If you happened to visit the river front in Red Wing this weekend, chances are you witnessed the largest steamboat in the world. The American Queen is a jaw dropper and makes the cameras come out.
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A floating Victorian palace of fretwork and fluted stacks, the American Queen is the world’s largest steamboat. The American Queen steamboat plies the Mississippi River on trips through the Old South and America’s Heartland, and along Wilderness rivers. The lavish Grand Saloon is the setting for nightly entertainment on American Queen cruises. The saloon looks like a 19th-century opera house with a proscenium stage and private box seats on the mezzanine level. On the American Queen riverboat, the Mark Twain gallery is filled with antiques and has comfortable seating for reading. The American Queen also has a covered “front porch” on the bow of its Texas Deck. Lined with rocking chairs, the porch is the perfect spot on the American Queen steamboat for relaxing with a mint julep or lemonade. On American Queen riverboat cruises, you can follow the ship’s route in the Chart Room, decorated with genuine old-fashioned piloting instruments, or visit the American Queen Engine Room to talk with engineers and watch the steam engines at work. After hours, listen to jazz, Dixieland and ragtime in the Engine Room Bar. The staterooms on the American Queen riverboat resemble Victorian bedrooms with patterned wallpaper and antique furnishings from the era. Outside cabins have bay windows or windowed French doors.
I think a person might be able to drift some cut bait off her stern. 
Year Built 1995
Tonnage 3,707 tons
Registry United States
Length 418 feet
Beam 89 feet
Passenger Capacity 436
Crew Size 167
Total Inside Cabins 54
Total Outside Cabins 168
Cabins & Suites w/ verandas 29
Suites 24
