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FeedSelfish Indulgences
6 Great Getaways for the Lover in You
Wine, chocolate, and thou
The Chocolate Wine Trail February 21 and 22 in the heart of Missouri’s wine country at Hermann meanders to seven local wineries and is sure to pique the interest of the avid wine lover. Try a Chocolate Crown with Cheesecake Filling paired with a Port at Stone Hill Winery.
Then enjoy a dinner at the Vintage Restaurant at Stone Hill Winery. The restaurant is a restored carriage house and stable of the winery, and The tables and booths are even made out of wine barrels. The menu features German specialty dishes and, of course, their best-selling Steinberg White.
After your day of wine trails and fine dining, find your way to the Captain Wohlt Inn in historic Hermann. It is located in walking distance from Hermannhof and Stone Hill wineries.
Visit hermannwinetrail.com, Captain Wholt Inn at 573-486-3357, and Vintage Restaurant at 573-486-3479.
Let the Music Play
For the music lover, Branson offers great variety, from country to pop and rock and even Broadway show tunes.
Request any song for the pianists to play at Ernie Biggs Dueling Piano Bar and Grill while enjoying pizza or a sandwich for lunch. They claim to know every note from classic rock to popular ’90s tunes.
After lunch, a show at Legends Theatre features many music greats, including Tina Turner, Elvis Presley, Garth Books, and Buddy Holly.
Spend the night at the Welk Resort, where the Welk Theatre hosts many well-known performers. Before you leave, grab some CDs of the performers you saw for the trip home.
Call Welk Resort at 800-505-9355 or visit branson.erniebiggs.com or legendsinconcert.com for more information.
Dinner Theater
You need only tiptoe over the state line a bit for theater that rivals the shows in New York. For less than fifty dollars, the theater lover can enjoy both five-star cuisine and theater at Kansas City’s New Theatre Restaurant at Overland Park, Kansas. Opened in 1992, New Theatre was named “the best dinner theatre operation in the country” by the Wall Street Journal.
From February 4 to April 12, Hats! The Musical stars Joyce Dewitt from the television show Three’s Company as a woman dreading the big five-o until she meets a group of ladies who change her mind.
After the show, rest your head at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in downtown Kansas City, connected to the Crown Center, which is often called a city within a city.
Visit www.newtheatre.com or crowncenter.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp for more information.
Back to nature
Escape from the pressures of everyday life in a luxury cabin or a treehouse at River of Life Farm, the Fly Fishing Resort, “Home of Treehouse Cabins,” where the river never freezes at Dora.
Myron McKee, who owns the resort with his wife, says, “The spring can just explode in February” if there are two or three days above 50 degrees.
A nature lover can enjoy the day fishing, floating (float trips are offered year-round), or just relaxing in nature, then indulge in a dinner of catfish, deep fried green beans, or sweet potato fries at Roy’s Store at Dora.
After dinner, head back to the resort for a stargazing experience. The sky is among the darkest in the Ozarks, according to Dr. Steve House, an astronomer and professor at Lindenwood University. “It defines beauty,” he says. “It’s the black zone of Missouri.”
Visit River of Life Farm at riveroflifefarm.com or call 888-824-2398 or Roy’s Store at 417-261-2810.
Historic Getaway
Boone’s Lick Trail Inn can serve as “home base” for history lovers. Built in the 1840s, the historic Carter-Rice building at St. Charles was originally used as a saddling and western shop for westward travelers on the Boone’s Lick trail, which weaves through the state to the start of the Santa Fe Trail.
After checking in at the bed-and-breakfast, feel free to explore the ten-block historic downtown, established in 1769, but if you’re there on February 11, make sure to get to the First Missouri State Capitol State Historic Site for a lesson about candy making in Missouri in the 1820s from 4 to 7:30 pm. The program is designed to be a fun, hands-on look at candy-making history, but don’t spoil your appetite. The Mother-in-Law House Restaurant serves dinner until 9:30 pm. The restaurant provides fine, home-cooked meals in a Victorian-style dining room.
Visit www.booneslick.com, www.mostateparks.com/firstcapitol.htm, or www.motherinlawhouse.com for more information.
Adrenaline Rush
The forty-second annual Missouri Whitewater Championships, a two-day event held near Fredericktown on March 21-22, pulls adventure lovers from across the country to compete on a portion of the St. Francis River that runs through the Silver Mines Recreation Area of Mark Twain National Forest. The rivers are highest in the spring, providing challenges for avid competitors.
At the Whitewater Championships on Saturday, the gates are strung at the regulation height for kayaks. This is the same height that is used at the Olympics. On Sunday, the gates are lifted so that open canoes can be raced as well.
Silver Mines Recreation Area also provides sixty-six campsites with a choice of roughing it in your tent or parking in your RV.
Once you’re loaded up on the way home (if you’re not too water logged), stop by Tomboy’s Barbeque Barn at Fredericktown, which celebrated its grand opening last November. Washboards and farm tools add to its rustic charm.
Visit www.missouriwhitewater.org, www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/marktwain/recreation/sites/silver_mines/, and Tomboy’s Barbeque Barn at 573-783-7576 for more information.
