Dennis (Bighead)
Junior Member
Username: Bighead
Post Number: 83
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 09, 2003 - 10:59 pm: | |
Ferrari Club of America - New England Region
New Hampshire Weekend Ramble/Drive/Rally/Lollapalooza
Friday-Sunday, May 2nd-4th, 2003
__________________
Come join your fellow members of the FCA/NER as we assault the legendary
roads and gaps/passes of the White Mountains on our first weekend event of
the year! The HQ for our little jaunt is the Mountain View Grand Hotel and
Resort, located in bucolic Whitefield, NH. The Mountain View Grand, newly
restored, has been known for its character and intimate comfort since 1865.
This is a 400 acre colonial-revival style luxury resort, with fine dining,
spectacular mountain vistas, English flower gardens, a spacious verandah,
and a doubled-sided fireplace and piano bar. It reopened last year on the
weekend of our visit -- as great a time as we had, the hotel assures us that
it was smoothed everything out from their opening and promises us an even
better time this year (at an incredible price)! You do not need to drive a
Ferrari for this event, though, of course, it would be way more fun!
SPECIAL ADDITION -- With hearty thanks to Sherman Wolf, noted Ferrari collector and enthusiast club member, we will meet at his compound in Amherst, NH for a casual picnic lunch on Friday, where he will share his private collection of unique, rare and historic Ferraris (think Testa Rossa, Phil Hill's 212 Barchetta, 340 Mille Miglia and many others).
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SPONSORED BY:
INDEPENDENT FERRARI SERVICE, South Easton, MA (508) 238-4224
and
FERRARI AND MASERATI OF NEW ENGLAND, West Newton, MA (617) 559-0123
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OUR MOTTO: NON CRANIUS-INVERTUS-RECTUMUS
Friday, 5/2 -- Optional departure meeting from Ferrari of New England.
Lunch at Sherman Wolf's house in Amherst, NH, then we drive up to the
Mountain View Grand in Whitefield NH (or meet directly at the hotel). We
should arrive at the hotel in time for a twilight round of golf, a horse
ride through the countryside, or time to take advantage of the luxurious
Tower Spa. We will meet for drinks and then dinner. The hotel will reserve
the entire front driveway for us to park.
Saturday, 5/3 - Breakfast at the hotel, then a drive/rally through the White
Mountains. Our planned routes take us through a bunch of notches/passes,
including the legendary Kangamacus. We'll also have some NEW surprises (for
those of us who attended last year!). We'll stop for a lovely buffet
luncheon at the Red Jacket Inn in North Conway, NH. After lunch, we'll
have 90 minutes (really, I *promise*, we'll have time for shopping, provided
that we're not held up at a police roadblock!) for everyone to hit any of
the ridiculous number of discount designer outlets (with discount cards and
tax-free shopping). After we re-group, we'll head out to Attitash Mountain
for (weather permitting) kamikaze competitive alpine slide riding! We will
be back at the hotel in time for an afternoon nap, more golf, or other
activities (spa appointments, croquet, swimming in the Olympic-sized pool,
and much more). The Mountain View Grand is sponsoring a cocktail reception
for us, then we'll adjoin for another gourmet meal (no black tie this year).
As part of the day's challenge, there will be a Poker Run - starting at
breakfast, and at each stop throughout the day, each participant will draw a
random playing card. At the awards ceremony, the driver and passenger who
can make the best poker hand will win prizes (we'll also be awarding door
prizes and special trophies for memorable driving that day!).
Sunday, 5/4 - After sleeping in, we'll meet for Sunday Brunch and a
taped-viewing of the Grand Prix of Spain. After packing-up and
checking-out, we'll have a scenic drive loop that will leave us near the
Interstate for the ride home.
The Mountain View Grand has reserved a limited number of UPGRADED, Majestic,
Panoramic or Grand View rooms available for this event, at a special room
rate of $119, per night. There is an additional charge of $50/person, per
night, to cover dinner and breakfast - thus, an all-inclusive price of only
$219 per night per couple. Suites are available at an additional charge;
please ask for details when making your reservation. Please reserve your
room DIRECTLY at the Mountain View Grand by calling them at (800) 438-3017,
and mention that you are traveling with the FCA/NER. You can take a virtual
tour of the resort at www.mountainviewgrand.com.
