It’s 398 miles from St. Louis to Memphis, and it will take us six days to get there.
In short, if you are in the mood to slow down, to do little more than tour small town America and watch the river go by, to feel the Mississippi under your feet as centuries of riverboat captains and merchants and gamblers did, then the American Cruise Line trip from St. Louis to Memphis may be for you.
I’m on it this week, eager to try river cruising for the first time, and will post a report or two to share my impressions.
Already, I can say that while the paddlewheel and the calliope enhance the mood, it’s clear that the river itself, and the stories Toots the Riverlorian tells about it, are the real entertainment.
Spending seven days doing nine miles an hour is not for everyone. If you want a rock wall and an ice rink — or even a show at night or more than two choices at lunch — you will be disappointed.
But the crowd is full of friendly regulars, a large number of whom know each other from two or three previous American Cruise Lines sailings.
Sixty-three of them are aboard for a second week, having begun with the eight-day sailing from St. Paul to St. Louis. Some are staying for the third leg, all the way to New Orleans.
It’s a nicely mixed group, from coasts East and West, from Florida and Kentucky and small towns across the country, and even a couple from Australia.
Like in the first week of summer camp, the 100 or so of us on board, constantly running into each other at meals and over drinks and on tour buses, are getting acquainted quickly.
Bring a book. Bring your Mom.
In a slow and peaceful kind of way, I really am having fun.
By Cheryl Rosen
