Sounds like a great plan Gatordad. Being a Yorkshireman I am slightly worried about beer standards (we have the greatest ales in the world up here-we have over 2000 years of brewing experience!).
Spoke at length with the wife last night and we have set 2014 as the date. Planning a two week vacation, probably a week around Orlando for the kids in a hotel and then a week in an RV. As a kid I was a huge Miami Vice fan and want a few days in South Beach. I'll be rolling up the sleeves on my Armani sport jacket and will leave the socks at home. Anyone know where I can hire a black Daytona Spider for a few days?
Now where did I put those old Raybans?
You won't notice the beer standards. It was 90+ degrees every day we were out there this year - Lite beer might sound like the wimps choice - but trust me - you won't want all that much more, at least until the sun goes down. So....
Beer: We used Total Wine and More - Just off I-drive. They supplied us with Magners, but we coulf have had almost anything. They also supplied Guiness Draught in bottles, and many many cans of beer - I think one of which was called YingLing (you'll have to check that) - this was quite a dark brew - quite tasty.
If you want Spirits....well....do you know what - i'm not going to tell you about that - go to Total Wine and more, and see for yourself. Oh and budget a couple of hours to do so....it's fair to say there's some decisions to be made in there
Accomodation: I'd recommend an RV - ours cost us about £120 per person, and was worth every penny IMO. Either speak to Gatordad and join his crew, or go with the Turn 10 guys - either way I can't imagine hospitality gets any better.
Recommend staying at La Quinta on the first night, and meeting up with Matt Harper and some of the other locals from Orlando - as well as the other arriving Brits of course. This place happens to be RIGHT NEXT to the Fish on Fire and I think it cost us about $50 for the night - and it's actually very nice. You only need to the Fish on Fire of an evening to see why the Brits who head over, go there every year. Great food, friendly service, and great prices (and quite hot barmaids too). La Quinta will also pick you up from the airport in their free shuttle service....VERY handy!
Flights: From the UK, Virgin and BA are your only real options. My flight this year was £415. We flew out on Monday, and flew back at about 7pm Sunday - pretty much the ideal trip, however I could be tempted to go a couple of days early next year, just to take in some other activities (want to go shooting stuff!)
Transport: There's quite a few people who go to Sebring on this forum. You're likely to at least find SOMEONE who is going down - pitch in with their rental car, and all the problems disappear. Otherwise, Rentals aren't that expensive....Unless you really WANT that big yellow Corvette!
All in all, I can't recommend Sebring enough.....it was an absolutely BRILLIANT trip. It has a special feeling about it...it's a different feeling to Le-Mans, but in many ways, very similar. I never went to Le-Mans in the 80's, but from what I hear, and the photos I see - Sebring is a bit like that....less safety fencing, absolutely the best views ever, and a truly race mad crowd.
For other advice, I'd recommend signing up to
www.sebringfans.com . If you want any other info - just holler! I still love talking about my trip 3 months later.
Oh and Steve....No baby yet. Therefore, I now declare myself SAFE for 2013 Le-Mans
