VOAIllinois
08-13-2014, 10:21 AM
Fall Cruise Full of Food, Fun and Sun!
This was it folks… the last cruise of the year! Time is flying and our season is winding down. This was a great event packed full of events and variety for everyone. The weather couldn’t have been any better. It was a great cruise to pick and choose which events you wanted to do. Several people took advantage of this by joining for one day. There were about 16 cars that stuck through the whole weekend and close to 30 people!
Our adventure started off bright and early Friday morning at our typical meeting spot, Woodfield Mall. We were off right around 7 AM to head up to Snake-Oyl Products out of Dane, WI. One of our club members, Steve Anders, who works there was there to welcome us with open arms along with the owner. They had a really cool set-up! There were two main warehouses full of cool memorabilia and of course lots of cars, plenty for everyone to enjoy. Our gracious hosts also had a great breakfast spread for us. While everyone meandered around and enjoyed the sites others had their fill of muffins, fruit, coffee and juice. After receiving some cool goodies from Snake-Oyl, we were off to our next stop, Schumann Printers.
We arrived at our next stop to another warm welcome from more familiar faces, Mark and Jo Schumann! They were ready to stuff us full of food again with another amazing lunch spread. Once we got our fill and did a bit of chit-chatting we were almost ready for our tour of the factory. Now, I say almost because our resident safety director (Mark Schumann) neglected to tell us that close-toed shoes were a requirement. Most of the women were sporting their favorite sandals as the weather was beyond perfect. Luckily, Jo came to the rescue and provided shoes to anyone in need. Once we were all properly dressed we were split into multiple groups and took busses over to our first stop. This was quite the operation involving more than one warehouse and more than one tour. Very cool site to see… and, thanks to Jo, no one missed it! After all the tours concluded and shoes were all returned, we headed out to the hotel.
We arrived at the hotel with a little window of time to freshen up and then it was off to yet another meal. Are you sensing a theme here? We had dinner at a fabulous steakhouse, Del Bar, with something to offer everyone. We had our own room as well! As most of you know, nuttiness tends to ensue with this group so it is certainly in everyone’s interest to separate us from the masses. After plenty a few hours of fun, food, and great camaraderie we headed back to the hotel. Most people chose to call it a night at this point. A few others hit the closest pub for some post dinner drinks and other chose to take over the lobby and continue the great conversation into the wee hours of the night.
As a nice change of pace we got a chance to sleep in a bit on Saturday morning and enjoy a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. Our first destination of the day was a boat tour of the Upper Dells on the Wisconsin River. This was a really nice tour. It offered a great escape from the typical Dells scene most people have experienced (EG: kitschy little shops, waterparks, and random oddities). It is also worth noting again how amazing the weather was. There were a few stops along the way where we were able to grab a drink or a snack and enjoy the scenery and learn more about the history of the Dells. When we returned to shore you can guess where we headed next… more food!
The group enjoyed lunch at a restaurant right down the street from the tour location. Everyone chose from a good selection of appetizers, sandwiches, and burgers. After eating there was a few hours of downtime where you could walk around and enjoy the downtown Dells area. There may or may not have been more than one ice cream stop along the way. After a few hours of free time we reconvened at our parking spot and headed off to… drum roll please…. Dinner! Absolute madness. This time we were headed to a nice Italian restaurant, Sarento’s. This was another amazing meal with great accommodations. Next we were headed to our last stop, the Tommy Bartlett Water Show. This was very cool for anyone who hadn’t seen it before and everyone had a lot of laughs! After the show we headed back to the hotel to catch some shut eye before the early morning.
Sunday morning we headed off to Road America to watch Team SRT compete in the American Le Mans Series. As many remember, last year we were lucky enough to witness our guys take home the trophy after an exciting victory. Unfortunately, this year, there were several accidents that caused a large portion of the race to fall under yellows. Our guys finished 3rd and 4th overall and it was most definitely still a great time. Our friends at SRT really did a great job setting up both breakfast and lunch. They had a great hospitality area set up where you could get out of the sun and watch the race, if need be. We also we able to do a parade lap around the course before the race started. Overall, this cruise was a huge success and full of fun memories!
