One Monday evening last summer, my wife and I drove along the Mississippi River until the road dropped into what’s known as the “gorge” section of the waterway. At Bohemian Flats, just across from University of Minnesota, we pulled into a parking lot and walked over to the boat that would take us on a tour—with tacos and margaritas, no less—downstream and back.
Courtesy of Paradise Charter Cruises and Minneapolis Queen
The Minneapolis Queen has been quietly plying these waters for 20 years. Having grown up in the river town of Winona, I still remember when the massive Delta Queen docked there in the 1980s, and I always dreamed of taking a steamboat cruise down the Mississippi. With a Viking River Cruise out of St. Paul (even sans paddle wheel) starting at $12,000, this was by far our best option.
Once everyone was on board and the gangplank was raised, we powered down the river, veering east around the bend. This stretch of water holds a significant place in history, as it marks the final leg of the Paul Bunyan Canoe Derby, a 450-mile race held in the 1940s and ’50s. The race stretched from Bemidji to Minneapolis, taking 10 days to complete, with teams paddling 40 to 50 miles a day and camping overnight. The section between the Washington Avenue and Franklin bridges was where the legendary paddlers would battle it out in the final sprint. It was a thrilling spectacle, drawing crowds of up to 100,000 people who would gather near the Third Avenue Bridge to watch the dramatic finish, which coincided with the city’s Aquatennial summer celebration.
Photo by Frank Bures
We would be going further than that—about 5 miles down to the Ford Parkway Bridge before turning around. And since water was high, the Minneapolis Queen sped downstream. We grabbed our margaritas at the bar, then found a table on the back of the boat. As we followed the river, a wall of trees rose up on either side of us.
“A lot of people get on board and say, ‘I’ve lived in Minneapolis my whole life, and I never knew this boat was down here,’” Captain Stephen Vertnik told me. “And they don’t even realize there are houses behind the trees on each side of the river. When they come down, they think, ‘Oh, we’re in the middle of wilderness.’”
“Captain Vertie,” as he’s known, has piloted the Minneapolis Queen up and down this stretch at least 2,000 times. He says people love going through the Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam, if it’s open. Later in the year, another highlight is the sweeping views of fall foliage along the riverbank.
“The river has a ton of maples on the west side, south of Franklin Avenue down to Lake Street. Then, south of Lake Street, all the maples are on the east side of the river. They’re juxtaposed with the ash and other trees that turn yellow,” says Vertnik. “So, if you get a sunny day, it’s just crazy. The maples are really impressive.”
He’s right: Even with the houses just beyond the trees, the river gorge feels very wild. We could barely see or hear the city. It felt as if we were a million miles from Minneapolis—like
we were in a national park, which, in fact, we were: the Mississippi National River & Recreation Area.
An announcement came over the speakers that dinner was ready—a taco buffet—so we headed down to the lower level and loaded up. While we ate, drank, and watched the river
go by, a cormorant flew overhead, and someone pointed out an eagle perched in a tree.
The Minneapolis Queen is one of a handful of small paddle wheelers that ply rivers around here. The Magnolia Blossom is also bookable for group tours in the metro, and the Jonathan Padelford and Anson Northrup of Padelford Riverboats sail out of St. Paul. Over on the St. Croix, Stillwater River Boats has a small fleet of old-timer boats running up and down the river.
The nice thing about the Minneapolis Queen, however, is that it operates in “Pool 1,” between the Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam and the Ford Dam (officially known as Lock and Dam No. 1), which was built in 1917 and remains tightly controlled by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Paradise Charter Cruises and Minneapolis Queen
“Pool 1 is the first regulated pool on the Mississippi River,” says Vertnik. “There’s a lock north of it, and there’s a lock south of it, so they can regulate the depth. When it’s raining, they can let water out on the south side. And if the water is too low, they can hold back water to keep the level up.” That means while Harriet Island in St. Paul might be under water, Pool 1 can be perfectly navigable—and perfect for a Monday night margarita.
That’s not to say things can’t get a little wild. Once, Vertnik watched a 3-foot wave of water come around the corner when the Lower St. Anthony Tainter gates (large, curved gates used to control water flow in dams) were opened. Other times, he has seen the river rise several feet within an hour. And in 2022, they had to weld extensions to the I-beams that hold the pier in place, because the river was 18 feet above its normal level. If they hadn’t done that, the whole structure—along with the Minneapolis Queen—would have been lost and gone over the dam.
Most days, however, are not like that. Most days are relaxed and lovely. Down near the Ford Parkway Bridge, Vertnik turned the ship around, and we started back upstream. When I asked him why people should take this cruise, he had a simple answer: “It’s just a unique way to see one of the best spots along the Mississippi River in Minnesota, and in the nation, for that matter.”
