Katy
Trail
May 2005
By
Brian P. Monahan
This year Machelle and I took our second trip
along
Missouri’s
Katy Trail.
We had previously visited the
Katy
Trail in 2003.
This year’s installment would include some
friends, Patrick and Leila Weppler.
The
route would be from
St. Charles to
Augusta
and back, with overnight stay in
Augusta.
May 20th we departed Quincy
for St. Charles. My mother and sister would share duties of
watching the boys this weekend. Thanks
again Mom and Maureen. Leila’s mom would
watch Lambeau (the Weppler’s Golden Retriever/Lab puppy)-thanks Mom
Salem.
Machelle and I stayed at the Comfort Suites in St.
Charles. Nice
hotel with a comfortable bed and a nice complimentary breakfast (eggs,
sausage,
fresh fruit, waffles, etc.). Our
hotel
was strategically located close to the trailhead. Friday
night we met up with the Weppler’s at
Trailhead Brewing. Trailhead is a very
nice micro-brewery right on the Katy
Trail. Trailhead
Brewing has an excellent selection
of their brews as well as the more mainstream beers and liquors. Trailhead also has an excellent menu and the
food is very good. Check out www.trailheadbrewing.com.
When we left Trailhead we hopped on a horse drawn
carriage. The riverfront in St.
Charles is very nice, with lots of shops and
just down
the street is a casino (for those of you into such).
The carriage ride was very nice and took us
on a short tour of the old downtown area.
The area is much changed from the time when I was 9 and lived
there.
Saturday morning we departed the hotel at 8:10 am
on our way
to the trail. The trail was
approximately 1 ¼ miles from the hotel.
Machelle and I were on our tandem, and the Weppler’s were riding
our
MTB’s. While I was deployed, I was able
to pick up some more panniers, a pair of handle bar bags, and a trunk
bag. I highly recommend the Trek
Interchange
panniers (we have one of each size for front and rear use) which you
can pick
up at Madison & Davis. Loaded down,
but not too much, we started on the trail. Destination:
Augusta
30 miles away.
The trail was already very active, we must have
seen over
200 other people on the trail each day, both cyclists and people on
foot. Some people were like us, loaded for
touring,
others just locals getting some exercise and enjoying the weather. The weather, by the way, could not have been
more perfect-70’s and sunny. Beautiful
trail
and great weather made it very enjoyable.
We stopped several times to enjoy the
surroundings, and to
let our wives take a break. Leila is
very new to biking, and did quite well soldiering on without complaint. About 11 am we stopped in Defiance for ice
cream and a look around Katy Bike Rental bike shop.
After about 20 minutes or so, we were back on
the trail.
We stopped several
times along the way to help out other bicyclists with minor mechanical
problems. I took along several tools,
most commonly used variety, and extra tubes and a patch kit. In general, everyone along the trail was very
friendly and helpful. Sometime around
1230pm we arrived at Augusta.
When we arrived at Augusta
we parked our bikes and made our way up a small hill to Augusta Brewing
Co., a
local microbrewery. Augusta Brewing has
really good beer and food. In
particular, their Maibock is excellent and I recommend the spinach dip
as an
appetizer. Also very good is their house
spicy mustard, available for sale too.
After lunch it was time to hit the wineries.
Machelle and I, mostly me, decided we would pedal
and not
push our tandem up the hill. Patrick and
Leila pushed theirs. Our first
winery
stop was Augusta Winery. Augusta Winery
is a small shop at the top of the hill.
We tasted several, ok around 12 different wines while there. We decided to purchase a few, and the
Weppler’s purchased a bottle to drink while we were there.
Machelle and I purchased some cheese and
crackers to go along with it.
So far we had been in Augusta
about 2 ½ hours, and had a few pints and some really good wine. So far the day was excellent.
Next stop our Bed and Breakfast. We
were staying at the Lindenhof B&B (www.lindenhauf-augusta.com). We stayed in the Harmony and Rose rooms. Lindenhof is an excellent B&B and the best
we have stayed at. When we arrived,
Debbie Shaefer, the owner, was just pulling fresh chocolate chip
cookies from
the oven. They were excellent. After a short rest to freshen up, we were off
to the next winery.
We walked from our B&B to Mt.
Pleasant winery. Mt. Pleasant
Winery sits on top of the bluff overlooking the trail and valley and
has
incredible views. $5 per person for a
cover charge for a band playing, plus $5 per person for tasting, (you
get a
logo glass to keep + $5 coupons for wine purchases) and
we were tasting more wine. 6-8 more
tastings later, $5 covers 5
tastings-but they didn’t keep track to well, we decided on another
bottle of
wine. We went out to the patio area and
found
a table with a good view of the valley.
We stayed at Mt.
Pleasant
from 4-6pm, and never did hear the band play.
Apparently the band was on break during that time.
We got our hands stamped, but never did
return. We returned to the B&B
and
got changed for dinner. We went in
search of Augusta Rose, a local restaurant, but could not find it. Second choice was a return to Augusta
Brewing.
Along the way we stopped at a yard sale and
Patrick and I
bought Sombreros. No one was at the
yard sale, so we paid more than full price for the hats, $5 total. Pat and I wore them to eat.
We were a big hit with the patrons at Augusta. Life is too short not to be able to laugh at
yourself. A few more pints and it was
back to the B&B and the hot tub.
When we returned to the B&B, Debbie and Bill
had donated
2 bottles of wine in thanks to my service/deployment to Iraq. We stayed out around the hot tub until around
11pm; I was the last to leave from our group, talking with another
couple.
After sleeping in until around 830am, we got up
and got
ready for the day. Debbie made a
fabulous breakfast of: Strawberry Margarita French toast, sausage, egg
soufflé,
and fresh fruit kabobs. Thanks again to
Bill and Debbie for the wonderful stay.
We were on the trail again at around 1030am. At 1130 we decided to stop off at Sugar Creek
Winery. Once again, I decided Machelle
and I would ride to the top of the bluff to the winery.
This was no easy task on a loaded tandem. We
made, although barely. Climbing the hill
seemed like our own Alp du
Huez. Just when we thought we had gotten over the hard part, it got
steeper.
We sampler a few wines, and decided on a raspberry
wine. Machelle and I bought some meat,
cheese and crackers, and brought out our mustard we bought at Augusta
Brewing. Lunch was served.
We arrived back at St.
Charles
around 3:30-4pm, and loaded up the bikes for the return home. We were tired, but all of us had had an
excellent weekend. Our total miles for
the weekend were only 60, but we traveled much farther and stayed there
longer
than 2 days. We are currently planning
our next trip on the Katy and anticipate a St. Charles
to Augusta
to Hermann trip.
Check out www.mostateparks.com/katytrail
for information on the Katy Trail. This site will help you plan your trip along
this awesome trail in our back yard.
