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Our event kicked off last night in spectacular fashion. I’m starting this thread as a placeholder, as I haven’t had a chance to download pix, but I’m sure others have pictures to post. And I’ll have plenty to post later. On Sunday, you’ll see what the tour name means. RickyJay52 ran 9 of these events in the great state of Maine but passed the baton to me. More later…
Today [Saturday] turned out to feature terrific weather, in spite of the gloomy forecast earlier in the week. We drove some nice roads on our way to zip lining at Berkshire East - we did two lines that were over 2000’ long. Did a terrific drive from there to the iconic Red Lion Inn.
Not nearly enough sleep, so pictures and more detailed write ups will wait ‘til next week.
Wait a minute…I was. And I have only one word for you: BRAVO!
P.S. You lost both races. (Let’s face it, you braked too soon on the second heat. I brake late).
P.P.S. A HUGE thank you to Aunt Kate and Uncle Dave (not DJS) for…well…you had to be there.
P.P.P.S (is there such a thing?). Had a VERY pleasant experience with Massachusetts State Police…and I will leave it at that.
Last edited by RickyJay52; Oct 16, 2023 at 01:18 PM.
Thanks for posting those RJ. I still have family in town so haven’t gotten around to summarizing things. And the glow hasn’t subsided from beating you on the 2nd zip (even if you did touch first). Or maybe it’s the cold I got.
Our event kicked off last night in spectacular fashion. I’m starting this thread as a placeholder, as I haven’t had a chance to download pix, but I’m sure others have pictures to post. And I’ll have plenty to post later. On Sunday, you’ll see what the tour name means. RickyJay52 ran 9 of these events in the great state of Maine but passed the baton to me. More later…
Since many are patiently waiting for DJS to post pictures from his splendid event, here are a few more:
Patiently waiting for DJS to get rolling again.
At Norman Rockwell Museum.
Incredible lunch, and people, at River Cafe!
Half our group dined inside (along-side, coincidentally, with a large group of the Alfa Romeo Club). A packed house!
Gorgeous day!
TBourne and DJS. Their smiles say it all.
Apple Cider Donut Run complete. DJS did an outstanding job on the culinary front throughout his event.
I had the good fortune of being DJS’s wingman on the Friday drive.
A blast from the past. DJS had a television and a photo loop at the kick-off—I think he said a 45-minute loop—displaying terrific images from past events. This snapshot from United States Coast Guard STA Portland, alongside current and past Sector Commanders.
DJS making an announcement. Better him than me.
Leaving The International—DJS’s golf club—and where we stayed two nights. The staff there took excellent care of us while there.
VIP parking at The International. The F-Type’s not too shabby either.
Last edited by RickyJay52; Oct 21, 2023 at 08:27 AM.
I tried to post even just one of our zip line videos—DJS and I went first on both zips (and don’t listen to him…he lost both*) for the express purpose of my videoing everyone’s zip (they all came out great!) but apparently they are too big? I’m sure DJS’s upcoming drop-box will have them…
*I had no intention of a race and not at all competitive. It was ONLY when DJS starting trash talking that I took up the challenge. A [zip line] race isn’t over until one touches down on solid ground—crossing the finish line if you will—and I did that on both runs.
Last edited by RickyJay52; Oct 21, 2023 at 07:53 AM.
OK, family left town yesterday, and I'm getting over my cold...
RickyJay has run 9 of these events, and he established the tradition of thanking here the sponsors and venues we visited. The purpose is two-fold; to thank those that treated us well (all of them!), and to also share contact info with you, so you can potentially enjoy them as well, should you be in the area. (We had no sponsors this year, but great venues.)
I've been the unofficial photographer for these events and have Dropbox folders of pictures and videos from all of them. If I remember, I'll post links later to those prior events. But as trip leader, I found I took fewer pictures than I might have liked (no surprise). Happily, lots of people took lots of pictures, so they can fill in the blanks of what I missed.
