7 Reasons to Cruise the Upper Mississippi River on American Countess
I cruised on American Countess on a weeklong voyage from St. Louis to Red Wing, Minnesota.
The morning sun breaks just as our bright white riverboat navigates a scenic bend in the Mighty Mississippi.
American white pelicans mass at the near shore, and a bald eagle glides just off the stern. This is just one of the fabulous slices of scenery I encounter during my week cruising on the Upper Mississippi River with American Queen Voyages on the deluxe paddlewheeler American Countess.
I have cruised on other U.S. waterways, including on American Countess on the Lower Mississippi from New Orleans to Memphis when the boat debuted in 2021. I've also cruised a couple times in the Pacific Northwest on the Columbia and Snakes Rivers (with UnCruise Adventures on Wilderness Legacy and on AQV's American Empress), as well as a beautiful voyage on the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to Louisville on AQV’s flagship American Queen.
Each of my prior sailings on the great inland waterways of the U.S. have been special in their own ways, but several seasoned cruisers have been telling me for years that the Upper Mississippi is an itinerary not to be missed. Mainly because there is so much more to see, especially when compared with the lower reaches of "The Big Muddy."
So, I was extremely excited to get onboard American Countess once again to cruise this lovely stretch from St. Louis to Red Wing, Minnesota.
During my week, I connected with new friends, ate a lot of delicious food, visited charming towns that I might not otherwise have even considered, and discovered seven reasons (at least) that cruisers will thoroughly enjoy a voyage on the Upper Mississippi River with American Queen Voyages.
1. This Is Where the Mississippi River Begins
You can start in St. Louis and go to Minnesota (like during my sailing) or do the reverse on the Upper Mississippi River. Some cruisers like to do the full length between New Orleans and Red Wing, one direction or the other.
However you decide to spend time on the upper portion of the river, you’ll be in the region where the river elevation is highest, where it has the widest span and near where the headwaters are located. This is where the first trickles of water are generated (at Lake Itasca in north-central Minnesota) that start their way down the river and pour out 2,340 miles later at the Mississippi Delta in the Gulf of Mexico.
Our riverlorian on American Countess, Kelli Rae Tubbs, told a full house packed into The Theater for her talk titled "The Mighty Mississippi" that the river has 29 locks, and that all of these are located above St. Louis.
Cruisers pass through 22 of these lock systems and cover 588 miles on a cruise between St. Louis and Red Wing.
The river has an elevation of 1,460 feet at the headwaters, and this drops to 383 feet by the time it reaches St. Louis.
We passed the widest navigable portion of the Mississippi River on our trip. This is in Lake Pepin, Minnesota, where the shipping channel is almost 2 miles wide.
2. This Is the Most Scenic Route to Travel
The Lower Mississippi itineraries go between New Orleans and Memphis, and they visit other small cities like Vicksburg and Natchez and Tunica, Mississippi, and St. Francisville and Nottoway, Louisiana, as well as featuring a day of "scenic river cruising."
The towns on this route offer great charm, fascinating histories and a lot of food, music and culture to enjoy. However, your time cruising often entails long stretches of not much to see besides muddy brown waters and barges moving coal, lumber, petroleum and other materials.
On the Upper Mississippi, though, the miles are filled with interesting sights. There are more towns, hundreds of bridges, all those locks and even more wildlife and lush countryside in view from the river.
I saw many bald eagles, huge numbers of white pelicans, vultures, seagulls, geese, ducks, hawks, herons and egrets. You'll even see more recreational boaters and people fishing on the waterway in the northern portion of the river. There were more and more wetlands and islands within the river as we got farther north, making wonderful refuge for the variety of birds. Bald eagles thrive here!
The stunning summer sunsets add to this rich mix of scenery, and we enjoyed a blue moon in late August on our sailing, too.
American Countess has large outdoor spaces all over the riverboat that invite cruisers outside to enjoy the fresh air and sights. People get in a bit of exercise by taking laps (often couples hand-in-hand) around the Deck 3 promenade, which is 7.5 laps per mile.
The ship also offers a wide-open top deck with loungers, though the canopies are not put up to offer shade on the Upper Mississippi because of the numerous bridges. Instead, cruisers sit in the iconic AQV white rocking chairs at the front of the ship on Decks 2 and 3 or simply wander the promenade to take in the views and watch the sunsets or lock operations.
