information about when Tina Turner performed at the Show Me Center, Hill has extensively researched the city's past.

"I knew there was a lot of history in Cape Girardeau," explained Hill. "But until I started reading I had no idea how much."

If Kay Baker and Carol Allen, two visitors from Ft. Worth, Texas, who took part in the tour, are any indication, the effort to promote the city's tourism may be working.

"What a beautiful town," Baker said. "This is my first time here. I had no idea it had so much history."

Allen, who had visited Cape Girardeau previously, decided the town offered enough to come back for more.

"I just love it here." she said.

bchapman@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127