For a city without stoplights, supermarkets or a Starbucks, little Augusta, Kentucky, on the bucolic southern bank of the Ohio River, is a happening place.
Not only is a former Miss America a native daughter, the one-time seat of Bracken County counts among its 1,200 citizens the parents of George Clooney. In fact, Nick and Nina, both in their 80s, still live less than two blocks from where their two-time Oscar-winning son went to high school. Dad, a three-time Emmy nominee, is a former anchorman at KNBC in Los Angeles. Pouring even more country gravy on Augusta’s claims to fame, the longtime home of Nick’s sister and George’s aunt, Rosemary Clooney, is now a museum dedicated to the late, legendary entertainer.
Even with all this star power, Augusta maintains a charming Anytown U.S.A. look and feel. So humble is this hamlet in the Heartland, comparing it to Mayberry from the old “Andy Griffith Show” or Disneyland’s Main Street, U.S.A. isn’t a stretch. And if Augusta sounds like the kind of place that welcomes strangers with banners and bands, you’d be spot on with that, too.
We know this because 152 passengers and a crew of 95 were given a grand reception when the American Countess paddle wheeler docked at O’Neil Landing on a recent Saturday morning. Earlier in the cruise the majestic river boat had visited the ports of Pittsburgh, Belpre (Ohio) and Huntington (West Virginia), but their welcomes were hardly as warm. Same with Madison (Ind.) and Louisville (Ky.) days later.
Only five times will a large riverboat pay a visit to Augusta this year, so the town pulled out all the stops for the rare event. Shops opened early, locals organized a crafts fair and singers performed under a pop-up canopy at the corner of very Mayberry-sounding Main Street and Riverside Drive. Even the mayor woke up before dawn to help direct traffic and say a few words to a travel writer hailing from his old stomping ground of California.
“I ran an import/export business in Anaheim from 1969 to 2004, and now I live in a town people say is the most beautiful they’ve ever seen,” said the Honorable Michael Taylor as he lifted a plastic cone so that a pickup truck could make a left turn. “I wouldn’t trade this for all the world.”
American Queen Voyages is the only major cruise line that makes a stop in Augusta, and the competition is the lesser for it. The town is also the poorer for it; Augusta’s tourism director, Janet Hunt, estimates that each riverboat passenger pumps an average of $100 into the local economy. Mayor Taylor said that’s significant for a town as small and remote as Augusta.
With seven vessels, eight come 2023, AQV’s fleet is roughly half the size of its foremost river rival, American Cruise Lines. The collection is comprised of four paddle wheel riverboats, two boutique coastal crafts and one expedition ship with a second debuting next year in Alaska. A big player in small-ship North America cruising, AQV sails the Mississippi, Illinois, Tennessee, Cumberland, Columbia and Snake rivers in addition to the Ohio. Lake and ocean destinations include the Great Lakes, New England, the southeastern U.S., Canada, Costa Rica and Mexico. Alaska and British Columbia are the backdrops of AQV’s expedition cruises.
All of the above have the makings of a memorable adventure, but there’s a reason AQV’s logo is a red paddlewheel and that until a year ago, the cruise line went by the name of American Queen Steamboat Company. Contemporarily designed paddle wheelers make up AQV’s core product. The flagship is the six-deck, 417-passenger American Queen, supposedly the largest steamboat ever built at 420 feet in length. The fleet’s newest riverboat is the four-deck American Countess, which fits up to 245 guests in 123 staterooms. The vessel is 361 feet long, but that wasn’t the original measurement. Originally constructed as a casino boat for Harrah’s, the then-named Kanesville Queen became obsolete in 2007 when Iowa allowed gaming on land. The 11-year-old boat was sold for scrap, but found new life by her current owners who added a 60-foot midsection and a completely new interior. After many delays due to the pandemic, the American Countess was finally launched in March 2021.
Her transformation from floating casino to floating hotel is impressive, and even though the vessel is sans slot machines and gaming tables due to interstate laws, there’s plenty of other venues. Besides the purser and excursions desk, the main deck has a large and lavish dining room, theater, fitness center, gift shop, and lounge with 24-hour coffee, tea and ice cream. Deck 2 has a library, card room and buffet-style restaurant. A massage room also is on the so-called Cabin Deck, but will remain dormant until AQV signs with a new health and wellness operator. Deck 3 has a chart room with delightfully nerdy navigational materials. The deck also has an outdoor walking track that equates to a mile for every 7 1/2 laps. The Sun Deck on 4 is where the pilot house is, and there’s a sign-up sheet at the front desk for tours of the captain’s office.
