Did You Ever Take a River Cruise on The Executive Queen in Owensboro, Kentucky?

A couple of days ago, I was scrolling through my Facebook feed and saw a post from Cheryl Haynes on the History of Owensboro, KY page.  She asked, "Remember the cruises on the big white yacht at The Executive Inn?"  My answer was an immediate, "YES!!!"  And I'll get to that hilarious story in a second.  But first . . .

I immediately starting searching the internet for a photo of the Executive Queen.  I am pretty sure there's a photo of it in this tribute to The Executive Inn.  In fact, the very first photo in this video shows Bob Green standing on the top floor of that boat.  At least, I'm 99% sure that's it.

Take a look and see what you think!

Cheryl's Facebook post inspired a lot of Owensboro residents to share their memories of the Executive Queen.

FOND MEMORIES OF THE EXECUTIVE QUEEN

Dale Taylor, who worked at Wax Works downtown for years, has vivid memories of the Queen and its very first voyage on the Ohio.

That is absolutely classic.

Brian Roberts also has fond memories of The Executive Queen as well. As a matter of fact, he had the pleasure of working on it.

And I love the memories shared by Kim Hester and Misty Royal. Their memories of the boat are very much like mine and involve school functions held on board.

So, here's the my memory of the ship.  I remember this like it was yesterday. I'm curious if any of my DCHS '89 classmates recall this.

THE DCHS SENIOR CRUISE '89

At Daviess County High School, we had special Senior Week activities.  For example, instead of going to school one day, the senior class went to Windy Hollow instead.  While we didn't have prom on the "big, white yacht", we did have a Senior Cruise on the Executive Queen.  In all honesty, the only thing I really remember about the cruise is the way it ended.

As we were slowly approaching the dock, a handful of my friends and I remained on the top deck of the boat so we could get a really cool view of the riverfront and The Executive Inn towering over it.  What we didn't expect was the eyeful of manhood we got instead.

We noticed a man standing at the window of one of the hotel rooms that ran along and faced the river. We also noticed the had didn't have a single stitch of clothing on.  He was completely naked and standing right in front of the window with every single body part on full, unfortunate display. My one memory of that cruise vessel is a wiener.

THAT is my memory of the Executive Queen.  LOL!  Hey, Cheryl asked if anyone has memories!  I am sharing as commanded.

THE EXECUTIVE INN CLOSES

Of course, anyone who lived in Owensboro during The Big E's glory years has tons of memories about the hotel and everything it was known for- The Showroom Lounge, the satellite WBKR studio in the lobby, the Timeout Lounge and the Executive Queen.

The Executive Inn closed for good on June 9th, 2009.  Just months later, on November 8th of that same year, the hotel was imploded.

The hotel is completely gone. If you're in Owensboro and you drive downtown, there's literally no hint of it remaining.  But those of us who experienced it still have our memories. Even if they involved a senior field trip and the naked man who brought the cruise aboard The Executive Queen to a close.

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