Cape Girardeau extends hospitality to its visitors

Those of us who live and work in Cape Girardeau can come to take our neighbors' friendliness for granted. But visitors are often impressed by the hospitality the city extends its guests.

Most recently, passengers on the American Queen riverboat, attendees of the Rev'n Rods show and a group of environmentalists have noted the town's friendly nature.

American Queen tourists, who hailed from Oklahoma City, California and even Australia, enjoyed the time they spent downtown July 9. They admired the floodwall's murals, ate in local restaurants, learned about the city's history and visited small businesses near the river.

"I was shocked at how much I've enjoyed [the trip]," Duffy Oyster of Texas told the Missourian's Tyler Graef. "I thought I might be bored, but every little town is great."

The hospitality is genuine -- downtown store owners enjoyed meeting the tourists as much as the visitors loved checking out the sights and sounds of downtown.

"It's just fun meeting people from the boat," said Deb Maevers, owner of Pastimes Antiques. "They're from all over the world."

Downtown will see several more rounds of visitors when the American Queen returns in August, September and October.

A team of environmentalists led by Dan Cullum visited Cape last week with their catamaran made of hundreds of plastic bottles down the river. The expedition, called Recycled Mississippi, is intended to inspire people to think about waterways protections.

Cullum expressed appreciation to the city of Cape Girardeau on behalf of the crew.

"This is the warmest welcome we've had all down the river," Cullum said. "It's a testament to how the city government reached out to us way in advance. That was so kind." Considering their southbound journey started at Minneapolis, that's quite a compliment.

Cape Girardeau also has grown a reputation as good place for a car show. Most recently the Rev'n Rods Car Show took place July 19 at Arena Park. Crowds gathered around classic automobiles of all makes and models and enjoyed music by James Otto and Terri Clark during the Heartland Music Tour, which took place in conjunction with the car show.

Cape Girardeau should be proud of its reputation as a welcoming city. Keep up the good work and great attitude!