Students from McKinley Elementary School in Andover cruise the Mississippi River on the Padelford boat after setting off from Harriet Island in downtown St. Paul. (Pioneer Press photos: Jean Pieri)

"Hey, where's the wheel?"

When we boarded the Betsey Northrup, my sons made a beeline through the lower deck to the stern. They wanted to see the big paddleboat wheel. Instead, they found a tugboat lashed to our boat with thick cables - Ugh the Tug.

Our boat was really a barge.

The Padelford Packet Boat Co. has run short boat cruises on the Mississippi River for 30 years. Among the most popular with families are the two-hour fall-color cruises on Sunday afternoons. I took my two young sons and their friend on a trip last weekend, and even on a cloudy day and without the romance of a paddlewheel, we had fun seeing the Twin Cities from the water.

"You know what's freaky?" said my son's friend as Ugh the Tug pushed us away from Harriet Island into the river. "You know how motorboats are really bumpy. Well, this is really smooth!"

I bought hot cocoa, and we carried the steaming Styrofoam cups to the top deck, where the boys gravitated to the bow to feel the breeze and get a clear view of both banks as we pulled upriver away from St. Paul.

Riding on the river lets you see everything from a new perspective. We cruised past the colorful facades of Upper Landing, a complex of apartments and condos built in the former flood plain near downtown. Then, we floated under the High Bridge. I'd been over that Smith Avenue bridge a hundred times, but this was the first time I peered up at the concrete roadway 200 feet overhead.

Among the wooded banks just

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beyond downtown we found plenty to look at. An eagle perched in the bare branches of a dead tree, and a flock of Canadian geese undulated overhead in "V" formation.

We floated through the Union Pacific Railway's swing bridge and waved at the woman perched in the bridge tender's house. We cruised past a cluster of huge concrete cylinders the man next to me identified as the Archer Daniels Midland grain elevator, and we spotted the moorings where barges load millions of bushels of Midwest grain to haul downriver.

A recorded narration provided history and trivia, but it was hard to hear since we weren't sitting directly under a speaker. I did catch the fact that the grain elevator is the approximate location of St. Paul's famous Fountain Cave, where Pig's Eye Parrant set up his salon in the frontier days. The cavern's mouth was filled in to build Shepard Road.

We waved at people walking their dogs on the sandy banks and at the motorboats that churned past, throwing up plumes of spray. My 8-year-old son had an environmental epiphany when we spotted a pair of concrete pipes that opened into the river.

"If you pollute the sidewalk and a big rainstorm comes, everything would go down the storm drains and pollute the river!"

Mary Pardo took photos during her class boat trip. (Jean Pieri)

There were plenty of children among the other passengers. Jill and Tom Ray of Little Canada had brought their children, Ivy, 4, and Dane, 8, to celebrate Mom's birthday. The family was lined up in chairs peering out at the scenery.

"Look, a teepee!" shouted Dane.

Sure enough, someone had built a teepeelike structure out of branches and logs on the beach. I asked Dane who he thought had made it.

"An Indian long ago?" he said.

We floated under the Interstate 35E bridge and past the mouth of the Minnesota River. We turned around about an hour and 15 minutes into the trip near Fort Snelling. On some trips, the boat makes it a bit farther upstream to the first lock and dam, depending on the boat's speed and the time.

On the ride back to Harriet Island, the boys became bored. A few boxes of popcorn distracted them, but they got antsy again after they finished licking the salt from their fingers.

I think the Padelford Co. could really help parents out by providing some diversions. I would have loved a map of the river with landmarks we could have looked for. (When we got home, I did find a great river guide posted at fieldguide.fmr. org.)

We ended up wandering downstairs, where the boys took over the parquet dance floor and invented a game combining chess and tag. An older woman sitting at a table nearby smiled in empathy.

"This is our second trip with these two," she said, gesturing to her two 7-year-old granddaughters, who were eating

McKinley Elementary School third-grader Elizabeth Olson, left, finishes her popcorn snack. (Jean Pieri)
pretzels off strings tied around their necks. "The first time I brought them they were 3, and to keep them from running around, I taught them leapfrog on the dance floor."

This time, she had brought bags of pretzels and lengths of string and let the cousins make portable snacks. The girls had enjoyed the trip.

"I liked looking at the waves on the water on the sides," said Hazel Cutting, 7.

Her cousin Skye had spotted something in the water she thought was a crocodile but turned out to be a log.

As we pulled back to Harriet Island, we headed to the bow and watched as boat workers tossed thick ropes and tied up the Betsey Northrup. We were home.

Maja Beckstrom can also be reached at 651-228-5295.

THE SCOOP

What: Padelford Packet Boat Co. Mississippi River cruise

Where: Hariet Island, St. Paul

Information: 651-227-1100 or riverrides.com

Hours: Fall color cruises run 2 to 4 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 2

Cost: $20 per person; $10 ages 3-12 (discount for online reservations)

Target audience: All ages, especially outings with grandparents

Crowd pleaser: Wooded riverbanks ablaze with fall colors

Avoid: A chill. Dress for a cold breeze

Tip: Grab a seat near the front of the open upper deck for the best view of both banks. When cold or boredom strikes, head to the enclosed lower deck for popcorn ($2.50) or hot cocoa ($1.50).