To register for this event, please mail your check for $100 per person,
payable to FCA/NER, c/o Fiona Friar, Friar Associates, 281 Farmington Ave,
Farmington, CT 06032.
Our website will always have the most updated information: www.fca-newengland.org
Name: Co-Driver:
Address:
Phone: Fax:
E-Mail (important!):
Make: Model: Year:
For those of you who haven't read about our encounters with the law and other fun encounters last year, please find a recap of those shenanigans below.
P.S. - http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2386879a11,00.html -- this will NOT happen to us (again!), hopefully....
***************************
Friends, Romans, and Countrymen:
Twenty-two Ferraris.
Forty-two enthusiasts.
Twisty country roads, scenic mountain gaps.
The grand re-opening of a historic luxury hotel and resort.
A private collection of historic Ferraris.
An insane F40 race car, complete with license plate and inspection sticker.
Driven by an even more insane guy.
A black-tie soiree.
And, of course, interactions with the local constabulary.
Read on!
__________
PRELUDE:
The officer walked briskly back to the side of the car, looked me in the
eye, and asked me whether we were the guys that were just stopped in
Bethlehem. "Um, yes, that was us, but it wasn't ME driving, it was HIM."
A few weeks back, David Sharrow and I took a long drive in New Hampshire to pre-run some of the routes to be used for our weekend getaway. While spending much of the morning exploring deserted routes, we discussed the art and science of safely driving fast and avoiding citations (don't speed in town, be aware, don't be stupid, keep the car in perfect condition, be polite, make the officer feel safe - the safer he/she feels, the nicer he/she will be). Still, we wondered if we were jinxing ourselves. After lunch, David gets behind the wheel. Just outside of Bethlehem, NH, we get NAILED by police radar. David curses, slows down. I make a few suggestions to him on what to do (pull completely over, have registration and license ready, shut off engine, roll down window, open sunroof, remove hat and sunglasses, put hands on wheel, etc.) and how to talk his way out of it. David curses, saying that he ALWAYS gets a ticket when he's been pulled over. Well, when the cop walks up, we start muttering frantically. I tell him that's all my fault because I'm distracting the driver by asking route/map questions because we're planning a group vacation/drive up here, etc. Shoveling fairly fast and furious.
Amazingly enough, he lets us go with only a mild verbal scolding. A few miles down the road, David pulls over and asks me to drive, as he fervently believes that we are now cursed -- though happy that he didn't get a ticket. David is convinced that not only do I have the Chinese Parking Gene (the ability to always find a meter/free parking space because I am one cheap bastard), but I also have the Chinese Speeding Ticket Avoidance Gene. I start driving, and we end up on I-93 in Franconia, where it is a narrow one-lane road in each direction. Suddenly, a police Suburban in the oncoming lane shoots us with radar.
David jumps, but I scoff some more, saying that the Suburban is on the other side of the highway -- there's a guardrail, and by the time he catches us, we'll be long gone. And, I add, because I am arrogant, that if I was really worried, I would have pulled off in the rest area, and both gotten out, and if the cop showed up, we could each claim the other was driving. I chuckle at my egotistic brilliance and calmness as we motor serenely down the road.
Until, of course, the damn Suburban catches up to us (we're stuck behind traffic) with its lights flashing. Uh-oh. Goddamn it. I was jinxed! I can't believe it! Me and my hugely big mouth!! I'm pissing my pants!
Well, to make a long story short, this officer was significantly less friendly, but I still talked his ear off. He walked back to the truck with my papers, and I thought, damn it, I'm screwed. He comes back without a ticket, but asks me the question in the first paragraph of this story. After hearing my response, he gives us a lecture and a further scolding, and
he lets me go WITHOUT a ticket, saying "that's two strikes. Third one and you're out. Believe me, you won't be this lucky again."
