Forza Amelia - Getting There

Getting there.

Left: Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood. The view as you leave Sea-Tac.

My son Christopher & I spent all day yesterday flying from Seattle to Savannah, Georgia, via Dallas/FortWorth. I'm heading to Amelia Island, Florida to participate in yet another vintage car event with my Dad. Christopher gets to spend the week with his Grandmother (Sue's mom) who lives in Beaufort, South Carolina. We have a pleasant, though very long flight from Sea-Tac to DFW in an aging Delta 727. I thought all the 727's were retired to the Arizona desert or third world countries by now, but it seems Delta still loves to fly them, and it shows. heh.

Chris & I have some fun when I whip out the GPS unit and afix it to the 727's window... fire up DeLorme's 'StreetAtlasUSA' and whoo hoo... we're going 600 miles per hour right through the Texas panhandle. =)

Our connection to Savannah was via some unkown Delta 'partner' in some rinky dink jet. We arrive in Savannah an hour early, and pick up our rental car. I requested a 'compact' and since I was dropping it off in Florida the next evening, they give me something other to shuttle back for them... a Ford Explorer. Yuck. Those that know me know my deep derision for SUV's and this machine did nothing but confirm it. The interior was nice, and the stereo was great but the thing drives like a grocery cart with a leather lay-z-boy chair atop it. NO WONDER these things were throwing tires, rolling over, and killing people!... they wander about the road like a kid learning to ride a bike... and I'm one of the more attentive drivers on the road. Very loose and light steering combined with almost zero feel for the road makes this thing nothing short of a rolling deathtrap... and accident waiting to happen. I hate it.

Since it is after midnight and we are both very tired from the long day on the plane, we start looking for a hotel. I called around trying to get a reservation earlier in the week with no luck. Now I know why. There is some sort of motorcyclist's event in town and every hotel is packed. We head north into South Carolina and finally find a Days Inn with a room, and collapse into bed.

I wake up surprisingly early for being in Eastern Time with a body still on Pacific. I let Chris sleep a bit and get ourselves sorted to go. A quick breakfast at Denny's and we're off to Grandmother's house.

Left: Chuck showing his displeasure at the machine provided by Hertz after he requested a 'Compact Car.' At least I didn't pay the going rate for a POS SUV.

I let Chris 'navigate' with the GPS unit, which is already programmed with the route to my mother-in-law's house. The single benefit of the SUV is the stereo, which like my VW's, allows me to jack my PowerBook into it and play MP3 files. Radio sucks, but my collection of Surf Rock beats any station I can find. I drop him off in Beaufort, and head back around south to Florida.

I arrive at the Amelia Island Concours and see the 'new' car for the first time. WOW. It is gorgeous. The Rally has it's own class in the event and Dad's car won an award. Cool. The concours is *unbelievable*... truly the most jaw dropping collection of vehicles ever assembled and presented in a fantastic fashion. I took a ton of pictures, but I don't have time to edit them all tonight... I have caught Christopher's cold and really need sleep.

Below: The 300sl unveiled. Note the Blue Ribbon on the windscreen. It's a winner! Dad is talking with one of the Concours Judges.

I will finish this page after the rally, I promise. I took a bunch of shots of some truly awesome cars, but I won't have time this week to edit all the photos and upload them over a 28.8 connection.

Go to the Next page: Monday.

--chuck

or...



		Getting there. Left: Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood. The view as you leave Sea-Tac. My son Christopher & I spent all day yesterday flying from Seattle to Savannah, Georgia, via Dallas/FortWorth. I'm heading to Amelia Island, Florida to participate in yet another vintage car event with my Dad. Christopher gets to spend the week with his Grandmother (Sue's mom) who lives in Beaufort, South Carolina. We have a pleasant, though very long flight from Sea-Tac to DFW in an aging Delta 727. I thought all the 727's were retired to the Arizona desert or third world countries by now, but it seems Delta still loves to fly them, and it shows. heh. Chris & I have some fun when I whip out the GPS unit and afix it to the 727's window... fire up DeLorme's 'StreetAtlasUSA' and whoo hoo... we're going 600 miles per hour right through the Texas panhandle. =) Our connection to Savannah was via some unkown Delta 'partner' in some rinky dink jet. We arrive in Savannah an hour early, and pick up our rental car. I requested a 'compact' and since I was dropping it off in Florida the next evening, they give me something other to shuttle back for them... a Ford Explorer. Yuck. Those that know me know my deep derision for SUV's and this machine did nothing but confirm it. The interior was nice, and the stereo was great but the thing drives like a grocery cart with a leather lay-z-boy chair atop it. NO WONDER these things were throwing tires, rolling over, and killing people!... they wander about the road like a kid learning to ride a bike... and I'm one of the more attentive drivers on the road. Very loose and light steering combined with almost zero feel for the road makes this thing nothing short of a rolling deathtrap... and accident waiting to happen. I hate it. Since it is after midnight and we are both very tired from the long day on the plane, we start looking for a hotel. I called around trying to get a reservation earlier in the week with no luck. Now I know why. There is some sort of motorcyclist's event in town and every hotel is packed. We head north into South Carolina and finally find a Days Inn with a room, and collapse into bed. I wake up surprisingly early for being in Eastern Time with a body still on Pacific. I let Chris sleep a bit and get ourselves sorted to go. A quick breakfast at Denny's and we're off to Grandmother's house. Left: Chuck showing his displeasure at the machine provided by Hertz after he requested a 'Compact Car.' At least I didn't pay the going rate for a POS SUV. I let Chris 'navigate' with the GPS unit, which is already programmed with the route to my mother-in-law's house. The single benefit of the SUV is the stereo, which like my VW's, allows me to jack my PowerBook into it and play MP3 files. Radio sucks, but my collection of Surf Rock beats any station I can find. I drop him off in Beaufort, and head back around south to Florida. I arrive at the Amelia Island Concours and see the 'new' car for the first time. WOW. It is gorgeous. The Rally has it's own class in the event and Dad's car won an award. Cool. The concours is unbelievable... truly the most jaw dropping collection of vehicles ever assembled and presented in a fantastic fashion. I took a ton of pictures, but I don't have time to edit them all tonight... I have caught Christopher's cold and really need sleep. Below: The 300sl unveiled. Note the Blue Ribbon on the windscreen. It's a winner! Dad is talking with one of the Concours Judges. I will finish this page after the rally, I promise. I took a bunch of shots of some truly awesome cars, but I won't have time this week to edit all the photos and upload them over a 28.8 connection. Go to the Next page: Monday. --chuck
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