The Pit

Our fall club cruise is at hand, it's our last cruise of the year. We're headed out to a special nearby place - the Quad Cities! Our Viper friends in the Quad Cities have helped us assemble a fun time. The club is also going to subsidize entry costs on this cruise, so it is no cost to you! (outside of hotel and food) And yes this is a kid friendly cruise so feel free to bring them along. Best of all, this cruise will also be a multiday cruise spanning two days! (or one, if you choose to turn back - your choice).

Day 1 (Saturday, October 8th)
Our plan is to meet at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg near the South-East corner of the Sears Parking lot. The location is right at the corner of Woodfield Road and West Frontage Road. We’ve used this location to meet in the past, it's fairly easy to find. The cruise leaves at 8:30am! PLEASE be on time and remember to fill up before you arrive!

It's going to be a busy day! We'll head west for about an hour before making a quick pit stop for a break. We're back in our cars for another hour before hitting our lunch stop - Manny' s in Fulton. Manny' is known for their pizza and tacos but they have a full menu to order from. After lunch we'll head out to LeClair, Iowa and tour the Mississippi River Distilling Company! During the tour, you'll be able to see the entire process, from the cleaning, milling and cooking of the grain, to the fermentation, distillation, blending, aging and bottling of spirits.

We'll finish the tour in their tasting room for free samples! We'll jump back in the cars and head out to our next stop, the Iowa Rt80 Truck Stop. Yes, doesn't sound fancy, but you'll be in for a big surprise... It's the WORLD'S LARGEST truck stop! Yes folks this place boasts stores, restaurants, game room, dentist, barber, vinyl graphics shop, service center, truck wash, museum, and a theatre! Oh yeah, they sell gas too. We'll then pack up and head to our next stop - the Candy Kitchen! This is the oldest ice cream parlor/soda fountain in the world (circa 1860)!

Day 2 (Sunday – October 9th)
We'll start off the day with breakfast at the Moon River Supper Club overlooking the Mississippi River! After breakfast, our day will begin with a tour around the second oldest US Army arsenal and museum (children over the age of 16 need an ID). This is a cool visit as we'll learn a lot about the manufacturing of weapons and weapon components! Here we'll find an extensive collection of military and civilian small arms is on display. After this we're going to jump on the cars and drive over to Moline to visit the John Deere Pavilion. We'll have a tour of the facility which has become one of the world's most comprehensive agricultural exhibits and is a very popular tourist attraction. As a possible added bonus, our Viper buddies in Iowa are attempting to get in touch with the American Pickers gang for a visit! After all this, we begin our leisurely trip home. We said this was going to be jam packed and we weren't kidding!?! We're going to have a good time and hope to see you there!

Cost & Details
The best part about this cruise is that it's free and registration is very simple! You only need to do two things:

1) Call our cruise director Nancy Friend and let her know you're coming, how many people are coming with you, and if you're joining us for both days. Call (847) 573-9415. Please let us know by October 5th!

2) Book your hotel. We’ve arranged a special $169.99 rate at the Jumer's in Rock Island. Call (800) 477-7747 to make your reservations for Saturday, October 8th. Mention the Illinois Viper Club. They will hold rooms for us until September 30th!

As with every cruise we will remind you of our usual disclaimers... we generally cruise with the speed of traffic and each Viper follows the Viper in front of them. This helps make for some care free cruising without having to follow a map (though maps will be provided as well). It’s important to stay together, while the route has been selected to take us away from traffic where possible, let’s not allow too much traffic to break us up since we’re following each other with line-of-sight. Please remember to have your cell phone with you. We also encourage you to bring your walkie-talkie's since we use them to coordinate and chat during our cruise (channel 10-10). Sunglasses are always another good idea. Definitely don’t forget your camera and comfortable shoes!  

If you’ve never taken a cruise with the club, you don’t know what you’re missing.  We’ve taken care of all the details, just come along and have fun. We’re looking forward to the day and think you’ll find this trip very enjoyable!  If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call or e-mail.

