LACROSSE, Wis. – After a 560-mile voyage from Peoria, Illinois, the 35-year-old paddlewheel steamboat City of Peoria has docked in LaCrosse for a second life. New owners are outfitting her for dinner excursions on the Upper Mississippi out of LaCrosse. For the time being she is moored alongside her sister steamboat the Julia Bell Swain. The Julia Belle has been out of commission a few years for rebuilding. The Julia Belle is the younger sister. It was a Peoria-based tour boat until relocated to LaCrosse in 1988 and replaced in Peoria by the City or Peoria.
Sisters together again. Both have roots as Peoria cruise boats before coming to LaCrosse. Actually they kind of passed in the night. The City of Peoria arrived in Peoria in 1988 just as the Julia Belle was shipping out for the last time, to LaCrosse. Note too: The parentage is a bit strained. Each had a different designer and a different shipyard builder. Image: Steve Lunde