Late summer 2010 Jim Riley announced he needed a break from planning and leading the Club’s tours. Jim’s tours were legendary. He had trips both in-state and out-of-state. They included interesting side trips, group caravans, casual and fine dining and were usually planned to take advantage of pre or post season accommodation rates. It was with these guidelines in mind that my wife Carol and I began planning this year’s spring trip.

Early in 2010 the social committee chairs polled the Club about a tour of Corvette Central in Sawyer, MI (located in southwest Michigan). There was interest in combining the tour with a weekend trip. However, the plan was dropped due to an inability to coordinate a date. To that end, Carol and I made a run to the New Buffalo, Michigan area in late summer 2010. We spent the weekend, checking out local hotels and restaurants. We drove to Michigan City, Ind., Warren Dunes State Park, St. Joseph, Mi. and Corvette Central.

The winter months were spent coordinating available dates with area hotels and Corvette Central. The trip was finally scheduled for the weekend of May 13, 14 and 15, 2011. Once the date was set, a Save-the-Date announcement was made at the February General Membership Meeting. We made several more “dry runs” to finalize the route, accommodations, and restaurants. Being my first trip, I received assistance from Jim Riley, Keith Riley, Bob Cox and Connie Myny.

On Friday, May 13, our Corvettes met at the McDonalds on 6-Mile just west of Haggerty Road. This location was picked for its ease of access to I-275. With Carl Kolenda as tail gunner, we departed at 9:00 A.M., turned right on 6-Mile, thru one traffic light to the ramp to southbound I-275. After a short distance we merged onto westbound M-14 (an expressway) toward Ann Arbor and west I-94. We were joined “on-the-fly” by Don and Jill Maybee. We took exit 136 to M-60 (about 60 miles west of Ann Arbor) and our first pit stop at the McDonalds in Spring Arbor, MI. This was a pickup point for the balance of group and allowed us to drain the morning coffee.

With our group now complete, we followed route M-60 thru south-central Michigan for about fifty miles. This is Amish Country but we did not see any horse drawn carriages. West of Mendon, Michigan we turned left on Silver Street and after some maneuvers, south on Covered Bridge Road to a schedule “Kodak moment” at the Langley Covered Bridge.

The Langley Bridge is the longest surviving covered bridge in West Michigan. It was originally built in 1887, raised in 1910 when the Sturgis Dam was built and extensively refurbished in 1950-51. Stretching 282 foot, bridge spans the St. Joseph River with three spans of 94 feet each. The bridge was built with white pine frame timbers using the Howe truss system.

The Langley Bridge is listed on the Michigan State Historical Registry and has a Michigan Historical Marker.

After the “Kodak stop”, the tour continued thru Centerville, MI and on to lunch at Brewster’s in Three Rivers, MI. We enjoyed a casual lunch overlooking the Rocky River (one of the three rivers that give name to the town.) The temperature was now in the upper 80’s. The targa tops came off and the convertible tops went down. We traveled a short distance on US-131 South before resuming M-60 toward Cassopolis and Niles, MI.

Just East of Cassopolis we passed the Ivan Kinchlow Memorial. You may remember Kinchlow AFB near Sault Saint Marie. Kinchlow was a Korean War fighter pilot ace before becoming a test pilot. He was selected to pilot the X-15 rocket plane but was killed in the early man-in-space program . Ivan was born in Detroit, but grew up in Cassopolis and graduated from Cassopolis High School.

At Niles MI, we merged onto US-12 West for our final 25 miles to New Buffalo , MI. Just West of Niles, Carl Kolenda announced that there was something wrong with his outside temperature gauge. The gage indicated a drop of 30 degrees in 12 miles. Those in convertibles assured him that his gage was accurate, they were freezing.

 

Before we check-in at the Comfort Inn, the corvettes caravanned thru downtown New Buffalo, the harbor and beach areas. The drastic drop in temperature caused an unusual fog to rise from the water.

The Comfort Inn of New Buffalo was our base of operation for the weekend. Our host, Deving Patel had our rooms ready for our arrival. We had time to relax before our trip to Skip’s for dinner. Because of the weather, the Bird’s hosted an informal wine and munchies party in their room.

As usual, our trip to dinner included a “twisty road”. This time it was the slow speed entrance to the Four Winds Casino.

It rained very hard before our departure, but the weather cleared when we arrived at Skip’s. The restaurant is 5 miles north of New Buffalo on the Red Arrow Highway. The hostess had a private room prepared. Seating was arranged so that conversations could include as many as possible.

The shrimp, oysters and salad bar were a big hit. Tour members had a choice of a prime rib/sea food buffet or regular menu.

As usual, the Corvette drew a lot of attention. The wait-staff kept asking about the gorgeous blue vette.

There was time to party after dinner, but most corvetter’s were tired from the day’s activities and crashed for the night.

Saturday dawned just as gloomy as Friday had ended. Most ACCers enjoyed the nice continental breakfast at the Comfort Inn. By 8:45 we gathered for our departure to Sawyer, MI and our tour of Corvette Central.

The Corvettes enjoyed parking in special covered in covered space. We were met at the entrance by Matt Gressler, Director of Marketing. After introductions and a short orientation we were ushered through the administration and invoicing area an enormous warehouse where orders are filled and readied for shipping.

At the conclusion of the tour of Corvette Central, everyone had free time to shop the antique shops along the Red Arrow highway. Some went as far north as St. Joseph and Benton Harbor while others went south to Michigan City, IN. Everyone was on their own for lunch. Local eateries such as the Stray Dog and Redamak’s were hits.

Saturday evening the group was ready for our trip to Stevensville, Mi and dinner at TOSI’ S Restaurant. Departure for our 30 minute drive was scheduled for 5:30 P.M. Once again, it was raining but stopped before we reached Stevensville. Our host had reserved a section of the restaurant and corvettes enjoyed reserved parking.

While our Corvettes rested in the parking lot, we enjoyed dinner inside. Our host had tables reserved with a beautiful setting. Ruth and Jim Frazier had joined us Saturday afternoon and were with the tour the rest of the weekend. As we departed, young boy stood in a window a watching all of the Corvettes parade out of the lot. There is no picture, but it would make a great marketing tool with the caption “…when I grow-up”.

 

Sunday dawned just as gloomy as the previous day. We had breakfast at the Comfort Inn and prepared to depart.

Because of the rain it was decided to take the group picture in the Comfort Inn lobby. Several tour members had made other plans and are not in the picture.

 

 

Our route home followed the Old Sauk Trail (US-12) thru Niles, Edwardsburg, Sturgis to a luncheon in the Clubhouse Bar and Grill at the Golf Club of Coldwater. Our host, yes Chuck Wood, ushered us to tables overlooking a lake and the golf course.

This concluded our weekend tour. There were several options for the return trip. Some continued to follow US-12 East through the Irish Hills, while others followed I-69 to I-94 back to the Detroit area.