RIVERBOATS TO MAKE FOUR STOPS HERE

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The Delta Queen and Mississippi Queen steamboats will make four port calls this year at Cape Girardeau, one fewer than the passenger boats made here last year.

But Cathy Crites of the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau isn't complaining.

"I'm just glad they will be stopping at Cape Girardeau this year," she said. "Last year when I talked to them they were not even sure they would be stopping here at all this year."

Crites said she has been told that some towns on the river north and south of Cape Girardeau will receive only one port call from the two vessels this year. "So we're very fortunate to have the four stops at Cape this year," she said.

Patty Young, spokesperson for the public-relations office of the Delta Queen Steamboat Co. at New Orleans, said the Delta Queen will make three port calls at Cape this year, while her sister vessel, the Mississippi Queen, will make one in July.

The Mississippi Queen is scheduled to arrive at the Cape Girardeau waterfront at 9 a.m. July 23, from St. Louis, and depart at noon, en route to Cincinnati.

The Delta Queen's first visit to Cape Girardeau will be July 5, following the Great Steamboat Race from New Orleans to St. Louis. The boat is scheduled to dock at Cape Girardeau at 9 a.m. and depart at 1 p.m. for Cincinnati.

The Delta Queen will pay a second visit to the city on Aug. 1, arriving at 9 a.m., and sailing at 1 p.m. for the return trip to St. Louis.

The Delta Queen's final port call at Cape Girardeau will be Aug. 20. The boat will dock at 9 a.m. and depart at noon, en route to Cincinnati.

Young said the company has planned no special activities during any of the stops. "These will be normal ports of call to allow the boats to take on water and supplies," she said.

Crites, a group-tours and special-events planner with the Convention and Visitors Bureau, said an information table will be set up at the flood gate to greet passengers as they get off. "We hope to have the "Water Street Six" Dixieland Band on hand with some jazz music," she said.

Crites said the bureau will have air-conditioned, 15-passenger vans on hand for shuttle service to the midtown and downtown area of the city.

"We will also have our Paddle Wheeler tour guides stationed throughout the downtown area, at the clock, and on the street corners to assist the passengers or answer any questions," Crites said. "They will be very identifiable wearing their Paddle Wheeler aprons."

Crites said many passengers like to get off the boat for a while to shop and walk around. Some stop in at local grocery stores to make purchases while others walk or ride the shuttle bus to the post office to mail cards and letters.

Despite its many attractions, Crites said the biggest thing Cape Girardeau has to offer visitors and tourists is the Mississippi River. "Many people who live here do not see the forest for the trees, or, in this case, the river," she said. "The river is right here on our front doorstep. We take it for granted, but the tourists and visitors to the city do not."

Crites said a tour group is coming to Cape Girardeau from Edwardsville, Kan. "That's about as dry and as flat as you can get," she said. "And they told me when they arrive in Cape, the first thing they want to see is the Mississippi River."

Crites said the end of the recession and the outcome of the Persian Gulf War have made people more optimistic.

"Our tour business this year will just about be double what it was last year," she said. "I think the people are taking advantage of the fact that this country has a lot going for it. I had a lady call me the other day who said they were planning to go to Florida, but decided to stay home and travel around Missouri."