2026 National Tour
Another wonderful time has come and gone. Our tour to the Springfield and Branson, Missouri is over but the great memories we have will stay with us. Those of you who have participated in one of our tours will understand when I say there is really nothing that compares to this event. The friendships we have built through the years of doing these tours are very precious to us and I want to thank everyone for their support.
Day 1 SPRINGFIELD
Leaving the hotel at 8:30 am for the 15 minute drive to the museum. You can find a few videos we posted on our Facebook page of the cars in the lot and leaving the hotel.
ROUTE 66 CAR MUSEUM
1932 Buick 96C Country Club Coupe. Only 586 were built in 1932. It features a straight 8 motor and new for 32 the “Silent second Syncro-Mesh” transmission.
ROUTE 66 CAR MUSEUM
This Buick Skylark convertible was owned by the museum when it caught on fire. It was tagged as a 1971 model but I believe it is actually a 1970.
THE HISTORY MUSEUM
The museum featured Route 66 memorabilia, Springfield and southwest Missouri Civil War history. The first thing you see when you walk into the lobby is a giant locomotive engine coming out of the wall. You can go up to the second floor and walk into a recreated coach and take a window seat. You press the button in front of you and the scenery outside the window starts rolling by like you were actually sitting in a moving train.
THE HISTORY MUSEUM
There was a great exhibit of drive-ins and motels that use to line Route 66 featuring neon signs and gas pumps. I can remember when I was in college in Springfield the Rail Haven had a restaurant called the Sycamore Inn.
THE HISTORY MUSEUM
Chet and Jeanie Palumbo reenacting a date at the drive-in movie. Notice they are in the back seat.
After we wandered through the museum everyone took a lunch break and selected one of the many restaurants down town to eat at. The square had a nice Route 66 sign a few of us posed by.
From left to right back row-Chet Palumbo, Bill and Bonnie Starzyk, Russ and Rhonda Miller. Front row-Jeanie Palumbo, Bill and Frances Sparks and Doneta Reeser.
Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium
We parked on the south side of Bass Pro near the entrance to Hemmingway's. Everyone received a $10 gift card to Bass Pro, entrance to the aquarium and the wildlife museum. We had dinner on the terrace at Hemmingway's.
DAY 2 BRANSON
AUTO AND FARM MUSEUM
1948 Allis Chalmers G
AUTO AND FARM MUSEUM
How about a Lamborghini tractor?
AUTO AND FARM MUSEUM
When was the last time you saw a hot rodded 1954 Kaiser? This one had a LS2 under the hood.
LUNCH AT BILLY GAIL’S
Known for its plate size pancakes and Billion Dollar Bacon I guarantee no one leaves hungry. A slice of carrot cake is a good example of serving sizes. That is a full size plate.
LUNCH AT BILLY GAIL’S
The inside of Billy Gail’s is full of old signs, antiques, and other quirky items such as this boat suspended from the ceiling.
SCHOOL OF THE OZARKS
THE RALPH FOSTER MUSEUM
This museum has a very broad assortment of items on display. There is a huge gun collection on display on one floor, a room with currencies from around the world next to a room with postage stamps. Another floor had memorabilia from country radio and TV shows from the 40’s to the 70’s. a period dental office, and the list goes on. Outside the museum was a sculpture garden.
SCHOOL OF THE OZARKS
THE RALPH FOSTER MUSEUM
After the museum we slipped up to the Lodge that is run by students at the school. It is a immense structure with a log cabin feel. They have a great little ice cream shop inside and this group likes ice cream!
THE BRANSON BELLE
We boarded the Branson Belle for a 4:00 voyage on Table Rock Lake. I can safely say no one was starving on this tour. After the great meal we had at Billy Gails we sat down to another great meal on the Belle.
THE BRANSON BELLE
Following the meal we were entertained by a magician/comedian, an acrobat, and the musical performance of the house band. We also had time to wander the decks with the top deck offering a nice breeze, some entertainment and a great view of Table Rock Lake.
DAY 3 OUTSKIRTS OF SPRINGFIELD
WILSON CREEK BATTLEFIELD
Wilson Creek was the location of the second battle of the Civil War. The welcome center had a great movie showing what lead up to the conflict and took us through the events making up the battle. Afterwards we wander through the exhibits portraying the people involved in the battle with an interesting display of Civil War firearms. We took a drive through the battlefield that had stops at key locations of the battle.
FINLEY RIVER MILL
A beautiful location on the Finley River features a nice restaurant, an old mill, a sandwich/coffee shop.
FINLEY RIVER MILL
They have a nice path to walk along the Finley River with a bridge crossing to a small chapel/wedding venue. We grabbed a bite to eat and walked around the grounds before heading to our next stop.
VL CLASSIC
VL Classics deals in collector cars and their inventory is constantly changing. During our visit most of the inventory leaned towards muscle cars with a few 50’s and street rods in stock. The different store front surrounding the show floor contained items pretaining to the store fronts sign.
VL CLASSIC
Interestingly they had several old style coaches on hand and to everyone's surprise they had electric motors with steering wheels and foot pedals.
FANTASTIC CAVERNS
I believe this is the only cave in the country you can ride a jeep pulled tram through. Our group was large enough to require two trams. Our guide gave us the history of the cave starting from its discovery by the landowner looking for his lost dog to its time as a speak easy during prohibition.
FANTASTIC CAVERNS
We also learned how the cave formations where created and the time it took for them to reach their current shapes. There were several spots along the trail we were cautioned to duck to keep from hitting the low hanging ceiling.
FANTASTIC CAVERNS
It was time to head back to the hotel and get ready for the banquet.
Our dinner banquet was held at the Pasta Express in their event room. After everyone had their fill we headed back to the hotel for the raffle giveaways and the fifty-fifty.
Raffle winners:
Clock-Judy Crosby
Route 66 framed picture-Sterling Thomas
2nd Route 66 picture-Carol Hagberg
Buick Fender mat-Robert Smith
Stainless steel assortment-Mike Reeser
50/50 winner-Mary Ann Williams.