Friday: The plan to meet at the San Martin Airport was a
bad idea but we made the best of it by gathering instead in the parking lot of an aviation business located near the freeway.
What a nice surprise for the company’s employees to glance out the window and see all the old cars! Lunch was memorable
at Margie’s Diner in King City, with a private room and excellent food. The weather turned very nice for the rest of
the ride and we arrived at the hotel with a flourish. The hospitality room was opened by the Bricks with assistance from the
Drees, and the party got started. Dinner that night was on our own and people scattered out to various eateries. My group
went downtown to a local fish restaurant and the perfect parking space had Dave Ricci’s name on it, directly in front
of the entrance. Another excellent meal was consumed and, after a final libation in the hospitality suite, we were ready to
call it a night.
Saturday: Off to a late start but just in time to catch Patti and
head downtown again to find breakfast and check out the Harbor Festival. Incredibly, we immediately found another perfect
parking space right in front of this restaurant, too. What great parking karma for Ricci’s 61 Cadillac! Remember, there
is a festival going on and the streets are packed with people in smaller cars looking to park somewhere. We found some great
shopping opportunities within a 2 block radius of our parking spot and had plenty of room in the trunk for our purchases.
Although we heard of a wonderful display of vintage Woodies a few blocks further away, we didn’t have time to see them
… had to return for our own “car show”. While we waited for the hotel employees to judge the cars, we hung
out in the hospitality room and took turns wearing the tall black witch’s hat that veteran shopper Miki Smith bought
because it was so irresistible and holiday appropriate!
Later at the banquet, we dined in an intimate room perfect for
the 30+ members that enjoyed our Santa Maria Buffet. Board members were introduced and Rob Leonard announced himself as the
new interim director of SoCal Region. Rob said some very gracious things in appreciation of the help given by NorCal members
at the Grand National. Some nice door prizes (or at least I thought so) were raffled off and awards presented to our car show
winners. Kudos to Jerry Brick for the cutest awards ever seen at a N/S Meet! And the winners …
TA-DA … Jerry Brick’s all original ’41 was best
pre-war; So-Cal member Dan Fisher’s just restored ’49 was best post-war; and Joe McDonald’s ’49 was
the judges favorite. Huge congratulations to all of you!
Afterwards, many gathered in the hospitality room for a farewell
nightcap.
Too soon, as usual, it was all over and on Sunday morning everyone
departed for home. Since we didn’t leave our room (again) until 11AM, all were long gone and we drove home alone in
modern iron at much greater speeds than the 60mph we observed on the way down (yet it still took longer to get home).
Some of our dear friends were absent this year and we missed them
very much … just not the same without those familiar faces but we hope they can make it next year. There are dozens
of pictures posted below. Many thanks to those who helped pull this meet together and a special thanks to the Bricks
for cheerfully sharing their room until all hours.
Sandy Carrion
