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American Queen Gets An Audience at Heritage Port in Wheeling

Photo by Scott McCloskey Representatives from the Wheeling-Ohio County Convention and Visitors Bureau and Friends of Wheeling turned out Tuesday to greet visitors of the American Queen steamboat, which docked at Wheeling’s Heritage Port. It was the only scheduled stop for the massive steamboat at Wheeling’s waterfront this year.

Passengers aboard the American Queen steamboat were given a royal welcome Tuesday, as the largest river steamboat ever built made an eight-hour stop at Wheeling’s Heritage Port.

Representatives of Friends of Wheeling turned out in Victorian era clothing to greet visitors of the massive steamboat during one of its scheduled stops along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, as music was provided by Steel Cassa Duo throughout the morning. The vessel departed Monday from Pittsburgh before making a stop at Heritage Port and continuing south.

The grand vessel made its only scheduled stop at the Friendly City for 2018, according to Olivia Litman, marketing director for Wheeling-Ohio County Convention & Visitors Bureau. She said the passengers were provided an opportunity to tour a variety of historic sites in Wheeling throughout the day by either boarding one of the four tour buses provided by the steamboat company or taking a walking tour offered by members of the Friends of Wheeling. Litman said the next scheduled stop at the Heritage Port for the steamboat will be in July 2019.

Working as a tour guide on behalf of the convention and visitors bureau, Travis Henline highlighted some of Wheeling’s history and points of interest aboard bus tours provided to the steamboat passengers. Centre Market, West Virginia Independence Hall, Victorian Wheeling and the Capitol Theater were just a few stops during the local bus tour.

“This is going to be a blast,” said Henline, before boarding one of four buses parked along Water and 12th streets. “I always love to showcase Wheeling and its history to visitors.”

Dozens of people walked around the waterfront to catch a glimpse or a take a picture of the stately riverboat, which is filled with modern amenities, while displaying all the opulence of the American Victorian era.

Jeff and Holly Seamon, of Wheeling, said they decided to bring their three children to the waterfront to see the riverboat after spotting a notification on the West Virginia Tourism Facebook page.

“It’s bigger than most of the river traffic you see,” said Jeff Seamon, who worked as a deck hand on a towboat while delivering coal barges along the Ohio River at one time.

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