Staterooms are on the second and third decks, and generally start at under $3,000 per person, double occupancy, for a nine-night cruise that begins with a hotel stay in the city of embarkation. Most cabins on the American Countess offer a veranda, and if privacy is important to you be sure to book one on Deck 2. This non-exhibitionist was startled by a power walker who innocently peered into my Deck 3 unit as I was changing for an early dinner on my first day aboard. It was a quick lesson on what an “outside stateroom with open veranda” truly means. In one way it was a delightful surprise as I discovered how spry these mostly septuagenarian passengers can be on a river cruise, and with a sliding door that opens to the walking track, exercise and socialization opportunities abound.
AQV river cruises are noted as all-inclusive, but we’ll add an asterisk: Airfare, airport transfers and gratuities are extra. What’s included, however, is generous. Unlimited alcoholic beverages, guided hop-on/hop-off bus tours, 24-hour room service and internet are part of the fare along with the aforementioned hotel night and the shuttle from there to the vessel. Also included are well-maintained bicycles at each stopover and daily enrichment from people well-versed in river lore. Nightly entertainment was rough on the cruise from Pittsburgh to Louisville; only one of the three featured singers had the right stuff, and the four-piece band played with a “I hate my life” blasé attitude.
On the plus side, optional “premium experiences” are well organized and surprisingly fairly priced. A favorite on this itinerary is a visit to the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky. From Cincinnati, or nearby Madison, Indiana, when the NFL Bengals have a home game, $119 gets a comfortable seat on a luxury motor coach for the hour or so ride each way, a buffet lunch at the destination and a ticket to see the largest timber frame structure in the world.
Built to biblical proportions, the main attraction is a life-sized reconstruction of Noah’s ark, thought to be 510 feet long. The Christian-themed attraction is heavy on evangelizing, but there’s plenty for non-believers, too. The price includes a petting zoo and a walk through a habitat populated with kangaroos and wallabies. Camel rides are extra and humanely run. Food is excellent with one treat that truly puts the “ark” in “remarkable.” Although there’s no mention of Uncle Leroy’s handcrafted fudge in the bible, the sweet stuff sold inside Noah’s scriptural ship is a religious experience all by itself.
Back on the boat built for humans, the American Countess serves up decent chow as well. The craft beer fried chicken, buttermilk frog legs and tempura chicken livers are tasty, and for those more respectful of Noah’s efforts, the latkes, lentil soup and stuffed chili are divine vegetarian options.
Getting one’s fill on American history is also satisfying whatever the waterway. River cruises within the U.S. are a living classroom, covering the Civil War, Mark Twain, jazz, Lewis and Clark, industry, architecture — you name it. And if a particular subject doesn’t excite, there’s often something else just around the river bend. Back where we started, charming Augusta, Kentucky, is a history hotbed. Built on an ancient Indian burial mound, the city was populated with a large number of antislavery sympathizers. Two homes that served as Underground Railroad safehouses are pointed out on the free bus tour and can be explored further by foot or bike. Other points of historical interest worth visiting are the Baker-Bird Winery, the oldest commercial estate winery in the nation, and the 1811 Jail, the oldest lockup in the state still on its original foundation.
The most-visited museum in Augusta celebrates the life of Rosemary Clooney. Her converted house holds the largest collection of “White Christmas” memorabilia, and for Heather French Henry, aka Miss America 2000, being the museum’s curator is a way to give back to someone who was very special in her life.
“Rosemary was a great mentor and friend who helped me transition into my public role as Miss America,” Henry said while keeping an eye on the door to welcome guests coming off the American Countess. “The second call I received after winning the crown was from Rosie, and one piece of advice she shared was to never forget where you came from. This museum allows us to pull back the curtain on what Rosemary Clooney meant and still means to Augusta, America and the world.”
With the line to take a selfie with Kentucky’s only Miss America several people deep, the impromptu interview inside the museum was wrapped up. A few hours later the American Countess was heading west to yet another corner of the country that many would never visit if not for river cruising.
American Queen Voyages can be reached at www.aqvoyages.com or 866-522-1166.
