Heading home today

Sunday, April 13, 2014

After breakfast, we headed home.  We have a club meeting tonight,  so might have to go straight to the meeting.  We didn't like the route we took on the way up, so got directions from Googlemaps last night and will follow that, with back up by our GPS and map.  The scenery was much nicer on this more northerly route through North Carolina.  However, we had to stop frequently to consult both the map and GPS because we kept having problem interpreting the Googlemap printout.  Next time I will take large, individual state maps with more detail, trace out the route before hand and just use the GPS for emergencies.  But, we finally got close enough that we knew where we were and where we were going.  Because of the time it took, we drove straight to the pub where we have our meetings just in time for the meeting.  From there it was home to our own bed, which is always nice.   The car did great, the only problem was a squeaking fan belt which I will fix tomorrow when I clean the bugs and road grime off.  All in all, a good shake-down run getting ready for MG2014 in French Lick in June.  Stay tuned!!

Dual plugs and distributors on a 1934 Rolls Royce

Showtime at the Vineyards

Saturday, April 12, 2014

After breakfast at the hotel, we drove to Shelton Vineyards.  Because the host hotel was full, we stayed in Mt. Airy which was only about 10 miles away.  We arrived at the Vineyards and were directed to our parking space.  The venue is very nice.  After passing row after row of grape arbors, we parked on a grassy area between  the arbors and the main building.  The landscaping in front of the building is very nice with trees, ponds and streams.  Since this is a Triumph club event, the Triumphs get to park in the landscaped area.

Triumphs under the trees

We took a tour of the winery which was very informative.  Two brothers who made their money in construction, sold their business and started the winery about 12 years ago.  After the tour, we tasted some wines and ended up buying two bottles to take home!  We then had lunch on the grounds, looked at some cars and then took a hayride around the grounds of the vineyard.

The Midget/Sprite class - 3 Midgets and 3 Bugeyes
A pretty disappointing turnout with more than 200 cars at the show.

An "English Ford" - '32 Ford powered by MGB!

This is the back seat of a new, $192,000 Aston Martin DB9 Volante -
notice all the legroom you get for $192K!

By the time we got back, it was awards time and then we said goodbye to several of the people we had met and went back to the hotel to rest before returning to the host hotel for a BBQ banquet.  After a few announcements, one of the Shelton brothers told us how much they appreciated us being there (an buying lots of wine, I'm sure!). The food was good and plentiful.  Feeling stuffed, we drove back to our hotel to get ready for the trip back.  We had a good time and will consider coming back next year.

Welcome to Mayberry!

After breakfast, we headed downtown to check out Mt. Airy.  Our first stop was Wally's Service Station.  This is a recreation of the station used on the Andy Griffith show.  Inside was a gift and souvenir shop but the lady running it was a veritable encyclopedia on the Andy Griffith show.  I also learned that the world's largest open pit granite quarry, visible from outer space, is in Mt. Airy.  And, there is 500 more years worth of granite there!

We then headed toward downtown, and on the way, we passed the home of Andy Griffith, which is now owned by Hampton Inn and you can stay there if you like!!

From there we went downtown where we parked and walked up and down all 4 blocks of Main Street.  It's a nice downtown with various shops, restaurants and offices.  There are, of course, many shops selling Andy Griffith and Mayberry memorabilia.  After lunch, we headed to the Hampton Inn in Dobson to check in for the car show.  We then participated in a fun run, where we were given instructions to drive through the countryside and had to find answers to questions along the way.  It was a lot of fun and we drove around the picturesque countryside of North Carolina and Virginia and included a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  I don't think we did very well, as we had several questions we could not find the answers to, but had fun anyway.  We then talked to several people in the parking lot looking at cars and from there we went to dinner at a restaurant that was recommended.  It was the Depot at Cody Creek Park, an unusual development that used to be a pasture.  It now includes an entrance through a covered bridge, a chapel, a restaurant, a gift shop, a reception hall, and the developer's home at the top of the hill with a pond with swans.  The gift shop includes a recreation of an old warehouse with an old Suburban.

It was then back to the hotel, clean the bugs off the car and get ready for the show tomorrow at SheltonVinyards.

Long day on the road.

We left around 8:00 this morning and it was pretty chilly, but we were dressed for it.  We stopped at the Jefferson House restaurant in Jefferson for breakfast.  We then left and instead of following the printed directions from Google, we decided to use the GPS, which we thought would map the same route.  However, it took us a completely different route, more easterly and southerly, through Commerce and Elberton, GA, then on into South Carolina where we stopped at Jitters Cafe in Clinton, SC.  It was a nice combination lunch and gift shop - good sandwiches and friendly people.  Some guy from Pennsylvania and Beaufort, SC started talking to me and he has a TR3!  We stopped for gas and a milk shake in Lincolnton and continued on to Mt. Airy.  The route we took was longer and not very scenic.  Really not happy with the Garmin!  We were expecting to travel some on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We will go back a different route, on a more northerly route, traveling some on the Parkway.  What should have been a 6-7 hr. drive turned out to be more like 10 hr.!!  So, we checked in the Hampton Inn, I cleaned the tar and asphalt that we picked up when we had to drive along an area where they were paving the road.  After that, we walked to a Chili's for dinner.  Then, back to the hotel where we crashed.  Tomorrow we'll explore downtown Mt. Airy and all things Andy Griffith before heading to the host hotel a few miles down the road in Dobson to check in for the show.

Getting ready for a new year of Midget Travels!

 After a winter that seemed to go on forever, the weather is finally getting nice.  We're looking forward to a great year of Midget travels.  Tomorrow, we're leaving for a show that we've never been to:  the Gathering at Shelton Vineyards, in Dobson, NC.  Should be a nice drive up, a little cool in the morning, but warming up later.  And, we'll be checking out Mt. Airy -  the town that Andy Griffith's Mayberry is based on.  The vineyards are about 15 miles south of Mt. Airy and the show will be on the grounds of the vineyard.  Should be a nice setting.  Stay tuned!!