I posted this to the Roadster list, but then realized that some folks here
may not be on the list. So, to share the results, here is the note!
Well, I got home and was expecting to see at least SOME mention of the Glen on
the Roadster list. Since no one has stepped up to the plate, I guess that I
will!
First and foremost, Crawford Griffith deserves a big round of applause for
doing a great job of coordinating the Glen meet this year. He not only did the
normal stuff, but he also arranged a guide at the Glenn Curtis Museum and
secured a non-roadster sponsor!! Kudos Crawford!!
The Roadster vendors pitched in with items for the raffle. I saw items from
Stan Chernoff, Dean at Fairlady Products, Ross at Sports Imports and Don at
Rising Sun Racing. There may have been other vendors that donated items - I
don't recall. I know that folks such as Datsunmike and the Pesky family also
donated items. It is always good to see folks willing to participate.
The raffle was a rousing good time, with a lot of net loot going out to the
crowd. It must have been Karma as the guy with the dirtiest Roadster got ALL
of the cleaning products! I hope that they go to good use. I got a much needed
baseball cap and one of the Rising Sun Racing repair manuals.
Now, I am sure that a few of you have figured out that I am in Florida and the
Glen is pretty darned far north. A few of those know that I am in the middle
of doing maintenance/detailing to my car, so it is not road ready. I took the
easy way out and flew to Baltimore. Mark Dent was gracious enough to let me
hop a ride with him in his Zetec powered beastie. (Fun car!)
Things were touch and go for me until I actually headed for the airport.
Hurricane Ophelia was busy poking around the ocean off of Daytona which is
only about 80ish miles south of me) and threatening to come ashore. When I
went to bed last Wednesday, I was not sure I would be flying out. When I woke
Thursday, the storm had started moving north by northeast, so I was feeling a
bit better about things and I decided to go. I flew from Jacksonville to
Baltimore and Mark picked me up. We went to his place, loaded the car and we
were off! Folks kept calling Mark to give him accounts of the things already
going on, and at one point they mentioned that it was raining! (we had NO room
for a top, so we were going to be wet!) We had packed to camp, and needless to
say, rain was not a welcome bit of news. As we pulled into Corning (which is
about 20 minutes south of Watkins Glen) the roads were wet. We had JUST missed
the rain shower.
Fortunately, that is the closest we came to rain the entire weekend! As we
entered town, Mark and I decided to check to see if there were any vacancy
signs. Now, usually the place is overbooked for this event, but due to Katrina
and the media induced gas price hikes, there were cancellations!
After a bit of a kabuki dance with a local hotel, we found a room at Chalet
Leon just outside of town. Now, Liz (or Lizard as she is also known) is a
HOOT!! We had great fun kidding around with her during our stay. We shared
local sayings with her and learned a new one ourselves. She was quite the
gracious inn keeper, and when I go back, I know that I will be giving her a
call for a place to stay!
On Friday, Mark and I joined up with some of the DRONEs to go on a wine tour.
Well, the DRONE guys decided not to follow the preplanned tour, but rather to
do their own, so we went with them. After some wine tasting, we dropped out of
the lineup to get the camera. Then we were off on the two laps of the original
circuit. On the first lap, we passed a house out in the country that had some
young children in the family. They had set up a lemonade stand in their front
yard and were cheering folks on. Mark remembered that he had received a $2
bill in change, so after we passed, he handed me his wallet to dig it out.
When we came around again, Mark eased over onto their side of the road and
gave the girls the $2. They were tickled pink! I don't think anyone else had
stopped. We caught back up with the crowd and finished the laps.
That night was the MADROC sponsored BBQ. Good eats and good conversation was
the order of the evening. We even got to work on a car. Not a Roadster, but
rather a Mini! After the fun wound down, we headed on back to Leon's place and
hit the hay.
On Saturday, the day broke anew with the promise of more Roadster fun. We had
a leisurely breakfast visiting with Liz and headed over to the park for the
Show and Shine. This is where the only real issue with Crawford's plans came
up. The ballots for voting included a selection for the best high windshield
1600. Well, there were NONE in attendance! Of the 15 or so cars, the only
1600s were low windshield cars! Mark's quick thinking solved the problem. At
his urging, several folks voted for Kurt Weisner's Silvia Patrol for the best
high windshield 1600. I will let someone else chime in on the results as I
don't recall all of them.
We then left the park for points west and the Glen Curtiss Museum. After a few
folks got lost along the way, we finally regrouped and had lunch. Then it was
on to the museum. From the road, it does not look that impressive, but inside
the plain green steel warehouse, there was a LOT of neat stuff. Several hours
were spent there with some fun toys for the family being purchased on the way
out. The crowds then went their separate ways. One group headed back to the
Glen to wind down before the raffle. Another went to an Amish market to buy
all sorts of goodies. Mark and I were on a mission though.
The last time I went to the Glen (6 years ago), someone told me and my wife
about a FANTASTIC winery. Well, I REALLY wanted to go back to get a particular
wine. We headed for the winery (Dr. Konstantine Frank in case anyone is
interested) and after some back roads driving we finally found the place. Here
it was after 4pm on a Saturday and we had to wait outside because they were at
capacity for the building!! That should tell you something about the wines.
Well, we got in and had a nice chat with Warren the Wino (who drives a 930
Porsche) and then bought our half case of wine.
I was markedly disappointed to find out that the wine that I was after sold
out in less than 3 months after being released. In fact, they have a waiting
list for next year's offerings. Since Florida has laws against wine being
shipped to residences, I lose out again.
After the nice visit to Dr. Franks, we continued around Keuka Lake and headed
on to the park again for the raffle. A quick pit stop at the local Pzza Hut
provided dinner. The raffle was a hoot, and we again had lots of good
conversation and beverages. On the way out, Kurt was gracious enough to give
me a ride in his Silvia. I must say that in pictures, the Silvia is OK, but
does not get me going. In person, I get it! The Silvia is a neat ride!! His is
especially neat being the Silvia Patrol edition. Although it is bizarre
sitting on the wrong side of the car... We hung out with Marty Lind and his
family at a bonfire on the lake for a while and when called it a night.
On Sunday, we loaded up the Roadster and then spent over an hour chewing the
fat with Liz. We were then quickly on our way back towards Baltimore and the
daily grind. Our lunch stop chanced a meeting with a Triumph car club which
had a 280Z pilot in the club. They all drooled over the green Roadster and the
Z guy admitted that he was looking for a 1600. Mark pointed him at one and
then we were off. Back at Mark's place, we shifted stuff from the fun car to
the SUV and we were off to the airport. In the haste, I forgot my camera, but
Mark mailed it to me a couple of days later.
All in all, it was quite a fun and relaxing trip. No arguments, no bickering,
no responsibilities, no timeclocks. Just what a vacation should be! The
weather could NOT have been more perfect. Next year, Porsche is the
spotlighted car. That notwithstanding, I am trying to figure out a way to make
it happen again! I may just have to call Mark and Lizard to see what we can
figure out. Maybe the Amtrak Autotrain is in my future!!
_________________
Sid Raper
SRL311-00076 (finally got a name - Red Devil)
SPL310-02084
Have you hugged your Datsun today?
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