It is a lot of fun, but no, I wasn't there. Tickets to be on the Belle--and being on a boat is the only way to go, for this, though I suppose a picnic on the riverbank could fill in the wait time (steamboats aren't exactly speedboats)--were $125.
I just thought maybe some people might be interested in this story, as steamboats are quite rare nowadays.
Possibly next year I could have an up-close-and-personal view. A friend of ours bought a boat last Saturday. My husband and son went with him, for company; they drove clear to St. Louis--300 miles from here--to pick it up.