3. The Riverboats Offer Enlightening Entertainment
American Queen Voyages riverlorians have encyclopedic knowledge of the river, with fascinating details on the geology, natural features, history and culture. They tell stories during scheduled presentations in the Theater and are available to grab for a chat anywhere you see them onboard. Our riverlorian Kelli Rae held daily "office hours," too, in the Chart Room for more informal small-group chats.
Plus, she is a highly trained singer and musician who charmed the audience with a few songs integrated into the entertainment team’s programs. On American Countess, we traveled with Cruise Director Jeff Hutson and his two co-cruise directors, Lindy Elliott and Riley Dunn, a married couple.
Jeff is an incredibly friendly and energetic song and dance man with a rich resume. He has been performing for more than 50 years, beginning when he was a young child. He has been a star in a production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s "Starlight Express," appeared in a season of "The Love Boat," was the headliner at a Vegas show and worked alongside Debbie Reynolds among many other projects in his career.
This entertainment team joined the American Countess Band for multiple fun shows during the week, performing twice nightly to accommodate those with an early dinner seating as well as those who dined later. I enjoyed Jeff’s brilliant one-man showcase of a sliver of his songs and dance performances. There also was "Riversong," which played a lineup of songs about rivers, such as "Old Man River" and "Proud Mary."
We also cruised with a fantastic Mark Twain impersonator, who did a pair of shows in which he absolutely was inhabited by the spirit of the great writer and spun tales in his one-of-a-kind folksy manner. There also was a mentalist who had the crowd stunned with his accurate guesses and predictions during his hour-long show.
The program also includes trivia contests, name that tune games, a photo contest and late-night entertainment by the band in the Grand Lobby.
4. Delicious Foods Highlight the Region
American Queen Voyages delivers flavors of the region where its riverboats cruise, as well as the staples that reflect the great southern cooking prowess of the line’s culinary ambassador Regina Charboneau.
This means you will always find tasty comfort dishes like fried catfish, gulf shrimp and frog legs, white bean soup with andouille sausage, oxtail soup with barley, buttermilk fried chicken, corn and shrimp fritters, salt and pepper oysters, artichoke crab chowder and crispy duck confit on the menu at sometime during your voyage.
Leaving St. Louis, we had toasted ravioli. Later in the cruise, we saw menus featuring specialties like beef bourguignon, bacon-wrapped pork loin and lobster Rockefeller.
There was a fantastic array of breads, cakes, pies and ice creams, too.
Dinners take place in The Grand Dining during an early or late seating with assigned tables, where diners quickly become fast friends over lively conversation and chats about how their days in port went. You can also get breakfasts and lunches here, with the meals served buffet style, with a selection of items to order via the menu, such as eggs, pancakes or waffles.
River Grill is the casual eatery on American Countess, also serving breakfasts (get made-to-order omelets in this venue), lunches (you can order a smashburger with cheese or a delish chicken sandwich with fries) and dinners at a buffet.
The buffet has sweets, salads, soups and a pasta of the day. It’s a fairly popular spot to eat dinners because it also offers a prime rib carving station each night. Al fresco seating lets you enjoy nice weather, sunsets and the thrum of the paddle wheel right at the back.
There is a bar in Riverside, too, with a TV screen. Some guests liked to pull up a chair and chat with the always-smiling and friendly bartender Derrick while watching a sporting event.
5. All the Locks Are on The Stretch Above St. Louis
We began our voyage in St. Louis, where American Queen Voyages offers a pre-cruise stay at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark hotel.
We passed through 22 locks, during the day and at night. These lock systems are a magnificent feat of engineering, helping to maintain the flow of the river so that the navigable stretches are at least 9 feet deep to allow the barges to bring goods up and down the waterway.
The locks were built mostly between 1930 and 1940. Most of the locks have become attractions for residents who gather to watch interesting riverboats like American Countess come through. We noticed dozens of people at times waving at us from the lawns and the viewing platforms at various points along the Upper Mississippi.
6. The Towns and Cities Are Filled with History
Our cruise began in St. Louis and ended in Red Wing, Minnesota.
The cruise itinerary breaks down as follows when you go upriver.
Day 1 in St. Louis for an overnight stay at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark and embarkation the next afternoon in Alton, Illinois. Transfers by bus to the boat begin around 2 p.m.
Day 2 we sailed from Alton around 5 p.m.
Day 3 at Hannibal, Missouri.
Day 4 a scenic day of cruising on the Mississippi River.
Day 5 at the Quad Cities (Bettendorf/Davenport, Iowa).
Day 6 at Dubuque, Iowa.
Day 7 at La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Day 8 at Red Wing, Minnesota for an overnight stay.
