A boat cruise can be one of the best ways to tour a city, and one of the worst ways to tour a desert. Put the venerable vessel to its natural use with today's Groupon: for $65, you get a two-hour dinner cruise for two and one 5"x7" framed photograph (up to a $114 value) from Gateway Arch Riverboats. Winner of the Riverfront Times' Best View of Downtown award in 2009, Gateway Arch Riverboats offers intellect-tickling and eyeball-exhilarating excursions down the Mississippi. Aboard one of two 19th-century replica steamboats, the Tom Sawyer or the Becky Thatcher, diners sate sailing stomachs with a meal of prime rib, chicken champagne, vegetarian manicotti, or Alaskan Pollack while indulging eyes with moonlit views of downtown St. Louis. Chefs compliment your floating feast with a first course salad with parmesan vinaigrette and a dulcet dénouement of the chef's special dessert. Buoyant bistros board at 7 p.m. at the levee below the Gateway Arch and depart at 7:30 p.m.

This Groupon is valid for cruises beginning April 11, 2011 to October 31, 2011. When your reservation is made prime rib or child’s chicken strips will automatically be set up unless otherwise specified. Casual to dressy attire suggested.

Reviews

Five Yahoo! Travelers and four Insider Pagers give Gateway Arch Riverboats an average of four stars:

• St Louis is a River town, always has been. you are not going to see the paddle boats stacked up four deep along the levee like it was a 100 yrs ago,but [sic] you will safely see a part of the Midwest that is not interstate or cornfields. – looks at boats, Yahoo! Travel
• We took an one hour cruise on the riverboat when visiting St. Louis recently and it was so fun... It is air conditioned inside and also has a nice little snack bar and they even have restrooms on the boat. They provide a nice little talking guide of what is going on as you down the river so you also get a little history lesson which turned out to be very interesting. – L C., Insider Pages