Our next cruise is at hand and it's going to be a popular one! We're headed to Door County Wisconsin, one of the most beautiful areas in the Midwest. This cruise will also be a multiday cruise spanning three days! This will be a great event, we expect to pay homage to our Wisconsin members as we hit many of the most popular locations in the area and some very special stops…

Day 1 (Friday, August 12th)
We’ll first be meeting at the Lake Forest Oasis on i94 headed West (it's the highway overpass w/restaurant, gas, and restrooms - right after the exit for rt60), but please allow enough travel time to get there. We plan to leave promptly at 8:30am!! Day 1 is a long trip and we’ve planned a few stops along the way to stretch our legs as well as grab lunch.

However we’ve also arranged a very big stop along the way - Lambeau Field! Yes, it’s the home of the Packers and they deserve applause. The club has arranged a stadium tour for the group! We’ll also be visiting the Packers Hall of Fame! And for those wishing to don the colors, we’ll be sure to hit their elaborate gift shop for apparel and knick-knacks.

We’ll then move on to our hotel destination in Sturgeon Bay – the Stone Harbor Resort. This is an excellent hotel by the water that everyone will enjoy. We’ll check in and relax the rest of the night.

Day 2 (Saturday – August 13th)
We’ll start the day with a breakfast and we’ll head out on the peninsula! We’ll be driving one of the best scenic routes in the Midwest as we drive the winding roads all the way to the tip at Gills Rock and on to the North Port. After a few sights, we’ll head to Sister Bay for lunch at Al Johnson’s. This restaurant is famous for goats eating grass on their roof, this is a great place. We’re also in town for the art festival in Sister Bay! We’re going to give everyone a chance to walk around and browse. Afterward we’ll drive through Peninsula State Park. We hope to park right by the fire watch tower and climb to the top for panoramic pictures of the area and view of the fleet of Vipers down below. We’ll also have a stop to visit a light house along with a very special scenic drive. We’ll then head to Egg Harbor, a very small village where we’ll grab a drink, browse, and shop. To finish the day we’ll do a fish boil in Fish Creek at Pelletier’s restaurant (for those who don’t like fish, you can order from their menu). There's also many shops in this area so we’ll finish our day here and then head back to the hotel for a great sunset!

Day 3 (Sunday – August 14th)
On Sunday we’ll start the day in a special way with a breakfast boat cruise that the club has arranged on the waters of Green Bay. We’ll be riding on the Harbor Lady – a 100 foot 2-level yacht that will give us a great tour of the bay. It’s a comfortable ship with heating, air conditioning, roofed area, and also open deck.

We return around 11am and we’ve left the rest of the day open for those who want to explore on their own or begin heading back! Door County is an area you must see in your lifetime – especially in a Viper!

Feel free to cruise to the upper peninsula and perhaps even put your car on the ferry to Washington Island. It's a wonderful place to cruise. You have to experience this area at least once in your Viper!

Cost & Details
Everyone needs to register and send in the form. The cost of the cruise is only $15 – this covers Lambeau Field, the Hall of Fame, and a few small items. The hotel, meals, and boat cruise will be paid for directly by each participant. Hotel and boat cruise reservations need to be made by each member directly with the merchants! We’ve arranged a special $145 rate at the Stone Harbor Resort (877) 746-0700). They will hold rooms for us until July 25th! Mention the IL Viper Club when calling. For the Sunday breakfast cruise, you must make your reservations on-line at www.harborlady.com. Select the Sunday August 14th breakfast cruise and select the senior ticket (they’re allowing us to use this as our club discount). It will cost $29/per person. If you have trouble, you can try contacting them via phone at (920) 707-2539.

As with every cruise I will remind you of our usual disclaimers... we generally cruise with the speed of traffic and each Viper follows the Viper in front of them. This helps make for some care free cruising without having to follow a map (though maps will be provided as well). It’s important to stay together, while the route has been selected to take us away from traffic where possible, let’s not allow too much traffic to break us up since we’re following each other with line-of-sight. Please remember to have your cell phone with you. We also encourage you to bring your walkie-talkie's since we use them to coordinate and chat during our cruise (channel 10-10). Sunglasses are always another good idea. Definitely don’t forget your camera and comfortable shoes!  