Day 9 disembark in Red Wing for transfers to the airport in Minneapolis or a hotel for those with post-cruise plans in the city. I chose the city tour excursion that gave us a few stops and overview of the Twin Cities (St. Paul and Minneapolis) that ended with a transfer to the MSP airport for my flight home to Denver.
I enjoyed most of the hop-on hop-off attractions by getting there on foot or by bike. The ship carries a fleet of bikes, and you can ask to use them in every port. The riverboat docks in places right along well-maintained bike and walking paths, so you can enjoy a little exercise and see even more by pedaling around these destinations.
I mention this because if you are in reasonably good walking shape and enjoy stretching your legs or like biking, you’ll find that several of your hop-on hop-off spots are fairly close to where the boat ties up for the day. So, you could skip the coach ride for the places closer by and then hop on to join a ride out on the loop to the farther-away attractions.
I enjoyed a diverse number of activities, joining a premium tour to go kayaking on the Mississippi River in Wabasha, Minnesota, when we ended our cruise in Red Wing, and checking out many of the points of interest and museums on the assorted hop-on hop-off itineraries in each town.
I also mixed in plenty of stuff that suited my interests, with morning runs and daily biking sessions to check out the destinations and get my exercise, as well. In St. Louis, I went to a Cardinals game at Busch Stadium (they lost to the San Diego Padres 4-1) and had a couple of nice meals at area restaurants.
I had a well-rounded and satisfying day in La Crosse, Wisconsin. I walked to a few of the designated attractions, seeing Dahl Auto Museum and its stunning array of antique, vintage and modern cars and trucks, as well as hitting the Hixon House, a mansion from a prominent lumber baron and his wife who was active in community improvement for La Crosse, and finally the Riverside International Friendship Gardens (located close to the riverboat pier).
In the afternoon, I enjoyed a bike ride and crossed a bridge to an island in the middle of the river to take a swim in the Mighty Mississippi from Pettibone Beach.
Here are some of the other sites I enjoyed during the week on the Upper Mississippi.
Hannibal, Missouri, is the birthplace of Mark Twain, and you see all kinds of nods to the town’s favorite son. I went to the Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse and toured through the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum complex.
At Bettendorf, we reached the Quad Cities region in Iowa. I biked to the Isabel Bloom Art Studio to see how the cherished sculptures are made that continue the legacy of Bloom, who studied under Grant Wood. Then, I went to the Figge Art Museum to see the Charles Schultz (creator of the beloved Peanuts comics) exhibit.
In Dubuque, Iowa, I rode to St. Luke's Church to see one of the largest displays of Tiffany-glass windows (more than 200) in the U.S. and then to the Fenelon Elevator for a lift up the bluff to see the best views over downtown. Finally, I refreshed with a craft beer at Dimensional Brewery.
7. American Countess Is the Line’s Newest Riverboat
I found the riverboat had much nicer and more spacious staterooms that those I experienced on American Queen, the cruise line’s flagship steamboat, which is the largest ever built and carries up to 436 people. The rooms are also better than what you find on American Empress, which sails on the Columbia and Snake Rivers in the Pacific Northwest.
The older boats, though, have the vintage charm that many cruisers adore. I agree that American Queen is really special, with a variety of lounges, parlors and top-of-vessel features (a bar, pool, fitness center and calliope) that you won’t find on American Countess.
Countess, which is the newest riverboat in the fleet — launched and christened in 2021 — offers a fantastic river cruise experience. There are great views from all interior spaces, whether in the Grand Lobby, with its floor-to-ceiling windows, the Grand Dining Room having breakfast, lunch or dinner or in The Library, Card Room, Fitness Center or Chart Room — all located at the front of the vessel.
Perks café also is at the front of American Countess, and this is a popular spot to sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee and a sweet treat, like pastries in the morning or the delicious variety of fresh-baked cookies (chocolate chip, M&Ms, peanut butter and more!). You can also get teas and juices.
This is where you can get a soft-serve dish of ice cream, too, (chocolate, vanilla or twist) and make it a masterpiece with all the toppings and syrups. A popcorn cart sits in the corner, and cruisers munch on this savory snack throughout the day, too.
Meals in the aft River Grill also offer bright and scenic surroundings. There also is a nice spa, and I treated myself to a Swedish massage.
I sailed with 200 others on the boat, which can hold up to 245, and we had wonderful weather the whole week. People made new friends, and the relaxing vibe and hospitality you experience onboard and in each town you visit make this voyage something special, indeed.
Thanks for reading,
JR