SEBRING DIARY 2004

Thursday 11th
Now it never snows in Cornwall and this year we have already had our decades worth well come 5pm it is snowing heavily and settling. Dave is in Torbay so he is going to pick me up and we will fly out together. Dave slithers up the hill to Merrymeet but the snow is stopping and its wet so we have a meal and Dave a couple of glasses of red as I am driving up to London. An hour later it’s snowing again heavily but the main roads should be clear. The trip is relatively uneventful most of the way to maison Davies except for around Bristol. Here the snow is very heavy, Driving is like those old black and white war films, I am in the bomber with all these streams of white tracer coming at me. The white lines were gone and maintaining road position was trying to straddle the cats eyes where they showed up or listening and feeling the vibrations as we drove along the cats eyes. We arrive safely sometime well after midnight for a few hours sleep.

FRIDAY 12th
   The snow has reached London a 5.30 start to Heathrow is managed without to many problems; Sue probably has the worst to face on the return. Now snow and aircraft do not go together, we board but once seated we do not move, we have to be de-iced, it’s going to be a while. It’s an hour and forty minutes we lose and to make our connection to Orlando from Washington we will need a good following wind. We arrive Dulles with 40 minutes to get our connection, we clear customs and immigration and as we near the departure gate we hear the tannoy announce all passengers should have boarded. A final sprint and we reach the gate, our seats have been re-allocated, we are given new tickets but in the rush I am given what appears to be an upgrade to First class. Dave is left with the rabble and I settle into a bit more elbowroom. However this turns out to be a mixed blessing, in the seat in front is one of the worst sorts of teenagers, two hours later I want to wring his neck, he has led the crew a merry dance with demands for fizzy drinks and snacks, a couple of bags of snacks and about ten cans of fizzy pop, I hope his teeth rot!
   I said it was a mixed blessing, well when the luggage starts to emerge, no suitcase, it gets worse the ticket wallet I was given in the rush was not mine, I guess my luggage is still in Washington. United will deliver to our hotel in Yulee near Amelia Island where we will be covering the Concours in our build up to Sebring.
We get a Pontiac some sort of GT, V6 and mushy auto-change but on the interstate 95 it cruises at the regulatory 55-70 MPH just fine. We arrive at Yulee early evening, a good trip that starts to go sour when our hotel is nowhere to be found. Its 6 miles from Yulee and they have lost our reservation. We get a room elsewhere for one night only and eat; blackened Grouper and drink three or four pints of Bass and suddenly life seems bearable again.

SATURDAY 13th
   Bright sunshine most of the day and temperature in the late 60’s, thoughts of snow all gone, no present from United is the only blot on the horizon but off to the Concours. Hal is one of the invited photographers displaying at the event. Accreditation takes but a moment, lovely lady handling the media unlike some we meet at some events, its all very gentle and entirely suited to the surrounds of the Ritz Carlton. Even the fleet of Maybach behemoths with their gently clicking self-closing doors seem not out of place here. I am offered a ride but it’s so far from anything I would ever consider owning I politely decline. We go out for lunch, hotel coffee is five dollars a cup, so we don’t even ask about food, but find a fish bar just along the beach and we probably enjoy it more. Still no present from United, so off to Wal-Mart for a change of clothes and a few essentials. Clothes are so cheap if I come again I will just bring an empty suitcase, on second thoughts I wont bother with the case either in case that gets lost and make Wal-Mart the first call. A return to last night’s venue is on the cards tonight to re-acquaint ourselves with Mr Bass and Mrs Grouper!

SUNDAY 14th
   Early start to get the first arrivals in the early sun, its warm and slightly overcast and the day stays that way throughout. Very pleasant after London’s snow, its shorts all day. The venue is perfect and the cars are stunning, most are restored but some are obviously very original, they range from slightly dog eared with a beautiful patina to the rather over restored trailered artwork. There is a beautiful Ferrari but when it drives to collect its prize the smoke suggests the engine interior has received less attention than it exterior. The competition is a true concours d’elegance, judged on style and beauty rather than the quality of the restoration. There are seven cars presented in a “fashion parade” with passengers modelling the period. If I was to say how the event could be further improved I would suggest that the organisers consider encouraging participants and public to dress for the occasion. I spend some time talking to Abby and Tom Campi, they are both very stylishly dressed and Tom says we owe it to the car, its almost a mark of respect to the beauty of their Rolls. Abby is as knowledgeable about the car as Tom having spent as much time in the garage as Tom; indeed Tom relates that their son learned to cook at five years of age as mum was in the garage! I was very pleased to see that this well used and loved car won a major award. My own two favourites were the spectacular Bugatti Atlantic and the Iso Bizarinni.
   We leave Amelia, no don’t ask I still have no suitcase and attempts to contact United have so far proved fruitless, after negotiating the voice recognition to reach the real person stage they were too busy; please try later, we value your business! Sunday night is spent just south of Daytona on the beach where we are entertained by a friend of Dave’s. We are lulled to sleep with the sounds of the sea and waken to views of the beach and sun.

MONDAY 15th
   We complete our trip to Sebring, well just short at Lake June where we find our accommodation lakeside for the week, we settle in and set off to Wal-Mart for essentials; beer and snacks and for me some more clothes. We eat just down the road, you guessed it blackened Grouper and return to drink beer on the jetty and chew the cud. Torchlight reveals the mother lode of Brown Recluse spiders; they are gorging on the mosquitoes but would not think twice about a bite of Homo sapiens, which would have been very nasty. We adjourn to the house and have a beer or two or three and retire relatively early.

TUESDAY 16th
Early start, the morning air heavy with the smell of orange blossom, breakfast eggs over and medium or something like that with, oh I just have the same as Hal or Dave. We leave breakfast and check in at Sebring, Hal and Dave cruise the circuit giving me the Sebring virgin the introductory tour. We check in to the pressroom and I visit Sebring airport to arrange a possible drop off point for my suitcase. Forty minutes of voice recognition and recorded messages at last reward me with a real person, they promise my luggage will arrive in Sebring tomorrow. Watch this space! Today is just testing, and it rains so not much action on the track, I take the chance to wander up and down the paddock area and chat with old and new friends. Tonight we dine on the fish platter, which of course features Grouper!

WEDNESDAY 17th
Today was a red-letter day, it’s my wedding anniversary and Jackie’s (my wife) birthday and I have been unable to connect to my e-mail. We don’t have a phone signal where we are staying so I just hope the present I left was delivered! It was also a red-letter day as my luggage arrived. I guess United might have the last laugh yet if they charge me for excess baggage! Today was also a grouper free day, I had meat for both lunch and supper but this evening’s restaurant is now number one on the blackened grouper in the Sebring area. We were back early enough to enjoy a beer on the jetty before the Brown Recluses had come out to play. The weather today ended with perfect blue skies and a fantastic red light as the sun set over the lake, the London snow almost forgotten in the mists of time.