The Viking Mississippi pulls up to Cape Girardeau’s floodwall. Hundreds of passengers climb down the gangplank and spill onto Water Street. One of them stops a local.

“What’s Cape known for?”

The Mississippi River. The Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge. Good restaurants. Antique shops. The Century Casino.

Every item on that list is true. None of it is an answer.

Jonathan Fritzler, a local digital media strategist, recently wrote on Facebook that tourism is the outcome and identity is the foundation. He’s right. But I think Cape already has its identity.

We’ve been painting it on the floodwall for years. Walk along it and read the murals. Craig Thomas and his crew are adding new panels right now.

Mark Twain floated past our town. General Grant used the building that’s now Port Cape Girardeau, and it’s still standing. Rush Limbaugh grew up here. Southeast Missouri State’s Kent Library holds an extensive collection of William Faulkner’s work. And our stories keep growing, from the shop owner whose grandfather opened the store to the university student who came from thousands of miles away and chose to stay.

We even have a name for it: “Where the River Turns a Thousand Tales.”

Look at what Christy Mershon, president of the Glenn House board, accomplished with Dolly Parton Day. Within days, more than twenty businesses joined her Rhinestone Route. Nobody built an attraction. Christy had an idea, and our community showed up.

What if we brought that same energy to telling Cape’s stories? Imagine residents leading walking tours for cruise passengers, with stops at the Glenn House and Port Cape, telling the stories behind some of our oldest buildings.

Of course, people need to feel welcome and safe downtown. Residents deserve that as much as visitors.

We have the history, the people and the stories. Now we need to connect them.

More passengers will walk onto Water Street soon, wondering what Cape Girardeau has to offer.

What will we have ready for them?

The next boat is coming, whether we’re ready or not.