British Car Festival - Fairhope, AL

Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013

We're on our way this morning to Fairhope, AL to the British Car Festival.  We've never been to this show, or to Fairhope, but we had heard good things about both of them.  So, we decided to go early so we would have a day to explore Fairhope.  We left early, about 8:00 AM and it was pretty cold!  But, we layered and bundled up and it was actually not uncomfortable.  We stopped at QT for a cappuccino to warm us up and started our trip down the backroads, through Conyers, McDonough and Griffin where we stopped for breakfast at Waffle House.  After breadfast, we continued through Zebulon, Concord, and Woodbury.  From Woodbury, we continued on through Waverly Hall then on through Columbus and over the Chattahoochee. river into Phenix City, AL.  We stopped for gas and then continued on passing through Hurtsboro, Union Springs (home of the Bird Dog Field Trials World Championship), Troy and on into Andalusia, where we stopped for gas and lunch at Beef O'Bradys.  We noticed that towns in Alabama are very patriotic.  Union Springs had a sign that said "Welcome to U.S.A. -  Union Springs, Alabama" and Andalusia Ford was spelled "AndalUSiA Ford"!

We also had some excitement in southern Alabama.  We saw deer at two different times on the side of the road thinking about committing suicide by running in front of us.  Luckily, they had a change of heart and disappeared back into the woods.  Also, while cruising smoothly along the back roads of deepest, rural Alabama, the car suddenly started slightly sputtering, sort of like it was running out of gas.  But, I knew it had plenty of gas.  It only lasted a few seconds and then back to normal.  I was looking for placed to pull off if needed but it never happened again.  No idea what it was, possibly crud in the gas.  Will check what I can tomorrow.

We are getting close now, and were getting excited as we continued through Flomaton, Bay Minette and into Fairhope.  As we were driving along towards our hotel downtown, we noticed the banner on a pole along the road! 

We pulled into the Hampton Inn downtown and checked in.

Not the usual Hampton Inn!

 Downtown Fairhope looks amazing.  There are flowers planted on every corner!  We walked around a little and found Pinzone's Italian restaurant where we ate a fantastic meal of scallops and risotto.  Looks like a lot to explore and see tomorrow, as well as clean up the car for Saturday.

Pinzone's Italian Restaurant

Long day today, 425 miles and about 10 hours!  Will now relax for a couple of days!


Friday, Oct. 25, 2013

Day 2 in Fairhope.  We slept well and took our time getting up.  Most of the stores don't open early anyway. We had breakfast at the hotel and then started walking around downtown Fairhope.  The streetscape is awesome, with flowers planted at every intersection as well as trees and flower boxes along the sidewalks. There are also benches everywhere (I guess for the husbands, while the wives shop!).  We walked up one side and down another, checking out all the shops and restaurants.  Even offices look nice.

Office building

For lunch, we stopped at Sandra's Place, a longtime sandwich shop, for a delicious cup of shrimp and corn chowder and a Fairhope shrimp salad, plus a slice of homemade cranberry and orange cake.  Yum!

Then it was off to do more exploring.  The Fairhope History Museum was a very nice facility with interesting items and artifacts on view, including a 1935 Ford fire engine.  Even has part of the original building and jail, from 1928, on display.  The jail was still in use until about 10 years ago.

There are many interesting and different shops, including this home furnishings store named Boxwood.

All the shopping wore us out, so we went back to the hotel to rest (and update this blog).  I also cleaned the car up so I would not have as much to do tomorrow.  Although it looked clean, wiping it down covered the towels with road grime and crud.  Glad I got this out of the way.  Tonight we have a BBQ dinner and get-together put on by the host club.  The hotel is very convenient as the show tomorrow, and the party tonight, are within walking distance from the hotel!  After the show tomorrow, we'll explore the waterfront on Mobile Bay.  On the way to the welcome party tonight, we walked to the Sheldon Castle, the home of eccentric local artist Craig Sheldon (look him up).  Since he passed away, his daughter and son-in-law now live in the house but are used to strangers walking up and taking pictures.  We also passed the Fairhope Arts Center where we noted what looks like "tree art" outside.  We then made it to the dinner and there was a very good selection of BBQ, and various side dishes plus a big selection of desserts made by local club members. After some announcements about the show tomorrow and giving out some door prizes, we walked back downtown to the hotel.  We noticed several more little British cars in the parking garage.  Should be good weather tomorrow which should result in a good turnout.

