Top Mississippi Riverboat Cruises in St. Louis Missouri

When you think of St. Louis you might think of the World Champion Cardinals baseball team or the spectacular 630 ft. tall stainless steel Gateway Arch. But even if you are from St. Louis, you probably don't think very much about what really defines us as a city: the mighty Mississippi River. It is, after all, the reason the city was built in the first place and the largest body of brown water in the country, lengthwise anyway. Sure, we've got the historic Eads Bridge and the Laclede's Landing Entertainment District, but one thing I think that we are lacking in is what used to cruise up and down the river in front of St. Louis more than anywhere else. I'm talking about the riverboat. The big white paddleboats with their giant wheels in the back and smokestacks belching out thick black smoke used to be a commonplace sight. Hell, Mark twain even piloted one up and down the river for a while.

If you go just a little ways upriver from the arch, you can see her sitting there, a mere shadow of her former self, forced to spend out her last days as a struggling, bankrupt casino. As a riverboat she's huge, but small compared to the other newer casinos in town. Her stainless steel hull used to shine in the sun as brightly as the arch, but not anymore.