Head on over to the original post to see some pictures! http://www.illinoisvipers.com/fall-cruise-full-of-food-fun-and-sun/
This was it folks… the last cruise of the year! Time is flying and our season is winding down. This was a great event packed full of events and variety for everyone. The weather couldn’t have been any better. It was a great cruise to pick and choose which events you wanted to do. Several people took advantage of this by joining for one day. There were about 16 cars that stuck through the whole weekend and close to 30 people!
Our adventure started off bright and early Friday morning at our typical meeting spot, Woodfield Mall. We were off right around 7 AM to head up to Snake-Oyl Products out of Dane, WI. One of our club members, Steve Anders, who works there was there to welcome us with open arms along with the owner. They had a really cool set-up! There were two main warehouses full of cool memorabilia and of course lots of cars, plenty for everyone to enjoy. Our gracious hosts also had a great breakfast spread for us. While everyone meandered around and enjoyed the sites others had their fill of muffins, fruit, coffee and juice. After receiving some cool goodies from Snake-Oyl, we were off to our next stop, Schumann Printers.
We arrived at our next stop to another warm welcome from more familiar faces, Mark and Jo Schumann! They were ready to stuff us full of food again with another amazing lunch spread. Once we got our fill and did a bit of chit-chatting we were almost ready for our tour of the factory. Now, I say almost because our resident safety director (Mark Schumann) neglected to tell us that close-toed shoes were a requirement. Most of the women were sporting their favorite sandals as the weather was beyond perfect. Luckily, Jo came to the rescue and provided shoes to anyone in need. Once we were all properly dressed we were split into multiple groups and took busses over to our first stop. This was quite the operation involving more than one warehouse and more than one tour. Very cool site to see… and, thanks to Jo, no one missed it! After all the tours concluded and shoes were all returned, we headed out to the hotel.
We arrived at the hotel with a little window of time to freshen up and then it was off to yet another meal. Are you sensing a theme here? We had dinner at a fabulous steakhouse, Del Bar, with something to offer everyone. We had our own room as well! As most of you know, nuttiness tends to ensue with this group so it is certainly in everyone’s interest to separate us from the masses. After plenty a few hours of fun, food, and great camaraderie we headed back to the hotel. Most people chose to call it a night at this point. A few others hit the closest pub for some post dinner drinks and other chose to take over the lobby and continue the great conversation into the wee hours of the night.
As a nice change of pace we got a chance to sleep in a bit on Saturday morning and enjoy a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. Our first destination of the day was a boat tour of the Upper Dells on the Wisconsin River. This was a really nice tour. It offered a great escape from the typical Dells scene most people have experienced (EG: kitschy little shops, waterparks, and random oddities). It is also worth noting again how amazing the weather was. There were a few stops along the way where we were able to grab a drink or a snack and enjoy the scenery and learn more about the history of the Dells. When we returned to shore you can guess where we headed next… more food!
The group enjoyed lunch at a restaurant right down the street from the tour location. Everyone chose from a good selection of appetizers, sandwiches, and burgers. After eating there was a few hours of downtime where you could walk around and enjoy the downtown Dells area. There may or may not have been more than one ice cream stop along the way. After a few hours of free time we reconvened at our parking spot and headed off to… drum roll please…. Dinner! Absolute madness. This time we were headed to a nice Italian restaurant, Sarento’s. This was another amazing meal with great accommodations. Next we were headed to our last stop, the Tommy Bartlett Water Show. This was very cool for anyone who hadn’t seen it before and everyone had a lot of laughs! After the show we headed back to the hotel to catch some shut eye before the early morning.
Sunday morning we headed off to Road America to watch Team SRT compete in the American Le Mans Series. As many remember, last year we were lucky enough to witness our guys take home the trophy after an exciting victory. Unfortunately, this year, there were several accidents that caused a large portion of the race to fall under yellows. Our guys finished 3rd and 4th overall and it was most definitely still a great time. Our friends at SRT really did a great job setting up both breakfast and lunch. They had a great hospitality area set up where you could get out of the sun and watch the race, if need be. We also we able to do a parade lap around the course before the race started. Overall, this cruise was a huge success and full of fun memories!
Head on over to the original post to see some pictures! http://www.illinoisvipers.com/fall-cruise-full-of-food-fun-and-sun/