Rock Legends of St Louis Chuck Berry & Tina Turner

Day 1

You start out your day boarding a Burlington Trailways luxury motorcoach, complete with an on-board friendly host who will take care of you every step of the way including providing some snacks and cold water from the galley kitchen aboard. Stay connected with all your devices fully charged with electrical outlets at each of the leather, reclining seats. Stop for a rest and refresh lunch break while on the way to Saint Louis today. This afternoon you arrive at the Drury Inn & Suites Union Station. Located right next to the newly renovated Union Station, you have easy access to spend the afternoon exploring all the Station has to offer after its $187M makeover that brought new restaurants, a 1.3M gallon aquarium, a 200-foot Ferris wheel, shops, and much more.
Be sure to head back to the hotel in time to freshen up for tonight’s included dinner before attending the Tribute Concert to Tina Turner. One of the most dynamic soul singers in American music history, she was a vibrant force from the moment she stepped onstage as lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue in the late 50’s. You’ll hear such songs as “What’s Love Got to Do With it,” “A Fool in Love,” “Proud Mary,” and more. Known as the “Queen of Rock and Roll,” this incomparable lady is one of the greatest singers of all time and is noted for her “swagger, sensuality, gravelly vocals and unstoppable energy.” While nobody can truly be Tina, enjoy tonight’s entertainer as she honors Tina this evening at a lively concert. Did you know… Tina was born as Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush, Tennessee and moved to St. Louis at age 16. She was a student at Sumner High School when she joined Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm. With the 1960 hit “A Fool in Love,” they became the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. In 1977 Tina left to pursue a solo career that took her to the top of the Pop, Rock, and R&B charts. She won three 1984 Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year for “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” In 1991 Tina Turner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Day 2

Enjoy a hot breakfast at the hotel this morning before setting out for a day of exploration in and around Saint Louis. We begin in Saint Charles, Missouri with a tour of the Lewis & Clark Boathouse and Museum. Here the remarkable 1803-1806 journey of Lewis and Clark is brought to life at this riverfront base of operations where they share the story of the Expedition at destinations throughout the Midwest via their unique traveling fleet of replica boats and an experienced corps of re-enactors, the Discovery Expedition of St. Charles.
Lunch today is on your own on the “Delmar Loop” in Saint Louis where you will find many different restaurant choices including a couple of our favorites, Blueberry Hill, full of Chuck Berry memorabilia and celebrity photos and Fitz’s Root Beer, where you can watch the bottling process take place as you have lunch. Do be sure to check out the Chuck Berry Statue on Delmar Blvd. and Melville Avenue near Fitz’s and across the street from Blueberry Hill. Also, if you pay attention, you will see that the Delmar Loop is also home to the St. Louis Walk of Fame with brass stars featuring notable residents.
After lunch, you will get to visit the Gateway Arch and Museum and experience the new museum with six galleries and the visitor center that finished renovations in 2018. Completed in 1965, the Arch offers tram rides to a viewing platform at its top. Now, after $380 million worth of upgrades, the parkland around the monument and the underground museum below it are open once more for visitors.  The arch has an 8-car tram ride that brings visitors (five per car) to a small observation room at the top of the structure, which remains unchanged. A new feature in the tram lobby will offer visitors on the ground a live webcam stream of the view from the observation space at the top of the Arch for those who do not wish to venture to the top but still get to see the view.
We hope to return to the hotel with a bit of time to freshen up for this evening’s main event – a catered meal and tribute concert to Chuck Berry at the St. Charles Convention Center. Born in St. Louis on October 18, 1926 and hailed as the “Father of Rock & Roll,” Chuck Berry’s signature guitar work, poetic songwriting, and inspired showmanship have influenced every Rock & Roll musician to follow him. For the first 30 years of his life (minus a short stint in prison), Berry lived in essentially the same black, working-class neighborhood of north St. Louis.

Day 3

Enjoy a final breakfast at the hotel this morning and do just a bit more exploring before we depart for home. We are headed for a unique neighborhood in Saint Louis known as “The Hill,” an authentic Italian neighborhood made up of a fifty-two square block section in the south side of the city. The Italian immigrants first arrived in the 1880s intending to work in the clay mines. The Hill and surrounding lands held a vast deposit of high-quality clay that was ideal for fire brick used in industrial coal powered plants. The mines also yielded clay used for brick houses and businesses. By 1910 six foundries were fully operational. We will be joined by a step-on guide to give us a better look at The Hill and its history, along with the many different celebrities that do/have lived here. We hope to end our tour with lunch at one of the many authentic restaurants in the neighborhood before departing to return home. This quick trip to St. Louis celebrating rock legends Tina Turner and Chuck Berry and more will certainly be one to remember!