The Drive to Lunch for September once again had our group heading north towards the Winchester area to take advantage of the wonderful MG roads to be enjoyed as we traversed through bits of Loudoun, Fauquier, Warren, Shenandoah and Frederick Counties towards our lunch destination of The Irish Isle restaurant and pub in Middletown.

Our meeting point was the British Pantry in Lenah where the MGA’s of Dick & Cheryl Farwell, Butch & Judy Smith and Bill & Karen Marshall were joined by the BMW (which we assume stands for British Motor Werkes)  Z3 of Steve & Nancy Woodall.  With dark clouds overhead and scattered showers forecasted, Steve and Nancy chose to keep their MGA, TC and P-type snug in the garage for this weekend’s drive. 

From the British Pantry, event planners Dick & Cheryl lead us through the Loudoun County hunt country towards Upperville where we turned onto Atoka Road to enjoy the scenery of Fauquier County as we made our way to the town of Marshall.  After encountering increasingly darkening clouds and moisture that went from a light mist to heavy sprinkles mixed with rain drops, the group pulled over to decide whether to continue tops-down or make the move to tops-up before we encountered a bout of serious rain.  In true MG fashion, the group determined this was going to be a top-down day and thumbed our collective noses at the storm clouds and continued our drive towards The Irish Isle via John Marshall Highway, taking us through portions of Warren County and Shenandoah County and into Frederick County.  Arriving in Middletown, we were joined by Winchester-area club members Bill & Martha Ludtke and Warren Arthur in his MGA.  The group enjoyed a visit to the Route 11 Potato Chips plant and watched as sweet potato chips were produced and munched on samples of the many varieties of chips the plant produces.   

Acknowledging the drive had worked up our appetites, we strolled a few doors down to The Irish Isle to dine on their Irish-American fare and partake of their on-draft selections.  Properly sated, we prepared to leave but were stopped by a gentleman admiring our British roadsters.  It turns out he is the original owner of a 1963 Austin Healey 3000 in the process of being restored and his late brother was an avid MGA owner and autocross racer. 

On the road again, we headed back towards our final destination of Reston Hospital Center to visit an ill Bill Ten Eyck being watched over by Liz - clicking off the towns of Stephens City, White Post, Boyce and Berryville along with our final county of the day – Clarke County.

As to be expected of a Dick Farwell-planned Drive to Lunch, the rain held off, good food, cold brew and comradeship was enjoyed - and miles of MG roads were traveled in true Safety Fast tradition