MO: Ozark Winnies

The Ozark Winnies October meeting was held in Hannibal, MO on October 8 thru 10. Attending were Breen, Donnelly, Johnson, Ludwig, McCord, Parsons, Spene and Wallis. We were also joined by the Eggemeyer family from Illinois, who arrived Friday evening. Once again, we were small in number, but that didn’t stop us from having a good time. There were no organized group activities, but we managed to have group activities anyway.

On Thursday evening, eight units were present and we managed to meet at Finn’s Food & Spirits on Hannibal’s historic Main Street for dinner. While waiting for our food, a lady struck up a conversation with us. When she found out we were a Winnebago owners group, she shared that her mother had always wanted to own a Winnebago, but never had the chance before passing away. She thought it was so neat that we were able to do what we were doing. Our food came and she drifted off. When the waitress brought our checks, she said they had all been paid for. She pointed out the lady we had been talking with when we asked who had paid our bills. This lady, whose name we learned was Mary Theresa, said she did it to honor her mother. We are all still in shock at this display of generosity by this total stranger.

Friday morning thirteen of us met at the trolley for a an hour long tour of Hannibal. The trolley driver was very informative and showed us places around town that we might want to visit. We were also privileged to see a site not seen in too many places, black squirrels.

After the trolley ride, the location choices for lunch were Mark Twain Diner and The General Store. There were two hundred and forty-four steps to the base of the Mark Twain Lighthouse. No one was brave enough to make that climb, but several did drive to the parking lot and climb sixty-eight steps to the lighthouse. And then there were some that cheated and drove up a back road to the base of the lighthouse. Now who would have done that?

Friday evening we all met at the Tom Sawyer Shelter for our traditional pot-luck dinner. The Eggemeyer’s arrived just in time for dinner. As always, the food was good and plentiful. After dinner we held our business meeting. The only item on the agenda that was going to require any discussion was the location of our August 2022 meeting, which was tabled last month. As a result of a phone call to Cedar Oaks RV Park to check on something else, we learned that we are booked there for August 2022. We are still trying to figure out how that happened. However it happened, our location dilemma has been resolved. 

At sundown the Donnelly’s motorhome was the site of a gathering around the fire for warmth and friendship.On Saturday afternoon, sixteen boarded the Mark Twain Riverboat for an hour long cruise on the mighty Mississippi River. After the cruise we all met at Lover’s Leap for a group picture. No one jumped, but had there not been a fence one or two spouses might have been pushed.

We won’t go into who might have been the pushors or the pushees. When we returned to the campground Teresa Donnelly organized a rock painting and pumpkin carving for the Eggemeyer girls. Saturday evening’s meal was at Fiddlestik’s Restaurant. We had a group of twenty, with one waitress. That’s nor-mally a recipe for disaster, but she was fantastic. The service was good and so was the food. But we were so disappointed that Mary Theresa or some other good Samaritan didn’t pay for our meals. Once again the Donnelly’s was the site of a campfire where a few gathered.

On Sunday morning the hosts, the Breen’s and McCord’s provided a breakfast of assorted fruits and muffins. Most of us left on Sunday. The Eggemeyer’s and Ludwig’s avoided the rush and left on Monday. The weather was ideal for a weekend of camping. Hannibal is a very interesting town with a lot of history, things to do and places to visit. Although some of the group managed to tour the cave, sample some wine, peruse the antique shops and visit some of the restaurants, there wasn’t enough time to see and do everything that was available. Maybe a return visit is in order sometime in the future. But, we should probably ensure that Verizon and T-Mobile have upgraded their service before that happens.

Thank you to the hosts, Tom, Diana, Don and Janie. Alan, Elizabeth, Eli and Molly; we look forward to you all joining us again in the very near future.