2016 April Fools Tour

April Fools Tour
Sunday April 3, 2016

The Chicago Region will be hosting another backroads tour as part of the G.O.A.T.S. (Get Out And Tour Series).  The tour will begin at the Cracker Barrel Restaurant, 730 N. Lyford Rd.  (I-90 and State St.) Rockford, IL just north of State St. by the Clock Tower Resort.  The restaurant will be open if you would like to have an early breakfast.

Event Schedule:    Registration opens at 8:00 am, Drivers Meeting at 8:45, Tour Begins at 9:00 am. 

John Sutton has laid out an exciting back roads route that will take you through northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin to our first stop on the tour, The Toy Train Barn.  Located in Argyle Wisconsin, the Toy Train Barn is an actual dairy barn in southern Wisconsin that has been transformed into a toy train museum. The barn is owned by former Wisconsin & Southern / Wisconsin & Calumet Engineer Buck Guthrie and his wife, Jan.  Buck is a lifelong collector of American Flyer Trains as well as other toy trains.  Join us and walk into an amazing miniature world of animations created by Buck.

After our visit at the Toy Train Barn the tour will resume to our planned end point, the Minhas Brewery / Distillery in Monroe Wisconsin.   The Minhas Craft Brewery is the Midwest’s oldest brewery (est. 1845) surviving the depression, prohibition, brushes with the mob and two major fires.  The brewery offers guided tours, samplings, and a museum of Beer Memorabilia, featuring hundreds of brewery advertisements from the past, Lithographs and prints from the mid 1800-era.  Brewery tours are $10.00 per person, which include, a gift pack of 4 beers, a Blumer Soda and a sampler glass (a pack of five sodas and a glass can be substituted), and free samplings of beer and soda.  The Distillery offers product sampling, a take home sampler glass and a bottle their fine spirits as a “Thank You” for visiting.  Distillery Tastings are $10 per person at as well.  There is also a gift shop where you can purchase beer, clothing, glassware and souvenirs.

Lunch will be available in Monroe at two local restaurants within a short walk from the brewery, Baumgartner’s Cheese Store and Tavern, and Suisse Haus, both offer sandwiches and other fare at a reasonable price. If you chose, there are a number of fast food restaurants within a short drive of the brewery.

Entry Fee: $20 per car/ 2 people (non-members $25) that includes; tour instructions, two entry tickets to the Toy Train Barn (additional guests are $5 per person).  Lunch and Minhas Tours / Tastings are on your own and not included in the tour entry.

Call:

Steve Laske at 630-495-3820

or

George Laws at the club office 847-729-2211

for more information.

The hardcopy entry form is available HERE

This event is part of the G.O.A.T.S. (Get Out and Tour Series)