About 20 miles south of St. Louis we met this tow and noticed the large number of pigeons on deck. We had not seen pigeons before on the trip, so were curious where they came from.

I called the captain of the tow, who explained that the pigeons "hopped on" in St. Louis, where the barges were loaded with grain, and he said: "They'll all drop off of here later this afternoon and head back to town." Sure enough, several hours later, Dannel and I noticed multiple flocks of pigeons (bellies apparently full!) flying right down the middle of the channel back toward St. Louis. I wondered if the deckhands on the tow had to hose down the decks after the exodus.
I guess this qualifies as proof that we made it to St. Louis! We made it to the center of town about mid-day. After miles of forested riverbanks, the busy shorelines and bridges of the city kept us busy gawking and pondering the sights.

Incredibly, there is no public facility for boating in all of St. Louis. Not even a place to tie your boat. No place to purchase fuel. Another major American city, spawned by the riverboat and steam paddleboat era, now inaccessible to boaters.

























































































There are only three large pasenger hauling paddlewheelers remaining on the mid-American rivers. Here, docked in St. Louis for repairs, is the American Queen, 4 decks tall, and sister ship to the Missippi Queen I featured in a previous entry from Paducah.

The third, and the oldest and grandest of the fleet, the Delta Queen, I saw passing Alton today, headed upriver, perhaps to St. Paul, or perhaps diverting up the Illinois River. I'm thrilled to have seen all three this trip!