Hatfield and McCoy Airboat Tours
Matewan, West Virginia
The Hatfield and McCoy feud has become almost legendary in modern culture, often dramatized as a harrowing tale of lawless revenge and forbidden romance. The story stems from the real-life rivalry between two rural families that lived on either side of the Tug River: the McCoys in Kentucky and the Hatfields in West Virginia.
In 2012, a Hatfield and McCoy miniseries aired on the History Channel starring A-list actors Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton. The show spurred renewed fascination with the history of these feuding families, and tourists began flooding into the Matewan area, particularly to visit the Hatfield-McCoy Trail System.
Around that time, former coal miner Keith Gibson began toying with the idea of offering boat tours aboard his six-passenger airboat.
“It was an idea I’d had for a really long time,” said Gibson. “After the TV series aired, we were getting quite of bit of tourism from the trail system, so starting the business was a combination of getting laid off from the mining industry and seeing tourists come in with the numbers to sustain it.”
During the tour, passengers ride with Gibson down the Tug River, which marked the dividing line between the two families, and learn more about their contentious history, from the stolen hog that allegedly started the feud to the tragic romance between Johnse Hatfield and Roseanna McCoy.
www.hatfieldmccoyairboattours.com
Mark Twain Riverboat
Hannibal, Missouri
The Mark Twain Riverboat takes groups on a scenic, narrated cruise down one of America’s most legendary rivers: the Mississippi River.
The river’s claim to fame stems from celebrated author Mark Twain, who grew up along the riverbank and watched steamboats sail into port each day with travelers and trade goods from around the world. As a young man, he worked as a riverboat pilot and later immortalized the dynamic river setting in classic novels like “Tom Sawyer” and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”
“In his day, every boy wanted to be a riverboat pilot,” said Captain Steve Terry, who operates the Mark Twain Riverboat with his wife, Sandy. “It was a grand and glorious job as far as they could tell, and the river made an awesome background for his stories.”
During the cruise, passengers will spot notable landmarks such as the Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse on Cardiff Hill and the famous Jackson Island, which Twain featured prominently in his work.
Groups can book a one-hour sightseeing cruise during mid-to-late afternoon or sign up for the two-hour dinner cruise later in the evening. After dining, guests can relish the view from the open-air deck or swing by the dance floor to enjoy jazz and melodic tunes from a live band.
“I give passengers plenty of downtime to just listen to the birds and listen to the wind blow through the trees,” said Terry. “A lot of people live in the city and don’t get to experience that.”
