Missouri
   
   
 
 

Missouri 

October 11-19, 2012 

 

      

    Our 2012 entry in our popular State Series is the "Show-Me" State. Highlights include: the St. Louis Gateway Arch; the Dred Scott Decision; the Harry S. Truman Library & Museum; the start of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, Santa Fe, and the Pony Express; Mark Twain's birthplace; Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech; the WWI Museum in Kansas City; the Steamboat Arabia; and the Civil War battles of Wilson's Creek and Pea Ridge.

 

ITINERARY (9 Days/8 Nights)

October 11, Thursday Join staff and fellow travelers at tonight’s welcome dinner.                                                     O/N Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch, MO (R,D)

 

October 12, Friday  Today we’ll visit the Gateway Arch, the Museum of Westward Expansion, and the Old Courthouse where Dred Scott sued for his freedom.  After lunch, we’ll visit U.S. Grant’s home, White Haven and the Missouri History Museum featuring exhibits on Charles Lindbergh and Missouri in the Civil War.                                                    O/N Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch, MO (B,L)

October 13, Saturday  Drive to Hannibal.  En route, stop in St. Charles to see Missouri’s first state capital and to discuss the start of the Lewis & Clark Expedition.  In Florida, MO we’ll see Mark Twain’s birthplace and in Hannibal, we’ll tour the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum that features 15 original Norman Rockwell paintings.  Make an optional excursion to discuss the Civil War incident known as the Palmyra Massacre.                      O/N Holiday Inn Express, Hannibal, MO (B,L)

October 14, Sunday   We’ll drive to Westminster College in Fulton, MO to tour the National Winston Churchill Museum. This was the site of Churchill’s famous “Iron Curtain” speech.  Continue to Sibley, MO to visit Fort Osage (1808), the second US outpost built after the Louisiana Purchase.              O/N Marriott Courtyard Country Club Plaza, Kansas City, MO (B,L,D)

October 15, Monday    This morning, we focus on the Battle of Westport. Sometimes referred to as “the Gettysburg of the West,” it was one of the largest civil war battles fought west of the Mississippi.  We’ll travel to Independence, MO to see the Harry S. Truman Museum and Library. Then we’ll visit the Steamboat Arabia Museum, a remarkable time capsule of frontier life. In 1856, the Arabia was headed up the Missouri River loaded down with 200 tons of cargo when it hit a snag and sank. In 1988, a group of modern-day adventurers uncovered the lost Arabia and her magnificent cargo, dubbed the “King Tut’s Tomb of the Missouri River.” We’ll see fine dishware, clothing, and even bottled food all preserved in pristine condition.

O/N Marriott Courtyard Country Club Plaza, Kansas City, MO (B,L)

October 16, Tuesday   Start the day with a tour of the Harry Truman House and then proceed to the National WWI Museum that honors the 65 million people from 36 nations who served in the world’s first global conflict. We’ll visit Fort Scott National Historic Site and learn about its role in the opening of the West, Bleeding Kansas and the Civil War. We’ll pass through Carthage, MO to pause at Truman’s birthplace.                                        O/N Hilton Garden Inn, Joplin, MO  (B,L,D)

 

October 17, Wednesday    En route to Pea Ridge we’ll stop to learn about several engagements that took place in and around Newtonia and Neosho, MO. We’ll spend the balance of the day touring Pea Ridge National Military Park where the battle fought in March 1862 decided the fate of Missouri and the West. This evening, you will have the option to visit the new Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art regarded as the nation’s most important new art museum in a generation. (Currently, the museum is open Wednesday nights until 9 pm.)    O/N Doubletree Hotel, Bentonville, AR (B,L,D)

October 18, Thursday   Today we’ll tour Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield.  Wilson's Creek (August 10, 1861) was the first major Civil War battle fought west of the Mississippi River, and the scene of the death of Nathaniel Lyon, the first Union general killed in combat. The battlefield remains in near pristine condition.

O/N Springfield, MO  (B,L,D)

October 19, Friday     Individual departures. (B)

 ( NOTE: You may either fly out of Springfield, MO or take our bus back to St. Louis on a 3 hr 45 min-drive plus 30 min rest stop. The bus will depart our hotel in Springfield at approx. 7am and arrive at St. Louis Airport by 11:15 am)

EXPERT GUIDE:  Ed Bearss is scheduled to lead this tour.

Chief Historian Emeritus of the National Park Service, Edwin C. Bearss is an author, lecturer and America's foremost battlefield guide.  Ed's encyclopedic knowledge and unflagging energy is legendary; Ed brings history alive like no other.  Two of his recent best sellers are Fields of Honor and Receding Tide:  Vicksburg and Gettysburg – The Campaigns that Changed the Civil War.

 MISSOURI PROGRAM INCLUDES:

* Services of an Historian Guide


* Services of a Tour Manager

* 8 nights hotel accommodations


* one wine/beer welcome reception; 8 breakfasts, 7 lunches, 5 dinners


* all taxes, baggage handling and gratuities; pre-trip notes, reading list and map book


COST: 9 DAYS/8 NIGHTS:

Double Occupancy:  $3,150 per person

Single Occupancy:  $3,695


To enroll on this tour, print & complete the attached registration form and mail it with a $200 per person deposit check to: South Mountain Expeditions, P.O. Box 204, Keedysville, MD, 21756. Or call us at (301) 988-1852 or toll free at 1 (866) 914-1862. We accept VISA, Mastercard and American Express.