The Riverboat Road

Growing up in suburban America, the Mississippi River was right up there with Johnny Appleseed and Plymouth Rock in our classroom folklores. Large and wild, it was only a matter of time before it became a symbol — of American expansionism, of east versus west, of literature, of trade, and of that special type of wanderlust we claim for our national identity. As we got older, facts gradually took the place of fantasy — we learned more about barges and less about pirates — and yet there was still something about the Mississippi, something not quite real. Something larger than life, it simultaneously excites us and frightens us and, more than anything else, enthralls us.

Three years ago, I gave in to it and went to work on the river.

During those three years, I rode the riverboats from New Orleans to Minneapolis, St. Louis to Pittsburgh, and Chattanooga to Nashville — four rivers all told, each with its own personality, and I learned to love them all. The Cumberland and Tennessee for their mountainous scenery, the unique and sometimes otherworldly atmosphere of Appalachia, the proximity to home. The Ohio for its variety, the plains of the Midwest giving way to the mountains of the East, the big cities nestled between small towns. And the Mississippi for connecting them all, for its history, for Hannibal and St. Francisville and Natchez and New Orleans.

For it is the port towns that make the river, just as it is the river that makes them. Port towns are some of the most eclectic places I've ever experienced, living up to every expectation I had from the old tales. Once the stomping grounds of pirates, merchants, gamblers, and belles, many ports have remained atmospheric melting pots, where people from all walks of life frequent mom-and-pop shops and specialty restaurants and are always thrilled to spin a yarn or two. Recognizing their river heritage, they are proud of their towns, proud to have visitors, and if they can convince you to come back and take up permanent residence, they're prouder still.

As an excursions director, spending my days accompanying cruisers on their shore tours, I was fortunate to get a front-row seat to port towns across America. From villages of 59 to cities of 400,000, I learned to seek out the hidden gems: local haunts that showcased the unique history and culture of each place. For a while, I shared these with cruisers; now, I'm sharing them with you, inviting you to get back to the river and to put port towns on your vacation radar, whether you approach them by ship on a weeklong cruise or by car for a weekend road trip.

No matter how you undertake it, a trip along the Mississippi or its tributaries is a trip through America — literally and figuratively. From family-owned farms and cutting-edge skyscrapers, baseball fields and literary legends to crawfish boils and hotdish potlucks, you'll find it here.

And it all goes back to the river.