For a close-to-home cruise, consider sailing a US river; one option is the mighty Ohio. Cruising the Ohio River is a wonderful way to discover the region that stretches from Western Pennsylvania to the Mississippi River. The river touches six states – Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois – and there’s so much to see and explore along its banks.
Depending on
your ship and the time of year, your ports of call may include:
Pittsburgh,
where many cruises of the Ohio start or end. The river forms in Point State
Park, where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet. It’s fun to take an extra
day just to enjoy the city, which has 90 unique neighborhoods and many cultural
attractions, plus great shopping and dining in the Strip District.
Moundsville,
West Virginia, where the centerpiece of the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological
Complex is a sacred, conical burial mound built by the Adena people more than
2,000 years ago.
Marietta,
Ohio, was founded in 1788 as the first permanent settlement in the Northwest
Territory. There’s a complex of mounds at the Marietta Earthworks
archaeological site, built by the Native American Hopewell culture.
Cincinnati,
Ohio, is another major city along the river. A highlight is the National
Underground Railroad Freedom Center, a museum that celebrates the secret network
that helped enslaved people escape to freedom before and during the US Civil
War.
Louisville,
Kentucky, where you can learn about the state’s famous bourbon distilleries, see
how Louisville Slugger baseball bats are made, and visit Churchill Downs, home
of the annual Kentucky Derby Thoroughbred horse race.
Henderson,
Kentucky, was for a time home to John James Audubon, the naturalist and painter
who produced more than 400 hand-colored bird prints for his landmark 1827 book,
The Birds of America. You can visit the Audubon Museum and Nature
Center, which includes some of his personal memorabilia.
Paducah,
Kentucky, is the meeting point of four major rivers: the Ohio, the Tennessee,
the Cumberland, and the Mississippi. Visit the Inland Waterways Museum, where a
pilothouse simulator gives you the feel of guiding a river ship; or, visit the
National Quilt Museum.
Some cruises
of the Ohio also include a bit of Mississippi River cruising at the western end,
calling on Cape Girardeau and St. Louis, Missouri.
To find out
how you can cruise the Ohio or another storied US river (like the Mississippi
or Columbia), talk with Anita, your professional travel advisor.
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