Way Down Yonder to the Beat of New Orleans

April 7 - 16, 2011

Day by Day Itinerary

Thursday, April 7                                                                                     Kansas City, KS

A booming, big time is planned as we begin our travels to “Way Down Yonder”. We will be driving in our deluxe motor coach through Iowa with a luncheon stop in Iowa. After lunch we will continue our travels through the state of Missouri and into Kansas for our overnight stay at the Drury Inn in Kansas City, Kansas.

Friday, April 8                                                                                    Oklahoma City, OK

After continental breakfast we have an hour drive to the city of Hutchinson, KS. Our morning stop will be a tour of the Underground Salt Museum.  The Salt Mine is the only one of its kind in the western hemisphere.  We will explore the story of salt in a subterranean environment few have seen before.  The majority of the exhibits will take place 650 feet underground within a working salt mine.  Our luncheon stop will be in Yoder, KS, an Amish community, for an included Amish meal at the Carriage Crossing Restaurant.  You will have an opportunity to browse through the Amish stores that contain crafts, furniture, hardware and antiques. Our evening stay will be at the Riverwind Casino in Oklahoma City, where you can relax at the hotel or try your luck at the casino.

Saturday, April 9                                                                                          Dallas, TX

After breakfast we will be going downtown Oklahoma City to visit the National Memorial and Museum in      remembrance of the victims, survivors and rescuers of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing which        occurred on April 19, 1995.  Each of 168 lives lost is represented by a chair made of bronze, stone and glass.  The museum’s galleries serve as a timeline of that event, beginning with that morning.  The audiotape provides sounds of the explosion, panic and confusion of the day’s events.  Then we are off to the booming state of Texas. It is 800 miles wide and nearly that far north to south consisting of a sunny seacoast to mile-high mountains, dense forests to cactus-studded deserts, and exciting cities.  We will stop downtown Dallas, the site where JFK was assassinated, and visit the Sixth Floor Museum, located in the former Texas School Book Depository where the day of John F. Kennedy’s assassination is documented.   Our overnight stay will be in Dallas Texas.    

Sunday, April 10                                                                                           Lafayette, LA

Wrap yourself in a blanket of warm, Louisiana comfort as we drive through Cajun Country and skirt Shreveport

Louisana. Tonight you will be treated to dinner at Mulate’s Cajun Restaurant, which is the cornerstone of Cajun Country’s proudest traditions of music, good food and lover of good times. Fresh seafood is prepared according to their own original recipes and live Cajun music entertains us while we dine. Our evening stay will be at the Drury Inn in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Monday, April 11                                                                                 New Orleans, LA

The Tabasco Sauce Factory will “spice” up our tour and then we can relax while enjoying the sites and sounds of the Cajun Man’s Swamp Cruise. Excitement mounts and the party never ends on Bourbon Street where construction crews spend their paychecks like sailors on shore leave. Sounds of the traditional jazz are symbolic of Bourbon Street. Our stay for the next two nights is at the Bourbon Inn, located in the heart of the French Quarter.

Tuesday, April 12                                                                              New Orleans, LA

Following breakfast, a step-on guide will join us for a city tour of New Orleans. We may notice a few visible scars from Katrina; or venturing farther, one might compare the area to a war zone. After lunch we will visit the National World War II Museum, considered a “living” museum. It tells the story of the American Experience in the war that changed the world - why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today - so that all generations will understand the price of freedom and be inspired by what they learn. Upon arrival back to our hotel, Bourbon Street beckons us for shopping, dinner and the flavor of New Orleans night-life. 

Wednesday, April 13                                                                            Vicksburg, MS

As we leave the city of New Orleans by the scenic 24-mile Causeway Bridge across Lake Pontchartrain, which was affected by Hurricane Katrina, we will make our way to Vicksburg. Today we will be touring the Civil War Battlefield in Vicksburg, where you will see life-size exhibits and artifacts from the siege of Vicksburg, plus a film recounting this campaign. Our evening stay is at the Battlefield Inn adjacent to the battlefield in Vicksburg.

Thursday, April 14                                                                                       Memphis, MS

We will travel on the beautiful Natchez Trace Parkway on our way to Graceland. This route was a pre-civil war route which brought goods from the Mississippi River to Nashville. A special bus permit is required for traveling this route. This afternoon we will be touring Graceland (Elvis’ home), his airplanes, the car museum and the Sincerely Elvis Museum, which is the Platinum Tour. At 5:00 PM we would like to be present at the Peabody Hotel, downtown Memphis, for the world famous “Walk of the Ducks”. Our evening stay will be in South Memphis at a Drury Inn.

Friday, April 15                                                                                            St. Louis, MO

This morning our motor coach will be heading north to St. Louis on Interstate 55. Today we will tour the infamous Gateway Arch. This inverted catenary of gleaming stainless steel soars 630 feet above the site of Pierre de Laclede’s house and trading post. It commemorates what was the gateway to the West for thousands of 19th-century pioneers. The arch stands 75 feet higher than the Washington Monument and incorporates 886 tons of stainless steel. A short film of the construction and the settlers of the west will be viewed before the journey to the top via tram for the views from the observation decks. Our evening stay will be at the Drury Inn in St. Louis, Missouri.          

Saturday, April 16                                                                                        Home

The road home will take us past Hannibal, Missouri -- the home of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain).  Samuel lived in this community as a young boy and later used the town as the setting for incidents in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”.  This will bring our own adventures of “Way Down Yonder” to a close; leaving us with new friendships and fond memories to last a lifetime.