I felt blessed. Maybe I DO have the Chinese speeding ticket gene, after all! We do the speed limit all the way down to Concord, with Winnebagos passing us left and right.
END PRELUDE; fast forward five weeks.
* * * Friday, May 24, 2002
The New England Region of the Ferrari Club of America has put together our first annual New Hampshire Weekend getaway. Somehow, a modest idea proposed by yr hmbl & obdnt srvnt a few months ago transmogrified into a logistical nightmare (well, ok, nap-mare). We initially and optimistically anticipated about 16-20 people in 8-10 cars. We end up with over forty people in 23 cars!
Pictures are here:
http://www.photoaccess.com/share/guest.jsp?ID=AD9B4923B41&cb=PA
First stop -- Ferrari of New England, the first meeting place for people to form a convoy. Philippe Chanial, Ferrari sales manager and one of the sponsors of this event, welcomed us and we checked out the new Maserati offerings. We grab a quick bite of lunch at the Chinese place down the street, where John Tirrell, proprietor of Independent Ferrari Service, the other sponsor of the event, gets a fortune cookie that reads "You will help out a friend in need today". On our way out, we try hard to not see the Newton police officers looking at over a dozen Ferraris parked haphazardly on Washington Street, and we're off to New Hampshire!
We pull into the back yard of the legendary Sherman Wolf, noted Ferrari collector. Sherman has been a tifosi for decades, and has several historic racing cars, including the 212 Barchetta formerly owned by Phil Hill. He drives them regularly, including in the Tour de France and Mille Miglia, and runs in many rallies around the world. Pretty much everyone here wants to be like Sherm. We park 17 Ferraris, mostly 355s and 360s, with a few Testarossas and a Mondial too, in one of his yards; it looks like he's got his own private concours show. Then Peter Rogal shows up in his astonishing F40, modified to quasi-GT spec, which Peter actually RACES. Oh, but he keeps it registered (and inspected) for the street, and drives it around all over the place (15k miles on the odo). Sherm and his very charming and cosmopolitan s.o., Lisette, invite the gang into a couple of his garages, where we proceed to salivate over a 166MM, a Testa Rossa, a California Spider, a Daytona Spider, a few Packards, and several other cars.
After wiping up our drool, we form up the convoy again and head up I-93 into the heart of New Hampshire. Along the way, Dave and Fiona Friar suffer an engine malady in their 355 Spider. As they pull into a parking lot, John Tirrell stops to help them. "What's the problem?" "The slow-down 5-8 light comes on, and it runs really rough." "Pop the lid." Without a further word, John reaches into the engine bay and disconnects and removes the ECU. He digs into the trunk of his own 355 and removes a brand new spare ECU. Like Gary Cooper, without a word, he installs it in Dave's car, resets the battery, and Dave fires it up. Problem solved; time elapsed: 8 minutes (which includes John cleaning his hands). That was the single most accurate fortune cookie prediction we had ever witnessed. We catch up to half of the group and make our way to....
The Mountain View Grand Hotel and Resort, located in bucolic Whitefield, NH. The Mountain View Grand was built over a century ago, and has just been newly restored. Situated on a 400 acre hilltop, it now offers a historical setting with fine dining, an incredible view, and some luxurious amenities. This historic resort was celebrating is grand REOPENING on this weekend! The theme of the weekend was to "commemorate the golden age of the Mountain View, 1920 to 1950, from the Roaring Twenties through the Big Band Era." [check it out at www.mountainviewgrand.com]
When we arrived at the hotel, they had reserved the entire front driveway for us to park. Twenty-two Ferraris, lined up head to tail. A wondrous vision. We checked into our rooms, and the Lovely Jamie (tm) fell in love with the place -- a bottle of chilled champagne awaited us, and we had a great view of the White Mountain range. Everyone eventually made it down to the ballroom. The charming Andersen couple arrived at the last minute from CT and joined us for dinner -- who knew Scandinavians had such a great sense of humor? As part of the celebration, instructors offered ballroom dancing lessons. The valiant Peter Lombardo, being one of a handful of real men among us, took to the floor, where several of our female companions had to share his attentions (one comely dance partner actually noted how wonderful Peter smelled; Peter modestly informed us that he had splashed on some "Ferrari - Black" from a little sample tube he got at Tremblant last year!). After dinner, a bunch of us retired to the verandah, where Peter Rogal had broken out his humidor of big fat giant Cuban cigars and handed them around. Life was pretty sweet, even though the smell had pretty much run off the womenfolk.
