An hour and a half cruise aboard the Henrietta III on the scenic Cape Fear River, narrated by the Captain, followed by lunch-our Riverboat Deli Buffet. Named after the Henrietta, a trailblazer for steamboats on the Cape Fear River, enjoyed a long and financially successful life. James Seawell at his plantation at what is now Fayetteville, North Carolina built her in 1817-1818. Seawell named the boat for his daughter Henrietta. Henrietta was launched April 30, 1818 under the command of Captain Charles Taws. Her first run from Fayetteville to Wilmington was in July 1818. She ran the river between Wilmington and Fayetteville for forty years. When she was retired from service, she had run at least one and one-half million miles on the Cape Fear River and had earned no less than one and one-half million dollars for her owners.