Gallery of Past Club Events
Charles Town Races Drive to Lunch
November 2, 2008
November 2nd was our final Drive to Lunch for the year. This was a wonderful Drive to Charles Town Races & Slots organized by Keith and Kathy Kallapos. Only Keith and Kathy were willing to brave the cold elements top-down as the MGAs of Butch & Judy, Larry & Dianna and Liz all arrived tops-up and prepared for the weather. Bill took the easy way out and drove the BGT and Bill & Kathy selected the modern British comforts of their TR6. Experiencing even more comfort were Steve & Nancy in their BMW Z3 with Ken & Joyce selecting American Iron for the day.
Kathy Kallapos reports:
It started as a cool autumn morning with partly cloudy skies ... will it rain? Do we put the top up? Keith votes no, the rest vote yes. We met at Diamonds and Rust in Aldie, Va., for coffee, donuts and "loo" privileges. An antique store on the bottom, healthcare recruiting firm up top. Interesting.
Our driving group consisted of Ken and Joyce Lawrence, Butch and Judy Smith, Bill and Kathy Wemhoff, Larry Newman and guest Diana, Bill Marshall, Liz Ten Eyck, Steve and Nancy Woodall and our leaders, Keith and Kathy Kallapos. At 10:30 on the dot, we pulled out of Aldie for a beautiful ride through Loudon County on newly paved back roads. Lime Kiln Road was a good start, twisting and turning with lovely autumn color.
On to Snickersville Turnpike with stone walls, split rail fences and the best of Virginia hunt country scenery. We drove through the quaint collection of "monts," Philomont, Airmont, and Bluemont each featuring its own general store. We passed Joyce Lawrence's birthplace. I wish we had known. We could have stopped for a group photo in front of her girlhood home. Keith drove with wild abandon (for him) over winding roads as we climbed the Blue Ridge Mountains and crossed the border into West Virginia.
Once over the Shenandoah River an immediate right turn onto Bloomery Road gave us a scenic view of the river and floodplain. A quick stop to stretch our legs provided the opportunity for a group photo by the river. Does anyone know of a potty near by?
Editor's note: The answer was NO!
Heading back towards civilization traffic thickened about 10 minutes from Charles Town but we managed to stay together as a group. We arrived at Charles Town Races right on time and went straight to the top of the garage for "semi private" parking away from the yahoos. Carl and Jean Josefson met us in the dining room as we were escorted to our window-side tables.
Sunday Brunch … yum yum. It was a grand assortment of breakfast, dinner, appetizers and desserts. Does anyone remember how many oysters Steve Woodall polished off? Post time at 1 p.m. sharp and the two Kathys won big in the first race.
20 cents on See Wildcat ... and 80 cents on "Old What's His Name," then it was all down hill as lady luck moved on. Resident high roller Butch Smith bet on every race and left a nice pile of confetti on the table instead of green backs lining his pockets. Liz was the big winner of the day; she actually studied the horses stats and walked away with ... $12!
Returning home, Keith in the lead had a "near miss" with a car turning directly into his path. Evasive action by both drivers avoided any contact. Bill Marshall witnessing from behind wondered if Keith or Kathy needed to change their underwear. Evidently it looked worse than it felt. Good defensive driving Keithy boy!
No mechanical difficulties plagued the As on this outing, nor did we have to stop and retrieve fallen parts from the other "British" vehicles on the drive. We pulled in to the garage as the sun set and the Mistress was put to bed before any rain arrived. It was a good day!
