Spring Chicken Tour
Lake Geneva, WI
Sunday, May 17, 2009

I don’t even know where to begin...the turn out was unbelievable, the weather was great and the number of cars that lined our street from beginning to end was amazing. I never had a chance to head out and count the cars but the “unofficial” count was 29 cars and 56 people.
It worked out really well that the Vintage Club had their spring weekend in Lake Geneva. It was a real pleasure to have so many of them join us for the tour. We started off by meeting at my cottage at 10:30 or so. Everyone was able to mill around a little bit,

George Phariss brought his 10 year old grandson Brennan as his co-pilot. Brennan was lucky enough to ride in both the oldest and newest club MG’s. That’s an adventure that will stay with him for awhile! Brennan is seen here going for a ride in “Emma”.

say hi to old friends and hopefully meet some new ones. We started the driving at 11:00 AM.
The drive started off by heading around the south-side of Lake Delevan. It went past one of the two Union Army Cemeteries in the Delevan area. We then went up the west end of the lake and into Delevan to the brick paver portion of this small historic town. At one point Delevan was the Circus Capital of the World; between 1847 and 1894 Delevan was home (mainly winter home) to 26 circus companies, including the original PT Barnum Circus.
After Delevan, we headed out into corn and cow country (even a buffalo farm if your eyes were keen). We drove through the farmlands north into the lower Kettle Moraine Valley. This part of the tour was some beautiful driving that wound around lakes and streams in the Whitewater Lake area.
The caravan then proceeded back to the cottage via some rural roads (including a railroad crossing without a gate, how often do you see that?). A special thank you to Dave Peterson for helping to create the return route! “Thanks Dave”
By the time everyone had returned back to the cottage, lunch was all set up and ready to be served. In keeping the tradition of a “Chicken Theme” there was grilled chicken as well as shredded chicken BBQ.
When everyone had made it through the food line, they grabbed a spot in the yard or sat by the campfire to enjoy the feast and catch up with the conversations.
As sad as it was, it all eventually broke up around 3:00 and people started heading back home. If you look at the front cover of Driveline this month and you don’t see your MG pictured, please join us next year so it can be. I’ve already started planning out a new route. Thanks for joining us this year!

-- Bill and Jan Reece

Secrets of Jo Daviess County Tour
June 13 and 14, 2009

It’s all about the driving. In the fourth annual running of the Secrets of Jo Daviess County tour June 13 and 14, 2009 the emphasis will be on driving great MG roads - MG tailored byways abound. OK, we’ll be sipping a little wine and beer, gathering some genuine Wisconsin cheese and sampling an unusual form of transportation, too. The name remains the same, but the tour will include more than Illinois’ Jo Daviess county. We’ll be doing a lot of exploring in southwest Wisconsin and northeast Iowa. (There’s actually hills in Iowa!)
For the early birds we’ll again have the Friday afternoon reception at our home overlooking Lake Carroll, followed by the popular fish fry at the Yellow Creek Inn. Saturday we launch from the Country Inn at Stockton, stop at the Massbach Ridge Winery, lunch at the home of members Steve and Jan Selan at Galena Territory, tour the newly restored Potosi Brewery, cross the mighty Mississippi on the ferry at Cassville to dinner and overnight in historic Guttenberg, Iowa on the Mississippi waterfront, lock and dam. Dinner will be presented in restaurant situated directly adjacent to the lock and dam and if we time it right a barge set and push boat will pass right by the windows while traversing the lock. Sunday we take a quick run up the Iowa side to cross at Prairie du Chein. Back in Wisconsin we’ll emphasize driving that includes several of the “Wisconsin Rustic Roads” segments that were a hit last year. Finally, we conclude the organized tour with the neo-traditional stop at Baumgartners Cheese Store in Monroe.
Accommodations: For Friday night we have a block of 15 rooms at the Country Inn and Suites in Stockton. Non- smoking King and double Queen rooms are available at $100. (Hotel prices are up again this year.) Phone 815 947 6060. Ask for the MG Club block. If you are interested in a lower cost room at a nice hotel 20 miles east of Stockton we have a block of 10 rooms at the Baymont Inn Freeport under