Population (2010) 673 Introduction If you look up "river town" in any dictionary, I'm pretty sure you'll see a picture of Grafton. While the emphasis has shifted from living off the river to playing on the river, Grafton retains a strong identity as a place deeply tied to its
Hannibal draws a lot of tourists eager to step into the world created by Mark Twain, which is a remarkable thing considering he wrote about a world that existed (more or less) 150 years ago. Hannibal has a lot of Twain to offer, but it's also an old river town worth getting to know on its own merits.
Population (2010) 319,305 Introduction St. Louis, my hometown, is a city with a long and layered history. As residents of Flyover Country, we tend to make the national news only when something goes wrong. Sure, we have our problems, but so do plenty of other places. We are a big
Population (2010) 285,068 Introduction St. Paul has a reputation for being the more staid half of the Twin Cities, and, yea, there’s some truth to it. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Downtown St. Paul may lack the nightlife and glitz of downtown Minneapolis, but St. Paul has
Population (2010) 382,578 Introduction Minneapolis has a spirit that sets it apart from most other American cities. It’s a place with a lively downtown, a diverse arts scene, great food, nice people, and a surprising range of outdoor activities for a big city, including the best public riverfront along
The American Queen pulled out of St. Louis at 6pm, three hours ahead of schedule. The Mississippi River was technically closed to commercial traffic, but the captain worked out a deal to let us pass by the trouble spot as long as we did it during daylight hours. Because of the early departure, a
