Along the Mississippi in Autumn... American Queens on a Day Away...

Every so often, it's just good for the soul to go vagabond...  So on Monday my sister/cousin and I decided to take a little road trip to Hannibal.  We both are total Autumn fanatics, so we had high hopes for lots of pretty sights.

Oh, let me tell you, the day did not disappoint.  A reluctant sun finally broke shining through the clouds about half way there...  We had by that time enjoyed a frosted doughnut and a cup of McDonald's new pumpkin latte...  Feeling pretty wonderful, we headed to the Mississippi River.

Oh, my goodness!  How much of a treat to find the American Queen Riverboat!  She is the largest Riverboat ever made, filled with Victorian and Antebellum suites...  Simply majestic...  Her passengers were touring the familiar (to us)  Mark Twain things...  We took our time snapping photos from many angles...  This is her Home Page:  American Queen Steamboat Company

  I have ridden the one always docked there..  It usually looks big, but alongside you know who....  Look at the huge tour busses by her side!

My cousin always has fantastic ideas, so we grabbed some sandwiches and drinks and headed up... And up... To Riverview Park...  More beautiful leaves, views of the river, of course, and then we heard it!  The calliope from the American Queen as she left the dock and continued her Mississippi Fall Foliage cruise...  If you are interested, you can look at the website...  Pretty pricey at over 6,000 per cruise for the ultimate rooms...  But if I had the money, I believe I personally would like this as well or better than an Island adventure...   Either one will be fine though!

I was able to use the video cam on my phone to capture part of the calliope concert...

We felt as lucky as lottery winners.  Tight time, right place thing, you know...

We drove along the river, took a few pictures from Lovers' Leap, and came home filled with the happy thoughts of a good memory day...