GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY CLUB * June 7-8, 2017 * Hannibal, Missouri, Nauvoo and Galesburg, Illinois
WEDNESDAY, June 7
6:30 a.m. Arrive at departure lot N. Court/Rochester, Ottumwa. Motor coach departs @ 7:00 a.m.
8:30 a.m. Arrive at Flying J Travel Plaza, Wayland MO for half-hour rest stop
10 to 11:30 a.m. Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum. Self-guided tour includes eight buildings. Among these are the Mark Twain Boyhood Home, Becky Thatcher and Huckleberry Finn houses, J.M. Clemens Justice of the Peace office, Interpretive Center and Museum Gallery, home of 14 original Norman Rockwell paintings. (Admission included)
Noon LUNCHat Fiddlestiks Food and Spirits (Country buffet includes tossed salad with dressing, roast beef and fried chicken breast, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, buttered corn, hot rolls, caramel apple pie or assorted desserts. (Lunch, tax, tip included)
1:30 p.m. SLEEP INN & SUITES hotel check-in, 105 Lakeside Drive (573-221-1500). The hotel is located next to the restaurant. We will unload baggage, receive room keys, check-in and board bus at 2:15 for return trip to downtown Hannibal.
2:30 p.m. HANNIBAL TROLLEY depot for one-hour narratedtour of Hannibal.(Admission included)Includes famous landmarks, scenic outlooks and beautiful historic homes.
3:30 to 4:45 p.m. Historic Downtown Hannibal.Free time to browse, enjoy shops and galleries, stop for refreshments.
5:00 to 6:00 p.m. “MARK TWAIN HIMSELF” Richard Gareyat Planters Barn Theater. Authentic, Mark Twain stage show packed with comedy, satire and Mark Twain’s wit. Complimentary Victorian Tea with coffee and pastries before the show.
6:30 to 8:30 p.m. MARK TWAIN RIVERBOAT DINNER CRUISE. The buffet features roast beef and seasoned-baked chicken breast. Beverages available from a cash bar. The nostalgic, triple-deck riverboat also adds to the experience with live entertainment. (Dinner, tax, tip included)
9 p.m. RETURN TO HOTEL (OVER)
THURSDAY, June 8
Breakfast buffet at Sleep Inn Hotel
7:30 a.m. MOTOR COACH DEPARTS HOTELheaded for Nauvoo, Illinois
9:00 a.m. HISTORIC NAUVOO VISITOR CENTER.Half-hour rest stopfollowed by a half-hour, motorcoach step-on guide tour of Nauvoo. The rebuilt Nauvoo Mormon Temple was reopened in 2002. The original temple was destroyed by fire in 1848. After a 1999 groundbreaking, the 54,000 square-foot temple was dedicated and a six-week public open house hosted 331,849 visitors. The temple is no longer open to visitors.
10 a.m. DEPART FOR GALESBURG
11:30 a.m. LUNCH at Packinghouse Dining Company(441 Mulberry St.) Home of Galesburg’s best salad bar and homemade cinnamon rolls. Your choice of three entrees (steak burger, grilled chicken and pot roast dip) plus salad and soup bar. (Lunch, tax, tip included)
1 p.m. ORHEUM THEATRE guided tour. The theater was opened in 1916 as a Vaudeville House and entertainers included George Burns and Harry Houdini. It also hosted the 1940 world premiere of the movie “Those Were the Days” filmed in Galesburg and starred William Holden. The theater closed in 1982 and after a restoration was reopened in 1988 with a performance by the Henry Mancini Orchestra.
2 p.m. GALESBURG HISTORICAL DRIVING TOUR.Our tour guide from the Orpheum Theatre will change hats and be our step-on guide for a Galesburg tour. The town is the home of Knox College, poet Carl Sandburg, the famous Abraham Lincoln/Stephen Douglas U.S. Senate debates of 1858 and a rich, railroad history.
3:30 p.m. GALESBURG AMTRAK STATION OR Seminary Street shopping.More than 30 members of our group will return to Ottumwa via Amtrak. They would like us at the station an hour before the 4:38 p.m. scheduled departure time. Tour members taking the motor coach back to Ottumwa will have an hour in Galesburg’s Seminary Street Historic Commercial District (antique shops and railroad museum) before boarding the motor coach at 4:30 p.m.
6:53 p.m. TRAIN ARRIVAL IN OTTUMWA.The motor coachwill drop tour members off at the N. Court and E. Rochester parking lot on the way back, then meet the train in Ottumwa to take the train passengers back to the parking lot.
C1st Golden Opportunity Club coordinator Jeff Wilson 641-919-2598 (cell phone)
Hawkeye Stages motor coach driver Rick Brannen 515-402-3817 (cell phone)