Sheldon Castle

"Tree Art"

  Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013

We had breakfast at the hotel and drove three blocks to the show site.  It was cool, but perfectly clear and bright.  We were directed onto the field, had our picture taken and parked.  The show was well organized and had a record attendance of 120 cars.  While I didn't take home any hardware, I did see some old friends from Mississippi that I met at another show.  Also met some very nice people and saw some very nice cars and some unusual ones, like the Armstrong Siddeley Star Sapphire.

On the way to the show.  I look to my left, and who do I see?  It's me!

1960 Armstrong Siddeley Star Sapphire

View of the show field

It was a beautiful day and warmed up.  After the awards ceremony, we left and did some sightseeing.  We drove down to the bay front and walked along the Fairhope pier.  We then drove along the Hwy. 98 scenic bypass.  The road was lined with huge live oak trees and many beautiful homes with views of the bay.  We came to the Marriott Grand Hotel at Point Clear and walked inside to check it out.  Looks like a very nice place, but probably out of our price range!  We then drove back to the hotel, rested for a little while and then walked down the street to Tamara's Downtown for dinner.  We had a wonderful dinner with good food and good service!  Then, walked back to the hotel.  On the way, we noticed a beautiful red Ferrari convertible parked on the street.  The guy had put 4 construction type cones around his parking space to "protect" his car.  First time I've see that!!  We will be heading home tomorrow morning and then get ready for our last trip of the year to Chattanooga on Thursday!

Is your car this precious?!

Sunday was another beautiful day, clear and bright.  It was cold, but not as cold as Thursday morning when we came down.  We had breakfast at the hotel, packed the car and headed out.  After getting gas (I've been getting between 30-34 MPG.  It's nice to be able to fill-up the tank for about $15!) we decided to go back a slightly different way to avoid the fresh asphalt that we encountered on the way down.  We decided to just let TomTom choose the way, as I thought I knew where it was going.  Well, I was wrong!  It took us on a "northerly" route through completely new territory.  While most of the roads were very good and scenic, some of it seemed quite desolate.  Think Deliverance!  We were beginning to wonder when we would come to a gas station or place to eat and bathroom with indoor plumbing!  We did pass through some small towns, there were no name brand gasoline, and most of eating establishments, if there was one, were closed on Sunday.  But, we just put our trust in Tom and soon we came to the small town of Camden, AL.  Kathy spotted a Hardee's so we stopped ;there for a bathroom break.  People seemed to come out of the woodwork to look at the cute little car.  Several people stopped to talk and take pictures.  One older guy said he had gotten a Midget for his daughter soon after she got her license.  He said he figured she couldn't get very far before it would break down!  We saw a nice gas station across the street so we went to fill up. Turns out there was a separate pump off to the side, unmarked, but there was someone filling several gas cans.  So, I ask if it was kerosene and he said no, it was ethanol free gas.  He was filling gas cans for all his farm equipment and other small engines.  So, when he finished, I pulled over and filled up with 100% gas. We then noticed a restaurant, behind the Hardee's that we were told was good.  Since we didn't know how far it was to any other civilization, we decided to eat here.  It was Ms. Kitty's and it was a buffet of good southern, soul food.  We filled up on baked chicken, fried  catfish, peas, candied yams, squash casserole and washed it down with pink lemonade.  When we got there, there was only one other couple there and the parking lot was empty.  While we were there, church let out and before long, there was a line!  We did notice a Subway nearby, but it looks like the town likes Ms. Kitty's for Sunday lunch!

A full house at Ms. Kitty's

We then set off, following TomTom and enjoying the different sights.  The trip was memorable for the wildlife we saw.  We saw 4 deer, at 3 different times.  Two ran across the road in front of us (but not close) and the others were just eating on the side of the road.  We also saw a fox run across the road in front of us.  And, we startled a vulture dining on the roadside and he flew off in our direction, low to the ground before swooping up.  We got a close view of it and those are large birds!  We finally made it back to Georgia and felt "home".  We continued on a new route until we got to McDonough and then we our way.  We stopped in Conyers at a Wendy's and had a nice salad for dinner and then made it home.  Will now wash clothes and car for our trip to Chattanooga.  It was a great trip, 863 miles total!