Kentucky/Tennessee Motor Coach Trip-September 5 – 11 - A full week for only $1495 per person (2 per room)
First Payment: $495 due at signup
Second payment: $500 due June 4
Final Payment: $500 due July 16
Cancellation date: May 15
Wow! A week-long trip including admission tickets and several meals for $1495 on our own private coach. And we even have trip chairs already – thank you Diane Reinertson and Becky Gordon. We only have a few small details left to figure out but we’re ready to advertise a great early fall bus trip to Louisville, Nashville, Memphis and St Louis. Did I say “ON OUR OWN PRIVATE COACH”? and you can bring your own cooler of any beverage and snack you want. LET THE PARTY BEGIN! We want to start selling this trip before our April 23rd meeting so start thinking about this trip and watch for your emails for the “official” sign up date. We only have a few weeks to sign up.
Day 1: we depart at 7:00 am from Cedar Rapids for our ride to Louisville, Kentucky. We will do a quick lunch along the way (on your own) so we can arrive at our hotel at a decent time to enjoy the Whiskey Row district of downtown Louisville where we will be staying. Whiskey Row once served as home to the first bourbon industry in Louisville. Many distilleries, shops and restaurants are within walking distance. Dinner will be on your own the first night.
Day 2: starts with breakfast at the hotel (included) before we load up all our stuff and take off for Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. We get a tour of some of the grounds plus a little time to shop in the museum store. We are then off to Nashville with a distillery stop and tour along the way.
There will be a quick lunch stop (on your own) so we can get checked in to our hotel and ready for dinner at the Santa Fe Company Steak House (dinner included). After dinner is the Grand Ole Opry show (tickets included).
Day 3: in Nashville, starts with breakfast at the hotel (included) before we take off with a driving tour of some highlights of Nashville. Late morning our driver will drop us off in the downtown area where we will have the choice of many spots to hit – Country Music Hall of Fame, Johnny Cash Museum, Ryman Auditorium, Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, Glen Campbell Museum, have a couple beers or line dance at the Wild Horse Saloon. These are all within walking distance. Lunch and admissions are on your own. Wednesday night is dinner at the Wild Horse Saloon in Downtown Nashville (tickets included).
DAY 4: starts with breakfast again at the hotel (included) before we take off for Memphis. On the way we stop at the Jack Daniels distillery for a tour and tasting. And then find a lunch stop along the way to Memphis (on your own). We should be in Memphis in plenty of time to get checked in to our hotel and freshened up before we spend the evening on the Mississippi River Paddle Boat Dinner Cruise (included).
DAY 5: is in Memphis starting off with breakfast at the hotel (included) before we visit Graceland (tickets included). We’ll find a place for lunch (on your own) and then tour the Sun Recording Studio. After that our driver will drop us off on the famous “Beale Street” where we can spend the rest of the day sightseeing and taking in live music, great BBQ, bars, shops and saloons. Dinner is on our own. Our driver will pick us up at a time we decide and take us back to our hotel.
DAY 6: is one more breakfast at the hotel (included) before we load up and travel to St Louis. Saturday afternoon we will visit and tour Grant’s Farm, home of the Budweiser Clydesdale’s. The tour is included but lunch is on your own. Then it is a short drive to our hotel just a block away from the famous St Louis Arch. We are on our own to wander the many pubs, shops and restaurants in the downtown arch area, or kick back in the hotel bar for free appetizers and drinks for happy hour.
DAY 7: we head back home. Breakfast is in the hotel (included). There will be time Sunday morning if anyone wants to do the Arch tour (on your own) before we take off. There will be a “stretch your legs” stop at the Hannibal Missouri Park Museum.
Contact Diane Reinertson or Becky Gordon
~ Article by Marty Stimson