* * * Saturday, May 25, 2002
Come the glorious dawn to beautiful, cloudless day, and a few of us managed to shake off hangovers and went out to clean off the cars before breakfast (I slept in and took pictures of Philippe cleaning cars from the window of my room). After loading up on really good muffins and omelets, I handed out a custom made CD with 30 tracks of driving music (rock, pop, classical, opera, show tunes), sound effects, commercial jingles and other ephemera. I also handed out our route book, with directions for both days, but also a trivia quiz - participants had to listen to the CD (or tape), identify the title of the song/piece/movement, the artist/composer/performer, and most distressingly, a trivia question relating to the song.
For example, one track was "Die Walküre/The Ride of the Valkyries", by Richard Wagner, and the trivia question was "Which movie character says, �I love the smell of napalm in the morning�? And who played him? (Colonel Kilgore, Robert Duvall - from Apocalypse Now.) Another track was a recording of the last Ferrari V-12 in F1, and people had to name not only the engine, but also the year. What was the car driven by Sammy Hagar in "I can't drive 55"? How many seasons has the Simpsons been broadcast on Fox? In what Playstation2 video game soundtrack does this song have a prominent role? Ah, the only thing worse than a smug trivia contest champion is a smug, self-perceived trivia expert making up unduly hard trivia questions for others!
Participants included:
Sebastiano & Nadine (Red 355 Berlinetta)
Bo & Bolette (Red 512TR)
Joe & Tina (Red 360 Spider)
Philippe and Rob from FoNE (Silver 360 Modena)
David & Fiona (Yellow 355 Spider)
Ira & Lesley (Black 355 Spider)
Bob & Sandy (Red 355 Berlinetta)
Ed & Carol (BMW 5 series; 330 GTC was still in the shop)
D!ck & Kathryn (Red 308 GTB)
Bob & Carmela (Red 355 Berlinetta)
Tom & Nancy (Red 348ts)
Dennis & TLJ (Red 355 Berlinetta)
Todd & Dana (Silver 456 GT)
Pete & Rosemary (Black 360 Modena)
Marty & Maria (Red 355 GTS)
Sal & Dana (Red Testarossa)
Ross & Raymond (Red 355 Berlinetta)
Bob & Maurene (Red Testarossa)
Rogal, Peter (Red F40)
John Tirrell (Barchetta Red 355 Berlinetta)
Sherman & Lisette (Silver 360 Spider)
Bob & guest (Red 360 Modena)
We formed up our convoy of 23 cars and headed out! In my little speech, I cautioned everyone that it was completely unrealistic for a group this large to stick together, particularly as different people have different speeds at which they feel comfortable driving. But thanks to some patience and our radios, we actually managed to keep together the whole time. Our morning route was fairly circuitous, stretching through state and national parks, up and down mountain roads, with wildlife and scenery galore. We were blessed with a paucity of other traffic, until we approached a little town. As we drove in, we noticed a lot of people walking around and sitting on the sidewalk. We had stumbled into a Memorial Day parade! Well, uh, actually, I had planned this! Yeah, that's it! It's a planned surprise! The crowd was delighted by the surprise appearance of nearly two dozen Ferraris slowly rumbling through town center, waving and cheering.
We made a stop in Franconia, at a viewing area for the Old Man of the Mountain. At this point, we began our Poker Run, where all of the participants started drawing cards to form a 7 card stud hand. Since the cards I brought were new, I needed to shuffle them before dealing. Looking around for a flat area to shuffle 6 decks, I spot . . . the carbon fiber rear racing wing of Peter's F40! It worked quite well, and I suggested to Peter that it would be very useful as a cutting board also if he were to have a picnic in the future. Shortly thereafter, we head for Rt. 112, the legendary Kancamagus.