Day 1 (Thursday afternoon)
I'm fortunate to be a member at a private golf club which also has lodging. So out-of-town guests stayed at The International in Bolton, MA. This worked out great, as we also had several meals there, and it's a beautiful spot. I led those staying there back to the clambake venue, while others met us there. Thanks to Dave Shannon and his crew for taking care of us. https://www.theinternational.com/
RickyJay likes robes...
As previously mentioned (and pictured), we kicked off with a 'clambake' in a neighbor's barn. He and his wife had cleaned out the barn and decorated it for a party the previous weekend (I helped a bit), and they offered the barn to me for our event, knowing I had planned to get a tent for my yard. Not a difficult decision! My heartfelt thanks to Steve and Debbie, what a way to start the event!
The catering was provided by Twin Seafood (Acton) - Dave Messuri was awesome. Appetizers: shrimp, clam chowder, salmon, cheese and crackers; Dinner: Whole lobsters, steamers, corn-on-the-cob, coleslaw, Ceasar salad, watermelon. Mulled cider was a big hit.
(They have a restaurant with limited indoor seating and a seafood market.) https://www.twinseafoodacton.net/menus
Me, making the first dreaded announcement
Afterwards, we went back to The International for drinks around the fire rings on the patio.
Day 2 (Friday)
We started the morning with breakfast at Bolton Bean, a local breakfast spot with great coffee and nice food. And the pleasant weather allowed some of us to sit outside. Thanks Travis! https://www.boltonbean.com/
After breakfast we drove to the Collings Foundation and the American Heritage Museum. The Collings collection is only open by private arrangement to groups, but it features an interesting and eclectic plane and car collection. They have a collection of warbirds they fly around the country throughout the year. They used to give rides on them (I flew on their B-24 for my 50th birthday), but after a tragic accident, I don't think they still do that. Those weren't present, but other interesting planes were.
The half-track on the right was used in the movie "The Dirty Dozen"
After that we drove to the Stow MA airport for lunch at the newly-renovated Fourth and Field. Lunch was excellent, as was the staff. Nice fall weather again allowed us to sit outside, though it was windy enough that only a couple of planes landed. Thank you Melissa! https://fourthandfield.com/
(haven't located any pix of here yet...)
After lunch, we did a nice drive through Stow, Harvard and Bolton to Lancaster, home of the Museum of Russian Icons. I'm not a religious person, but I enjoy art and have found this to be quite an interesting museum (beautifully presented) with an interesting story. Thanks Brianne! Especially when I discovered a few weeks before the event that I had not actually reserved anything when I thought I had. (They arranged a docent tour on short notice, which was much appreciated.)
[The name may be somewhat unfortunate in light of current world events, but this is an art/cultural museum.]
Also, thanks to the nearby St. John's church for use of their parking lot. https://www.iconmuseum.org/
After that, back to The International for drinks and dinner.
Day 3 (Saturday)
This was our big driving day, as we relocated from Bolton in central MA to the Berkshires in western MA. We got a stupid early start, with a 6am breakfast buffet at The International for a 7am departure. The timing wasn't very popular (even for me), but it allowed us to have empty roads for driving, and finish our day's activities and get the hotel at a reasonable time. Thanks again Dave, for getting up early for us!
For locals, we took Rt 62 from Bolton/Lancaster, to Rt 122 up to Rt 2. This is a popular driving road - good pavement, few towns, nice scenery. (On a scouting trip last year, we joined up with a group of older convertibles out for a morning drive.) I'm pretty militant about putting the top down, which was OK at 44 degrees when we left. When it dropped to 36 degrees going through some pretty wetlands, I was too cold to put the top up. [For those thinking of planning their own event, we stopped at a large Shell station for gas/bathrooms/coffee, about an hour into the drive. Always a good idea after breakfast.]
