I just got off the phone with the people at Filoli; I'd heard
there can be some trouble scheduling events there, so I
decided to start early instead of calling the day before like
I usually do...
And I'm glad I did! Turns out Filoli is closed on Sundays.
Furthermore, that Saturday will be their annual flower show
and fund-raiser benefit. There's a slightly higher cost as part
of the fund-raiser (dang, forgot to ask who it benefits!),
which is typically $15 (up from $8 for regular admission).
But what you get in addition to the regular house and grounds
tour is the chance to see award-winning floral arrangements
both indoors and out -- prize-winning roses, rhododendrons,
and other examples of floral art. This on top of the normally
luxurious Filoli setting, about which I'll be posting more
information as the weeks go by.
So I'm leading the tour on Saturday, April 29. The estate is
open between 10 AM and 3 PM; they recommend at least
two hours to see enough, so I'm suggesting that we get there
shortly after 10 AM, spend a couple hours seeing the sights,
and then just after noon retiring to a picnic grounds about
1/4 mile away from the estate (there is no provision for
picnicking on site). The grounds that the people at the
estate suggested have a panoramic view of the Bay, as well
as a beautiful view of the entire Filoli estate.
Then we'll have the afternoon to enjoy the scenery of Portola
Valley, the Santa Cruz Mountains, and do some of the other
things we love to do with our great old cars.
I'll give directions a little later; we'll probably meet somewhere
on the Peninsula and then drive to Filoli en masse just before
10 AM. The roads out there are definitely part of the tour.
Additionally, we will be able to meet Pacific-coast Peninsula
residents closer to home for them, rather than making them
drive over to Palo Alto only to have to drive back over the
same roads (hi Steve!)
One other difference between this tour and the traditional DBTBD
tour: the event will be shared with several car clubs as one of their
club events, in their newsletters and on their club calendars. Tim
Pettenati, are you out there? Let's get the Jensen club in on this
again, they always bring fun people and great cars. And the Sorry
Safari Touring Society, thanks to Terry Saunders, has expressed an
interest in participating, as have the Abingdon Rough Riders.
So we need the Triumph Travellers, a Morris club, and how about
SMOG? We always have great attendance from the SOLs, with anywhere
from 10 to 15 cars just from the list, but let's see if we can get 30 cars
from five different clubs. Yes, the differences between our cars are
what make them special to us, but the similarities between them are
what make them special to everyone. And there's no better way to
find that out than to have a great event with people who are absolutely
nuts about their cars, the way you are about yours.
This is going to be a great event, maybe even better than the DBTBD
for those of you who have been helping to make that an important
part of the British Cars calendar here in the Bay Area by showing up
every year with me. I hope to see all of "the usual suspects" there,
and I hope to make some new friends as well!
--Scott Fisher
--
Every book is a Power Book.
Work fisher@avistar.com Home SEFisher@AOL.com
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