As our convoy pull out onto this road, we realized that the dazzling scenery was going to be compromised by the abundant traffic. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the road, passing where legal and appropriate. Towards the Eastern end of the Kancamagus, some of us kept to the route and split off onto Passaconaway Rd., through a covered bridge, while others stayed on the Kanc until the end. As we proceeded, going very slowly behind a Subaru, however, we found a Conway police officer blocking the road. An unmarked police car that we had passed (again, going very slowly) a mile back then pulled in behind us (one presumes to keep us defiant lawbreakers from pulling a Bo & Luke Duke and peeling off in a 180). The officers allowed the Subaru and other traffic to escape, and proceeded to order us to shut down the cars and hand over our paperwork.
They informed us that they received a call complaining of a "pack of crazy guys driving Ferraris completely recklessly on the Kanc", and since no police officer actually spotted us anything, they could not write us all tickets but would nevertheless run all of our information, make sure other jurisdictions were aware of what was going on, and keep our information on record. So we sat there, semi-grateful we weren't being ticketed by also fairly irked that we had been unfairly tarred, while they ran everyone and every car through the system. This scenario was repeated upon the other group who stayed on the Kanc (though Ed and Carol in the BMW were let go clean). By the time the officer had finished running everyone through, Joe Capasso, in his inimitable charming way, had actually managed to change the guy's demeanor, to the point where he smiled and posed for a picture in front of the pack of Ferraris he had road blocked!
We proceeded (even more slowly than before) to lunch at the Red Jacket hotel in North Conway, where the management had, in fact, heard through the grapevine that a pack of Ferraris were pulled over and would be delayed. We parked on the lawn, where they were setting up for a wedding that afternoon. Our lunch of stuffed lamb, chicken in pastry shells, grilled sea scallops and much more was absolutely delicious, and the service was delightful. We mingled with the arriving wedding guests, then took off. Unfortunately, the time spent socializing with Conway's Finest meant that our shopping time was severely curtailed (North Conway is home to dozens of designer outlets and artisan shops, and it's all TAX-FREE!!! Live Free or Die!!!!!), so we headed directly for Attitash ski area, where we faced the next challenge - kamikaze competitive alpine slide riding!
For those of you that haven't experienced this, it's like the luge, except that your sled has wheels, the course is concrete rather than ice, and you have a handbrake. We were timing the event, and prizes were to be awarded to victors of both sexes. Interestingly, before the event, I had warned that we could be "scraping Joe Capasso and Dennis off the concrete and applying salve to their road rash). As it turned out, Joe was the winner of the 1st annual Peter "Vomit Comet" Lombardo award for most air-time. In his second run, Joe actually managed to go flying off of his sled, scraped along the track, bounced, somehow managed to climb back on, and completed the run (and still somehow managed to finish 3rd!!). He also ended up with the quote of the day -- "boy, check out the back of my shorts; they're covered in grease and my butt is so completely sore!" The kindly Tina, Joe's long-suffering spouse, just looked on with that "boys will be boys" look we've come to expect....
As we headed back to the hotel, I managed to squeeze myself into the passenger seat of Peter's F40. Complete with racing buckets, a full cage, 6 point harnesses, it was a tight fit (for both of us; in combined tonnage, we may be the biggest and heaviest two guys that have ever occupied an F40 -ever). As we drove off, Peter described all of the things that had been done to the car to make it semi-competitive in his races, but he still kept it (mostly) street legal. Half way through our journey, I had to ask him to turn down the A/C as it was causing the fluid in my elbow to freeze solid (imagine that, working A/C in a Ferrari! And an F40 racing car at that!). The kick in the back when the boost comes on was astonishing, though the boost was cranked down for street use (when racing, it's boosted to about 22 PSI). It's the ride of a lifetime -- and I'm calling shotgun for the next track event!
