Thursday, September 07, 2017

St Clair Missouri - Ste Genevieve

Willie Wonka and The Lovely Carlene arrived at 8:00 AM in their truck. They spent last night in their toy hauler trailer at a KOA just down the road in Stanton. They were only going to be here today because they were heading off to a Gold Wing Road Riders Association meet in Danville, Missouri for the weekend.

Five of us piled into the Equinox and drove to the Lewis Cafe in downtown St Clair. Breakfast was excellent. I had a 'whole hawg sausage' omelette with extra mushroom, hold the toast. Sandy had very tasty looking hot cakes. El Nomad and Solo joined us part way through.

I give it five stars

Wonka, Solo, El Nomad, TL Carlene, Sherm and Sandy

The group ride today was to the Anvil Saloon and Restaurant in Ste Genevieve, Missouri (they pronounce it Genevive) via St Louis Power Sports in Fenton.

Our steeds are ready to go

Ice Cream setting up his cooler pack

Lanny's ready to go (as always)

Solo is looking set

Wrong Turn and Sherm comparing notes

Sandy and KT are deep in conversation

Nacho is watching Mad Kaw program his GPS

Tucker and Bucky

Waiting for the ride to start

We hit the road at the appointed time with Kopperhed and Flash in the lead on their Vaquero. Sandy and I were near the lead behind two Vulcans with less than stock exhaust pipes. The group rode well all the way to Fenton, just next to I-44 on the outskirts of St Louis.

Nacho and Tuck in front of us

Wrong Turn and Sherm behind us

Pretty sedimentary layers

St Louis Powersports had refreshments set out for us. Their motorcycle inventory was small, mostly sport bikes but they had a large selection of ATV's and UTV's like the Polaris Razor. They also had a couple of Can-Am Spyders and some interesting looking Dixie Chopper ZTR mowers. The staff were very friendly.

Brillo in the Audi TT chase vehicle

Wrong Turn, KT and Sherm reviewing the ride so far

Wolf, Lanny, Ice Cream and El Nomad

I hope this doesn't mean us

Looks like a real blast

I could use one of these

I didn't know Lorin was a racer

"We buy ugly houses"??

The group left Powersports with a new leader. Mad Kaw was now in the lead and took us via Missouri 141 to Missouri 21, a four lane restricted access highway. In Hillsboro, we exited onto the two lane County Road A and followed it to Festus (any Gunsmoke fans?). From there, we paralleled I-55 on the two lane US 61 south the Ste Genevieve, another reminder of the French explorers who came this way. The Anvil Saloon and Restaurant was right downtown.

Ste Genevieve church

The oldest brick house west of the Mississippi

Group parking

Sandy and Flash preparing to enter

They say the best onion rings in the state

Lots of ambiance at the Anvil

After lunch, the official program was to visit a meat shop to get supplies for tonight's "Bring Your Own" grill party. Sandy, Sherm and I decided to skip that and ride straight back. I led back up US 61 to Festus and took County A to Hillsboro. From there, County B, County EE and Jones Creek Road provided a pleasant ride back to Missouri 30 near St Clair. On B, we caught up with Brillo and Deb in the Audi and followed them for a bit, but they got away from us when we had to wait to make a left turn.

On the way into town, we stopped at a small grocery store and Sherm bought a discounted Porterhouse steak. After we got back, Sandy walked down to the closer grocery store with El Nomad and Solo, where she got a kale salad kit. I had some summer sausage.

The grill fest was convivial. There was a 50/50 draw with the funds generated being donated to The Backstoppers, a worthy local group that supports the families of police, firemen and EMT's who have lost there lives on duty.

Flash avoiding the camera flash

Happy folks chowing down

Sandy enjoying her salad

Solo, grill master extraordinaire

Bucky, Sharon, Wolf and Ice Cream

Bucky buying raffle tickets from Tuck while Flash collects the money

Leonard and Angie

Mad Kaw and his pet dead squirrel

Watchman ate the whole thing

Wonka, Sandy and Carlene kicking back

There were the usual moochers

We said our goodbyes to Wonka and Carlene before heading back to our room. I had to attend to some family business that took about an hour and worked on some photos and maps as usual before retiring for the night.


Today's Route (176 motorcycle miles):

No comments: