Events
| February 1 | Board of Director's/Car Show meeting at Dunkin Donuts in Davie (9170 SR 84 -between Pine Island and Nob Hill Rd on the south side of I-595) at 7 p.m. All member's welcome! | |
| February 14 |
Join
us on Sunday, February 14, for our 17th annual car show. Once again
it will be at the Royal Palm Plaza in Boca Raton. | |
| March 20 |
We'll be meeting at SHUCKERS Bar & Grill located at 1819 79th Street Causeway, Miami , FL 33141. It is behind the Best Western Hotel, with tables out on the bay, with a great view for our enjoyment. We'll meet between 4:30 and 5:00 PM, to enjoy our cars and have some great camaraderie. |
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| April 13 | We
are finally officially announcing the 9th annual Adventure trip to the
UK/Europe. You are receiving this e-mail because you have either already
paid a deposit for the trip or indicated that you are interested in
joining the group. The group this year will be limited to a maximum
of 49 people.
Plans are underway for a departure in spring 2010 to explore the English Channel coasts - in both England and France, with an emphasis on the sights and memories of D-Day. Our planned departure date is Tuesday, April 13, 2010. Just like we did this year, we are opting again for a midweek departure since it gives us the opportunity to enjoy two complete weekends.
We are planning that coach services will again be provided by Ridlers Coaches in both England and Normandy. We used Ridlers for the 2009 trip and were really pleased with service they provided – and their terrific driver, Ken Short.
The trip will begin with a stay either in a rural village in Hampshire’s New Forest or a Victorian hotel on the coast in Portsmouth – we’re looking at both. Activities we are looking at include a visit to Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyards and a day on the Isle of Wight, as well as the motor museum & manor house at Beaulieu, along with sites related to the D Day preparations. There’s much to see and do in this coastal county and we’ll plan to make use of a local guide at times.
Then we' ll make a ferry crossing of the channel and base ourselves in the ancient town of Bayeux, probably choosing the night crossing. En-suite cabins are available on board, so you’ll go to bed in England and wake up in France. We stayed in Bayeux for 2 nights on our 2007 trip and found the town to be the perfect spot for visiting the D Day beaches. We have a confirmation from the hotel’s owner, Rima Herbert, that they are glad to welcome us back. This time we will have more time to enjoy the town’s many restaurants, visit the local market, spend the afternoon in a seaside town and take in a couple of D Day museums. And of course, there will be a day touring the landing beaches and related sites – the plan this year is to use the local tour companies with their 8 passenger vans which can reach more areas than a large coach. We had an excellent guide in 2007 from Overlord Tours – we’ll plan to use that company again - and the guides with Battlebus and Victory Tours also come highly recommended. We’ll also revisit the family ciderie where we had a delicious lunch in 2007 and view the famous tapestry in Bayeux.
We were trying to end the trip with a 4 night cruise on the Seine from the coast, through the Norman countryside, and ending with a night moored in Paris. At this time, however, the only sailing scheduled for spring of 2010 departs on April 10th. This won’t work, since Easter is on April 4th, and we’ve never wanted to have the trips coincide with the family vacation time of Easter week. We are waiting to hear if additional dates will be scheduled in May, but in the meantime, came upon an interesting alternative if necessary.
At a recent British car show Jeff met some natives of Guernsey who now live in Canada (they even have a RHD Magnette they brought over). They suggested a stay on this Channel Island off the Normandy coast. The Channel Islands are part of the British Isles, but not of the United Kingdom. During the Second World War, the islands were the only part of the British Commonwealth occupied by Germany. Today, they are known for spectacular scenery, beaches, flowers, heritage sites, excellent food, picturesque hamlets, - all with an Anglo-Gallic flair. There’s a WWII occupation museum, bunkers, tunnels and other remains from the German occupation. So, we are trying to see if a visit there will work out – we need to see if the ferry connections will work out. The sailings vary by day and month so I am checking into next April’s possibilities.
If neither the river trip or Guernsey work out, we have still found so much to see in southern England and Normandy, we might extend the trip by 1 night! Please let us know if you think the stay on Guernsey – including a side trip to a smaller island that is a true step back in time – would be a suitable alternative to the river cruise. Also, let us know if expanding the trip by 1 day would work for you – returning on Wednesday, April 28th instead of Tuesday, April 27th. We hope to keep the price no higher than this year’s (which was $3,400 per person based on double occupancy and including airfare from your home city.)
If you have paid a deposit and need to change your plans, please let us know as soon as possible. If you haven’t yet sent in a deposit, $200 per person will reserve your spot. Checks should be made out to Jeff Zorn. If you have any questions, let us know. We may not have answers yet, but we’ll try. Otherwise, stay tuned for future updates. An additional payment will be needed in July or August (once we have purchased the airfare and need to make hotel deposits.) Then payments will be made in October and January.
Have
a wonderful summer! | |
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