Wine and Spirits Travel

My friend Jaimee and I left the Sheraton Westport Plaza Chalet in the suburbs of St. Louis and headed to Jefferson City, Missouri. We were to meet Deb Hendricks of the Lake of the Ozarks tourism board there to get our itinerary for our adventure on Fun Lake, as they accurately call the area. From Jefferson City it was only a short hour’s ride to the Country Club Hotel and Spa . We were surprised how large the place was, complete with an indoor pool and banquet facilities. It reminded me a bit of the Catskill Mountain resorts I stayed at growing up. Our rooms were not ready, but that was fine because we were more than ready for lunch. Lance Utley, the hotel’s director of marketing, joined us at the Rafferty Restaurant on the property for a wonderful chicken salad with grapes and pecans. During lunch, Lance gave us some basic information about the area he knew well. It was obvious that he was passionate about Lake of the Ozarks and we were soon to see why. We

I had finally made it to St. Louis ( twice ) after a decades long absence, but I knew there was a lot more of Missouri for me to see. I decided to cross some of it off my list with a week long road trip through the state, and I brought my friend Jaimee along for most of the fun. Jaimee was flying into St. Louis and wasn’t able to meet me until very late the first night. I thought it would be a great opportunity to check out a suburban hotel, and meet my cousin Linda for dinner. As soon as I saw the photos of the Sheraton Westport Chalet , I knew it was what I was looking for. It was near the airport and referred to as in St. Louis, but it’s actually in the suburb of Maryland Heights. The hotel did not let me down. The perfectly landscaped property with the European shutters and balconies were beautiful. As soon as I arrived, I couldn’t help but explore the adjacent pedestrian plaza. It was a quaint little village with tiled walkways that definitely didn’t make