[Oddy]

It's that time of year for us midwesterners to start talking about trips planned this year. Our spring trips generally head south, in past years we have gone to Nashville, and Memphis a couple times. This year we plan to head to Missouri. Just a 3 day trip likely. We leave from the general area of Peoria IL and will head towards Hannibal MO, then on to "the Ozarks", then try to hit alot of the Mark Twain National Forest on our way east toward the "wine area" I am told is west of St. Louis. Anyone have experience in those areas that would care to share good places to eat, sleep, stop and see, etc.? I'd love to hit some wineries and bring back a case.

 

[newday777]

Lambert's Cafe while near Springfield
http://www.throwedrolls.com/shopcontent.asp?type=Sikeston
and Basspro's home store

 

[Buckfarrack]

If y'all come down to BowlingGreen and took 161 to senic rt19,just south of I-70 is BigSpring. Oldest state park in Mo and one of the bigest springs in the world.

Just south of there is a real cool historical German town,Hermann. This IS the heart of wine country. Trolley takes you for wine tours and sight seeing.Purdy neat town.
http://www.hermannmissouri.com/


I have ridden rt19 all the down to Arkansas,and it is one of my favorite routes. NO TRAFFIC!
Hwy 21 is also a good MC ride.I recently camped at Johnson Shut-Ins state park.In the same area is Elephant Rocks SP,that place has some BIGAZZ ROCKS.If you haven't been there,you have NOT seen Rocks this big.Great place to take a break and check out.

 

[jclax01]

Lambert's Cafe while near Springfield
http://www.throwedrolls.com/shopcontent.asp?type=Sikeston
and Basspro's home store

wrong city...its near Sikeston mo down near the boot hill of missouri.

 

[jclax01]

I am from st louis and there are a few nice routes to take. If you are going to hermann mo, take highway 94 to hwy 100 west. nice run and a few wineries on the way. you can gas up in the small towns and you can get food at the wineries. In Hermann mo, they have this resturant in Hermann. Best Prime Rib I have ever had. On the way if you havent stopped in Litchfield Ill, make sure to put that on your trip. That place is pretty much everything goldwing. niehaus cycles is the name of the shop.

 

[Buckfarrack]

wrong city...its near Sikeston mo down near the boot hill of missouri.

There's one at Ozark,Mo. too. It's between Springfield and Branson. ....click on their locations button.

 

[jclax01]

There's one at Ozark,Mo. too. It's between Springfield and Branson. ....click on their locations button.

did not know that. the only one I have been to is the one south off of 55.

 

[Chromo]

wrong city...its near Sikeston mo down near the boot hill of missouri.

Both are Springfield, MO.
Not sure which Lamberts was first, Springfield or Sikeston, but both are called "Home of the throwed rolls"

Edit
Quotes are a bit stupid with the new site, only quotes the message replied to but not the message that was quoted in that message so things don't make sense sometimes LOL

I meant both Lamberts and Brass Pro, not both Lamberts LOL

 

[beenshot]

Big Spring state park is actually south of Van Buren and it is worth a visit if you're in the area. it is one of our yearly day rides and there is also a nice ice cream shop in Van Buren
http://www.nps.gov/ozar/planyourvisit/big-spring.htm

a picture of the spring

a ride through the park

 

[beenshot]

I'm not sure which Lambert's was first but I have been stuffed at both of them and they are a mirror image of each other with the same great food.

 

[beenshot]

I have ridden rt19 all the down to Arkansas,and it is one of my favorite routes. NO TRAFFIC!
Hwy 21 is also a good MC ride.I recently camped at Johnson Shut-Ins state park.In the same area is Elephant Rocks SP,that place has some BIGAZZ ROCKS.If you haven't been there,you have NOT seen Rocks this big.Great place to take a break and check out.

yes, Elephant Rocks does have some big ole rocks and the whole Arcadia Valley area is very nice.

 

[Knob]

Both are Springfield, MO.
Not sure which Lamberts was first, Springfield or Sikeston, but both are called "Home of the throwed rolls"

Edit
Quotes are a bit stupid with the new site, only quotes the message replied to but not the message that was quoted in that message so things don't make sense sometimes LOL

I meant both Lamberts and Brass Pro, not both Lamberts LOL

Sikeston would be the Original. There is also one in Alabama, Foley I think. Southern Missouri has some beautiful scenery.

 

[erwjww]

Nice video and music Larry. Thanks for letting us ride along.



By the way, there's something wrong with your bike. It never leaned once on all them curves. :?:wtf:

:raspberry::raspberry::ROFL::ROFL::ROFL::ROFL:

 

[da_bull]

3 days really isnt enough time to get on down to the Springfield/Branson area from Peoria. I'm not really familiar with the STL area to be able to say for sure the best area to stay/see, as I usually go into Arkansas to ride around. I did tour the Anheuser-Busch grounds though. Pretty cool. SW Missouri, Branson is cool, especially the old section away from the "strip". Lambert's is a must, 14 miles south of Springfield in Ozark. Bass Pro in Springfield is great as well.

 

[beenshot]

Jack, ole buddy,:raspberry:actually I have thought about trying a pendulum mount for the camera to give it the "bike" effect:ROFL::ROFL::ROFL:

 

[Knob]

Oddy, if you have a chance to visit the Carbondale area of Southern Illinois sometime, it's full of wineries.

 

[beenshot]

found some of my old pictures from Hannibal

 

[Oddy]

Thanks for the tips and links guys, keep them coming as we won't be going until probably late April or early May. To the poster who suggested the Carbondale area, we did that last year, but due to our own fault (too much riding and a lot of rain) we never saw a single winery, but we did stay in a very cool cabin for a night. The southern end of IL has some nice riding, and a couple ferry crossings to boot. Too often what happens is we plan too many miles in a day, stop too often, get a little lost, and end up riding too late, IMO anyway.

 

[sccaz]

Thanks for the tips and links guys, keep them coming as we won't be going until probably late April or early May. To the poster who suggested the Carbondale area, we did that last year, but due to our own fault (too much riding and a lot of rain) we never saw a single winery, but we did stay in a very cool cabin for a night. The southern end of IL has some nice riding, and a couple ferry crossings to boot. Too often what happens is we plan too many miles in a day, stop too often, get a little lost, and end up riding too late, IMO anyway.

This is what makes those road trips so darn great.

The Datsun Z car club in Kansas City meets with the St Louis club in Hermann at the winery every year. Good time. Awesome view over the bluffs of the Missouri river.

 

[Oddy]

Just thought I would give a little report on our trip to Missouri. We had to reroute a couple of times due to roads being flooded. 79 south from Hannibal was closed, so due to that, rain, and a failed battery on one of the bikes, we took a more direct route to Hermann on Friday. Neat town, they had a "Shelby Fest" so we saw a bunch of nice Mustangs and Cobras (replicas). But rain kept the numbers down, by about half according to some. Our ride on Saturday to Lake of the Ozarks was 100% rain, and cold. Too bad. We did have fun at a bar called "The Branding Iron", they have karaoke so we partook in that, as everyone on the trip had been in a band or two at one time or another. Sunday's ride turned out very nice, finally cleared up and warmed up a tad. We took a scenic route thru Mark Twain National Forest. We neded up getting to St. Louis much later than planned due to a flat tire. Fortunately we had a "fix it" kit but the hole was nasty (from a bone!) so we had to keep stopping every 30 miles to pump up the tire. We had a georgeous day to head home on Monday though!!