We ended up at Berkshire East in Charlemont, a ski area with lots of summer activities. Though the forecast had been for rain all week, it improved the point where we had no rain and a bit of sun. Some of us did zip lining (they have several of the longest lines in the country), and after that some of us did their mountain coaster, which is pretty impressive. Thanks, Tiffany, for making this all come together!
They also have a large wind turbine and solar field and are 100% powered by renewable energy (for those interested in that.) They offer a tour/hike of the facilities, which we didn't do. https://berkshireeast.com/
After we finished at Berkshire East, we drove to the River Cafe in Charlemont (the other side of the river from Berkshire East). While they closed to the public to host us, it turned out that they also hosted an Alfa club at the same time. Which led to some good natured ribbing. [RickyJay called for everyones attention, then thanked the Alfa club for offering to buy us lunch, which led to much laughter. They responded: "We're happy to, as we know how much it costs to repair Jags." Perfect.] The lunch was fantastic. A huge thanks to Mark and Rita, and their staff. Terrific food, terrific people.
(no website)
An excellent chicken, apple and sweet potato hash, with scrambled eggs. Now I'm hungry again.
RickyJay getting a massage
After that, we drove south on Rt 8A, which was outstanding. Good pavement, twisty, pretty, zero traffic. We worked our way down to Stockbridge, home of the iconic Red Lion Inn, where we spent Sat and Sun nights. Saturday dinner and Sunday breakfast in their dining room was great. Very neat place.
I had asked about us being able to park together, and they reserved spots on Main St for us right in front of the Inn. Stockbridge is very busy that time of year, so there was a lot of interest. We enjoyed chatting with lots of folks about the cars. Thanks Janine and Tim! https://www.redlioninn.com/
Day 4 (Sunday)
After a nice breakfast at the Red Lion (and other cafes nearby, we spread outselves out), we drove 5 minutes to the Normal Rockwell Museum. This is a terrific museum, which includes his studio, which was moved from near the Red Lion to the location where they built this beautiful museum. We got tours of the studio, which was very interesting, and wandered around the museum, which is full of iconic painting after painting. Thanks Alyssa! https://www.nrm.org/
From the Rockwell Museum, we skirted Pittsfield (the main city in the Berkshires) to the west, making our way to Mount Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts. We stopped at the visitor center on the way up, then drove to the summit, where happily, there were enough parking spots for us. (It had filled up earlier in the day.) We had reserved the patio in Bascom Lodge at the summit and had a very nice lunch there. Thanks John, Brad, Dianne and Cathy! https://www.mass.gov/locations/mount...te-reservation https://www.bascomlodge.net/
After lunch, I gave everyone the afternoon off, as there are lots of places to go (and I couldn't pick just one for the group.) The Clark Art Institute, Williams College Museum, Mass. Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), Berkshire Botanical Garden, etc. I had hoped to hike around the summit of Mt. Greylock, but it was a pretty raw day. Did get a few pictures on the way down. https://www.clarkart.edu/ https://massmoca.org/ https://artmuseum.williams.edu/ https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/
[There are lots of other things in the Berkshires. Unfortunately, the foliage was very mediocre when we were there, due at least in part to the massive amounts of rain the region has received this year.]
For dinner, we converged on Frankie's in Lenox. They are usually closed on Sundays, but they decided to open for us and the public. We're glad they did - dinner was simply outstanding. Our heartfelt thanks to Morgan and her staff for a truly memorable end to a great event! I still can't believe how good the vegetarian lasagna was, and I'm not a vegetarian. https://frankiesitaliano.com/
Some of us headed home Sunday after dinner, most of us left Monday morning after breakfast.
Thanks to MBourne for coming up with graphics and the event stickers on pretty short notice. They came out great!
Thanks to Scott and Karen for Michigan blueberry gifts for all.
Lastly, thanks to the attendees. Over the years, these events have been less about the venues and driving, and more about the people and friendships we've formed over the years. Same time, next year!
2023 F-Types over Massachusetts Tour
