Revised Meet Info

Got this in my E-Mail this mourning.

National DeSoto Club and Walter P. Chrysler Club
COMBINED Conventions July 17 – 21, 2013
The 28th annual DeSoto and 44th annual WPC conventions will be held in Minnesota in 2013. Your hosts are the 10,000 Lakes Region of the WPC Club.
The Twin Cities metropolitan area has it all - Mall of America, world-class golf, renowned museums, Major-League Baseball, two zoos, many parks and trails, nightlife. Minneapolis, City of Lakes, is the largest city in Minnesota – sophisticated and trendy. There are twenty lakes within the city limits. The Mississippi River cuts through Minneapolis and more or less divides it from Saint Paul, the capital of Minnesota. St. Paul is a more traditional, relaxed city than its big sister across the river, nine miles to the west.
And five miles east of St. Paul, on Interstate 94, is our host hotel, the Holiday Inn and Suites, located in the suburb of Lake Elmo. This lodge is a 99-room boutique hotel, with an indoor pool and whirlpool, fitness room and free WiFi access. There are several meeting rooms on the lower level for board and membership meetings. The Machine Shed Restaurant and Sparky’s Bar are attached to the hotel.
All rooms in the hotel have been set aside for us. Rates: $105 for rooms with two queens or a king bed; suites are $135. Convention room rates apply on Tuesday for early birds. Call the hotel at 651-714-8068 to reserve a room. Mention the convention to get the special rate. As of November 10th, 68 rooms had already been reserved.
The overflow hotel is the Hilton Garden Inn of Oakdale, which is right across the street from the Wildwood Lodge. Its phone number is 651-735-4100. This hotel also has an indoor pool and whirlpool, fitness center and free WiFi. The Great American Grill restaurant is attached. Rates: $119 for two queens or king bed; suites are $159. There are also some economy hotels within a mile or two of the host hotel - Super 8, AmericInn, Hampton Inn. For those of you who come with RVs, there are regional parks (Lake Elmo Park Reserve and St. Paul East RV Park) and Afton State Park.
For early birds on Tuesday, we will have some Do-It-Yourself tours available for those who would like to explore on their own. Wednesday the club stores and registration room open, and we will have two or three easy, inexpensive, same-day sign up driving tours led by a member of the regional club, and a welcome social at the host hotel in the evening.
On Thursday, we will drive our cars along a picturesque route to Taylor’s Falls, about 40 miles north of the hotel, and board the Taylor’s Falls Princess riverboat for a tour of the St. Croix River, the boundary between Minnesota and Wisconsin. It is designated a “Wild and Scenic River” and the riverboat will give us a beautiful view on a two hour journey, with lunch on board. On the way back to the hotel, we will stop at a sculpture garden for a tour.
Friday we will take a bus tour of St. Paul. In the 1930s, the capitol of Minnesota was a haven for Chicago gangsters. We will tour the hideouts and hangouts of some of the most infamous – John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, the Barker Gang and Machine Gun Kelly. We will also visit the James J. Hill mansion on Summit Ave. This house was finished in 1891 and was “the showcase of St. Paul”. It is a National Historic Landmark. Hill was a lumber baron who also headed Great Northern Railway and was known as “The Empire Builder”.
The St. Paul Cathedral, only a few blocks from the Hill mansion, will also be a stop on the tour. A fine example of Beaux Arts construction, it was finished in 1915. It dominates the St. Paul skyline, set dramatically on Summit Hill, the highest point in the downtown area. The cathedral’s most prominent feature is the copper dome, which towers more than 300 feet above street level.
Friday afternoon there will be time for washing cars or just relaxing after the tour. In the evening, there will be a swap meet in the hotel parking lot, a period fashion contest and a root beer float social.
Saturday is the big day for the dual car show at the Washington County fairgrounds. We will be showing on grass and there will be covered buildings for shade. A vendor will be serving food and drinks. The clubs will be adjacent on the show field, but separate, because each club has a very different way of judging cars. The show will run from 10:00-3:00. There will be a happy hour from 6:00-7:00 when we can all mingle and talk about the day. The banquet/award ceremonies will be from 7:00-10:00, separate for each club for two reasons – with the large expected turnout, we will not have a big enough room to hold everyone, and again, each club has a very different way of presenting the awards.
Sunday we will have a Farewell Breakfast in the Machine Shed restaurant. They have a wonderful Sunday breakfast buffet. You will have the chance to wish all your new friends a fair journey home. For those who are staying another day, both hotels will have the convention rate on Sunday night.