The Drives
There are 3 Drives on Friday leaving from the Host Hotel and 3 Drives on Saturday leaving from the Car Show. The "shorthand" labels for these drives would be Scenic, Gearhead, Winery.
Friday Drive #1 (Leaves at 11 am)
Scenic: Three Rivers, Three Ferries
The two largest rivers in North America, plus the Illinois, meet just north of St. Louis. We will take a drive across the flood plain between the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, which is one of the premier migratory bird and waterfowl areas in the country. Next we take the Golden Eagle Ferry across the Mississippi to Calhoun County, Illinois, known for peaches and across the Illinois River on the Brussels Ferry. This a choice spot to watch bald eagles in January. A quick loop through Pere Marquette State Park and we end in the little river town of Grafton. Lots of shops and places to eat, including Aries Winery offers one of the best views from anywhere along the river. After lunch we'll take the Grafton Ferry back across the Mississippi and across the back roads to the hotel.
Friday Drive 2: (Leaves at 11:15 sharp)
Gearhead: Fastlane Classic Cars, It's Alive Automotive, Classic Car Studio
This is what I call a "gear-head" drive. If you're not into scenery & wine, take this full afternoon experience of some of the finest vintage classic cars you can imagine. Fastlane has a 6 building "campus" chocked full of both domestic and foreign cars that we all dream of. When you first arrive at Fastlane, go directly to the "Event Space" on the second floor for a quick lunch consisting of assorted sandwiches, chips & snacks. $10 per person. Lunch will be available 11:30 to 12:30. Then stroll around the area and speak with the friendly staff.
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Next you travel to "It's Alive Automotive" where Jeff Homsher has build at nationally known venue that caters mostly to European & British sports cars along with some American muscle cars. Jeff buys, sells, restores and repairs a wide variety of cars but lately I've seen quite a few LBC's in the showroom.
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The final stop on this drive is to "Classic Car Studio" - yes, the same one featured on MotorTrend (formerly known as the Velocity Channel), billed as "Speed is the New Black." Here Noah Alexander, Charles and the unique crew build cars that are tailor made for their client's lifestyle.
Friday Drive 3: (Leaves at 11:30)
Winery: Scenic drive to Montelle Winery
Sitting high on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River, Montelle Winery provides breath-taking view of Missouri's rolling hills and beautiful river bottom lands. The Klondike Cafe at Montelle offers fresh, high quality sandwiches and pizzas to be enjoyed on the vast deck, where it's easy to lose yourself in the magnificent view while enjoying some of the finest wines produced in Missouri. The drive to Montelle will meander through heavily forested areas West of St. Louis on two lane roads that attract many motorcyclists and sports car enthusiasts every fall to see the color changes. This eleven square mile area, also known as the Augusta region, was nationally known for its wine making during the 19th century, but prohibition halted the states winemaking for decades. The Augusta area was chosen by many German immigrants in the 1850's as the first viticulture area in the United States because of the unique oils, microclimate and history. Watch for deer on this drive as they are abundant, and they don't stop for LBC's!
Saturday Drive 1: (Leaves at 10:35 from the Car Show)
The first half of this drive is the same as the Three rivers drive (Drive 1 on Friday), until Grafton and then follow the Great River Road to Alton, Illinois and lunch at Fast Eddie's Bon Air, a classic roadhouse. After lunch, we can view the lock and dam and then drive across the land between the rivers on our way back.
Scenic: Where Rivers Meet
Saturday Drive 2: (Leave at 10:45 from the Car Show)
Scenic: Lewis & Clark Grafton
The two largest rivers in North America, plus the Illinois, meet just north of St. Louis. We will take a drive across the flood plain between the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, which is one of the premier migratory bird and waterfowl areas in the country. Next we take the Golden Eagle Ferry across the Mississippi to Calhoun County, Illinois, known for peaches and across the Illinois River on the Brussels Ferry. This a choice spot to watch bald eagles in January. A quick loop through Pere Marquette State Park and we end in the little river town of Grafton. Lots of shops and places to eat, including Aries Winery offers one of the best views from anywhere along the river. After lunch we'll take the Grafton Ferry back across the Mississippi and across the back roads to the hotel.
Saturday Drive 3: (Leave at 10:55 am from the Car Show)
Cedar Lake Cellars is a winery built on 370 acres of prime Missouri Wine Country by Carl & Gabriella Bolm. They cater to weddings, private events and corporate events. In this relaxing setting, they feature locally hand-crafted wines, elite California wines along with a variety of wines from well-known wine regions around the world including Chile, Italy, Napa and New Zealand.
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For lunch they feature the Smokehouse Menu which provides Sugarfire BBQ along with nachos, pulled pork, flatbread pizzas and veggie flatbread.
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There are two large dining & tasting areas where the friendly staff will walk you through a variety of wine tastings. Once you've made your selection, you can relax on the patio which overlooks a very peaceful lake that is home to 3 large swans.
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The drive to Cedar Lake Cellars will meander through many scenic areas with some challenging two-lane blacktop "twisties". There are also some straight sections where you can stretch out your LBC's legs.
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As a point of interest, along Hwy F, keep your eyes open and you'll see Daniel Boone's original homestead which is on the historical register.
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We'll need to leave no later than about 4 p.m. if you want to get back in time for the Awards banquet.