We request that all registrations are received by August 7th. The registration form is on the below link. Please get your registration forms in to us as soon as you can.

We’ll first be meeting at the Lincoln Oasis (Eastbound entrance on I-80 between 294 and the Indiana border). It’s a very convenient place for us to gather (it's the highway overpass w/restaurant, gas, and restrooms), but please allow enough travel time to get there, we plan to leave promptly at 8:30am!! We'll cruise the highways and make a stop along the way to stretch our legs until we reach Kokomo, IN. We'll eat lunch at Culver's before hitting our first cruise stop - the Elwood Haynes Museum! Elwood Haynes was responsible for the first horseless carriage and also the inventor of stainless steel. we'll tour this great museum until we head out for a little walk through Highland Park. This scenic 80 acre park is the "Crown Jewel" of the Kokomo Park System. Highland Park is also the home of "Old Ben", the giant Sycamore Stump, the Vermont Covered Bridge, and Kokomo Creek. We'll reconvene near the cars to head to our next stop - the Treasure Mart Antique Mall. This is a large venue for collectible and antique items - with over 70 vendors in a 25,000 sq-foot area! We'll peruse the shops until it's time to gather at our cars and head out to the hotel where most will be spending the night. Those not spending the night can still join the group on the last stop which is a very special tour and dinner at the Seiberling Mansion! We'll spend two hours here enjoying this interesting location and having one heck of a buffet feast.

Day 2 (Sunday - May 22nd)
For those who are staying with the cruise group (or arriving only for day 2), this will be a really interesting day because of the variety of stops we'll be making. We'll start by catching breakfast at the hotel in the morning. We'll check-out and leave the hotel at 9:40am.

Our first stop will be the Greentown Glass Museum which houses the prized glass from the Indiana Tumbler and Goblet Company. The factory burned down in 1903, however today we can still see educational and collectors exhibits at this museum. From here we leave for the Kokomo Automotive Museum! Here visitors can wander through Kokomo's automotive history, beginning in 1894 through the present. The museum's historic facades feature a 1930's gas station, the Haynes home, and a 1950's diner. Auto industry related displays and over 100 antique and classic cars make this a must-see museum for car enthusiasts. The gift shop offers Kokomo and automotive souvenirs. Our last stop will be very cool - the Grissom Air Museum! We'll stroll through aviation history from WWII through the Gulf War in a unique outdoor display at Grissom Air Reserve Base. At this indoor and outdoor museum we'll see many fascinating aircraft, examine aviation armaments, flight trainers, uniforms, models, photos, survival gear, engines, war prizes, and much more. You can even sit in the cockpit of an F-4 Phantom II jet fighter.

We'll hang out until 3pm before we corral the group and head home. But that's not all, a special back-roads route has been planned to really stretch our cars legs heading back!

Cost & Details
The cost for the entire cruise (except hotel & lunch/dinner) will be paid for by the IL Club (thank you sponsors!). Everyone still needs to register and send in a form, the registration form also does collect money for the Seiberling Mansion dinner. And for those doing both nights or needing a hotel - don't forget to make hotel reservations, we've arranged a special $79 rate at the Hampton Inn (2920 S. Reed Rd - (765) 455-2900). They will hold rooms for us until May 7th! Mention the IL Viper Club when calling.

As with every cruise I will remind you of our usual disclaimers... we generally cruise with the speed of traffic and each Viper follows the Viper in front of them. This helps make for some care free cruising without having to follow a map (though maps will be provided as well). It’s important to stay together, while the route has been selected to take us away from traffic where possible, let’s not allow too much traffic to break us up since we’re following each other with line-of-sight. Please remember to have your cell phone with you. We also encourage you to bring your walkie-talkie's since we use them to coordinate and chat during our cruise (channel 10-10). Sunglasses are always another good idea. Definitely don’t forget your camera and comfortable shoes!  We request that all registrations are received by May 14th. Please get your registration forms in to us as soon as you can.