Nine cars gathered in Manotick to voyage down and participate in the Watkins Glen Heritage Grand Prix festival. Travelling down secondary roads via Clayton NY to a waterside patio lunch, we dodged rain for a while, before tops up were required. The rain finally ended and one car put their top down before deluge rain chased the adventurous souls back under their soft top.
We arrived at UMNs favourite B&B and were greeted by our hosts Wally, Nancy and Gus. This was UMNs 3rd visit to the Glass Magnolia in Interlaken NY. A highly animated group dinner followed at a rustic lakefront tavern where stories were shared and participants started bonding amid laughter and great food.
Friday morning was event day! An early start with a quick continental breakfast and 07:00 departure had us traversing the Finger Lakes on a beautiful day with morning and lifting fog. After passing multiple wineries and breweries the group got to experience the first twisty road section before we arrived at the starting location.
We checked in and had the drivers meeting. The Sporting Roadster tour allows open top, targa top sportscars as well as anything ” Interesting”. Our Miatas were running with the likes of: Sunbeam Tigers, Ferraris, a Panoz Roadster, Honda S2000s, Corvettes, Mustangs and multiple British cars.
The group left in convoy and with turn-by-turn directions in hand we set off to explore some of the roads around the Watkins Glen area, The roads did not disappoint anyone with the multiple changes in direction and elevation causing butterflies and expletives to occur.
One car even had a passenger suddenly grab the windshield and throw her turn-by-turn directions out the top of the car, only to have them fly into the grill of the pursuing ND. The passenger later stated: “Theres no holy shit handle (grab bar) in a Miata”.
The roads were exceptional and spirited driving was the name of the game with some people clearly spelling it with a capital ” S”.
We returned back to the starting location, had a quick bio-break and went back out to do the second leg of the turn-by-turn runs that provided equally thrilling experiences, A lunch at a nearby winery with a commemorative bottle of wine followed. Then the third leg of the day had us head for the race laps of the old course (Watkins Glen Historic auto race course). A couple of route changes caused our group to get split up. This required our partners from Mid-State Miata to jump in and save the day for those cars that went astray.
Everyone arrived at the staging location in time to participate in the parade laps. The main streets of Watkins Glen are part of the old course and the streets were lined with people as we staged for the start.
After parade laps, our cars were parked in reserved parking. We explored the vehicles on display as well as enjoyed a cold beverage. A walk followed to see cars in the other parade groups, including heritage race cars as well as concours quality restorations.
Friday night was a group dinner back at a local restaurant where many stories were swapped and the days events were re-lived. Great food and great company!
Saturday was a free-day starting with an amazing breakfast at the B&B (and rain). Afterward some went to: the Corning Museum of Glass, The Curtiss Museum, Shopping, or walked the gorge at Watkins Glen. We all had a great day before returning to the B&B for a fantastic dinner together along with friends Lee and Miriam Maddy and Norm and Karen Abbott from Mid-State Miata (AKA UMN SOUTH). Dinner was amazing. We all gathered afterward in the common area of the B&B for wine and laughter.
Sunday was a leisurely drive home in bright sun with Ice Cream!
Steven Leu