LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI: STEAMBOATS AND HEAT

Living close to the Mississippi River offers opportunities to see and do interesting things. Such was the case this week in Cape Girardeau.

On Sunday, two beautiful vessels -- the Mississippi Queen and Delta Queen steamboats -- docked at the Cape Girardeau riverfront following their annual re-enactment of the Great Steamboat Race of 1870 between the Natchez and Robert E. Lee from New Orleans to St. Louis. On Wednesday, area residents got a rare opportunity to see and tour a new Navy warship -- the coastal patrol vessel USS Squall -- as it headed downriver after being commissioned in St. Louis on the Fourth of July.

Several hundred curious folks went to see the steamships. Add passengers aboard the steamships, and downtown Cape Girardeau, normally quiet on Sundays, was bustling with activity.

The Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau deserves credit for putting together a variety of activities for the river travelers and those who went to see the steamships. First Presbyterian Church rescheduled their church services to accommodate the travelers. The River Heritage and University museums and the historic Glenn House were open for tourists, who also were treated to arts and crafts displays and Cap'n Foghorn's Floating Follies in Common Pleas Courthouse Park. Other entertainment in the form of the bureau's Paddle Wheelers and the Water Street Six also was on hand.

River travelers from as far away as London, Florida and California said they enjoyed their brief Cape Girardeau visit. They promised to return to the city when in the area. They said they felt welcome here and described the people as generous. They were impressed by the large number of people on hand to bid them farewell.

We commend all who were involved in the festivities, and we join the Convention and Visitors Bureau in looking forward to the many return visits the steamships will make to Cape Girardeau.