BARBARA’S TRIP TIPS

.PLAN

AHEAD Go to visitmsqc.com for details about the shops, lodging, quilting retreats and other events. Click on the “shops” link and print out a map of downtown Hamilton (you can also pick one up at the main shop as soon as you arrive in town).

.TASTE

Fried chicken, meat loaf and other comfort foods are on the menu at Miss Malin’s Bakeshop. For a hearty breakfast, head to Eggo’s Cafe. After visiting the Missouri Quilt Museum, get a scoop at the Twist & Shake, an ice cream and hot dog shop. .STAY

Lodging is included if you are on a quilting retreat hosted by Missouri Star Quilt Co. However, there’s a wide range of lodging options, from campgrounds to motels. If you’d like to be downtown where all the sewing action is, try Main

Street Inn. If you arrive in a motor home, A Country Charm RV Park is located on Davis Street.

.PLAY

It’s part of the Quilt Town, USA, experience to visit the Missouri Quilt Museum and the 22-foot World’s Largest Spool of Thread out front. Bring some of your own thread to add to the spool. Get a peek at the humble beginnings of an American retail giant at the J.C. Penney Library and Museum, two blocks away. Extend your quilting getaway along the Missouri Highway 36 Quilt Trail

via an annual passport program. Go online to americangeniushighway .com to learn more.