When we arrived back at the hotel, I used my yoga training to extricate myself from the car, and rubbed my butt for several minutes to get blood circulating back into my legs. Everyone cleaned up and headed out to the cocktail party hosted by Kevin Craffey, the way-too-young and way-too-nice developer and owner of the hotel. As dusk crept over us, we headed in to the grand ballroom for a black tie dinner. The theme was the Roaring '20's, and guests were asked to dress accordingly. Some of us went all out, looking as though they were stepping out of Capone's speakeasy. Ira, Bob and Sal looked like Lucky, Al and Bugsy, and Dana, Irene, Maurene and Nadine were totally flapper city. D!ck and Kathryn cut quite the rug on the dance floor, while Tom did he best impression of James Bond. The food was grand, champagne flowed, and we were loving it. The night ended up with more cigars and scotch on the porch, while I gave a couple of rides in the 355.
* * * Sunday, May 26, 2002
Sunday dawned overcast and damp, alas. But at breakfast, we held an awards ceremony for victors in the trivia contest, alpine slide challenge, and the poker run. Prizes were generously donated by Ferrari of New England and Independent Ferrari Service, and included the Louis Klementaski book of Ferrari photographs, shirts, keychains, Schumacher and Barrichello F1 car models, a pair of Fila Ferrari shoes, a giant Tubi banner, professional tire gauges, sweatshirts, caps, and much more. Pretty much everyone won something, and everyone did get a set of Cavallino Rampante valve caps. Sherman Wolf won the poker run, driver's division, while Lesley Gold won in the navigator's division. We also gave out prizes for having the WORST poker hand. Peter Lombardo (how the hell does he keep winning stuff?!?!?) and TLJ won the Men's and Women's alpine slide challenge gold medals, followed by Sal Messina and Tina Capasso with silver. Todd and Dana won a special award for being the slowest down the mountain. Top trivia honors went to Tom and Nancy, while Bo and Bolette were just 2 points behind. Bob Perras won for coming in last in the trivia contest -- he scored a half-point by writing "Ferrari" in for every single answer, which just barely topped Nadine Alderucci's submission of a Top Seven List of reasons why she couldn't complete the quiz. Later, Peter Rogal won the "Enzo Spirit" prize of the weekend, for driving a Ferrari race car on a grand touring weekend, in sun and in rain, and ingesting astonishing amounts of champagne, scotch, and Cuban cigars - Enzo would be proud!
After eating and collecting booty, we valiantly headed out in the rain for the Northern Loop of our driving adventure. After about an hour, the rain ceased and we had the roads to ourselves. We passed through Dixville Notch, where the roads were so twisty, I'm reasonably certain Dave Friar managed to get all four wheels off the ground on one particular rise. As we cut back South, we were running parallel with the river. As we slowly passed a formation of canoes, the boaters started pointing and waving. We slowed and waved back, and they started hooting and applauding. Who would have thought a camping adventure in the Great North Woods of NH would result in the spotting of convoy of Italian sports cars? As we headed back for Sunday Brunch, we made a last stop to stare in wonder at a pair of giant moose (mooses? meece?) peacefully chomping at greenery at the side of the road. Yeah, I planned this too! Another planned surprise!
Back at the Mountain View Grand, we checked out, had Sunday Brunch, passed out a few more prizes, and made our farewells. As many of us headed back (some were staying for the 3rd night, planning on playing golf, riding horses, or enjoying other activities), we wondered how we could top this weekend. Of course, as I type this, I'm sitting shotgun in the 355 with Jamie driving us through Vermont on our way to the F1 Grand Prix du Canada in Montreal, so I'll have a report on that, hopefully soon!
Thanks to EVERYONE who came along and made the weekend so wonderful. As nice as the cars were, and as much fun to drive as they are, what really made this trip fun and memorable were the people. I'm proud to call all of the participants my friends (yes, even you, Philippe!), and I'd like to think that we would have had at least 90% of the fun we did even if we were driving SUVs (well, ok, maybe Miatas). Thanks also to Melissa DeVoe, Bruce Warren and the rest of the great staff at the Mountain View Grand for welcoming us with open arms, Susan, Matt and the Red Jacket for a great lunch, and, of course, the members of local law enforcement for only denting our civil rights and not arresting anyone (or everyone).
Come with us next year!
vty,
--Dennis
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