Full House Resorts, Inc. President & CEO Dan Lee and local elected officials from Rabbit Hash and Boone County, Kentucky and Rising Sun and Ohio County, Indiana welcomed the arrival of Rising Star’s new ferry boat “MS Lucky Lady” to Rising Sun on Thursday, July 12th.
The MS Lucky Lady name was selected through a contest where Rising Star patrons and members of the public voted to name Rising Star’s new ferry boat. The name “MS Lucky Lady” received the most votes, beating the second place name, “The Rising Rabbit,” by only 21 votes.
Beginning in August, the approximately $1.7 million project will provide a vehicular ferry boat service from Rabbit Hash to Rising Sun. The new ferry boat service will shorten travel between Boone County and Rising Star from an approximately one-hour drive to a ferry ride of just a few minutes.
Once the ferry boat service opens to the public, it will run every 15 minutes, seven days per week (8 a.m. to 10 p.m. from Sunday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday) and have a capacity of 10 vehicles. A one-way trip on the ferry boat will cost $5, or one can purchase a round-trip ticket for $8.
The MS Lucky Lady is a new, custom-built, top-of-the-line ferry boat, made specifically for Rising Star. It is comprised of two components, the tug and the barge, which have been joined to make the Lucky Lady ferry boat. The tug boat was built in Bridge City, Texas, and arrived in Cincinnati late last year. The barge component was built in Jacksonville, Florida, and traveled up the Ohio River, making stops in Paducah, Kentucky and Louisville, Kentucky. Once in Louisville, Kentucky, the tug and barge were connected to become the completed ferry boat, MS Lucky Lady.
“The ferry boat service will increase visitation to Rising Star Casino Resort,” said Dan Lee, CEO of Full House Resorts. “Our intention is to use the ferry boat to drive traffic to the beautiful towns of Rising Sun and Rabbit Hash, while providing more convenient access to our casino amenities from gaming, dining, golf and our hotels.”
The last ferry operating from Rising Sun to Rabbit Hash discontinued service in 1948. It was destroyed by river ice, and its owners decided against buying a new one. With the loss of the ferry, it severed the link between two communities that had once been closely connected. Now, Rising Sun and Rabbit Hash are once again only 2,000 feet apart, joined by Rising Star’s MS Lucky Lady ferry service.
