East Meets Midwest at Watkins Glen?

[racemor]

670 miles and 11 hours from Charlotte... hmmmm... Better than driving to Sonoma I guess.

[Jim Garfield]

Hey Tom, come on, it would be a nice drive. And bring "they that cannot be spoken of" too. How was your trip to the Lit. Show?

[Paul Schooley]

Well guys, we should begin by hitting the S General Forum and putting out an email to all RGruppe members to get a headcount so we know what we'll be looking at for folks attending. We're gonna need that to negociate a room block reservation (veeeeerrrrry important...just ask the RGruppe West members about how to make that happen) AND a safe parking area. Let us not forget the third most important part of the trip as well...the food arrangements. Yes, the cars and the cartalk/over/beer/wine/whiskey come first and second as most could attest to.

An email to bag some free advertising in Esses wouldn't hurt either. There's no doubt a contingent from the left coast that might show an interest in coming as well.

I know my wife won't be able to come, so what's the game plan gonna be for this??? All guys and cars? Those that are bringing sig. others should be planning some stuff for them as well in case we bore them with our, uh, you know....911 drivel.

I'll do a search on hotels, motels, food and most importantly a trip to the library will be in order I would think. We're gonna need a couple guys to collaborate on this if there's enough interest to make it happen.

[John Fusco]

I'm in .
What can I do from here ?
Any of you R Gruppe guys want to give us a list ?

John

[CurtEgerer]

Paul - Count me in. But I'm up to my neck organizing the Midwest trip to Sonoma right now so I can't be of much help until after that. It's starting to sound like this could turn into a good size event. Like Don said, with Porsche as the featured marque this could be a great weekend.

John - I can forward any information on this event to the MidWest R Gruppe guys via eMail. IN fact, I've already mentioned it to several of them.

[Paul Schooley]

I believe Bob Tilton has a good broadcast for his email setup.

[Paul Schooley]

http://www.schuylerny.com/businessdirectory.asp?ID=699 for lodging

http://www.schuylerny.com/businessdirectory.asp?ID=666 for dining

http://www.schuylerny.com/businessdirectory.asp?ID=676 for winery/restaraunts

http://schuylerny.com/businessDirectory.asp?ID=679 for banquets

Note that almost all of them have one form or another for lodging.

[Paul Schooley]

This is an email I received from the organizer of Tracquest who runs a program at Watkins Glen annually:

Hi Paul:

If you want nice, stay at the Longhouse Lodge and Motel, which I used as my
lodging headquarters for TracQuest events. The motel rooms are just ok, but
the rooms in the Manor and the Cottage are awesome. There are probably only 10 of the nice ones, but I've found that many would rather spend less and stay in a normal motel room. The number is (607) 535-2565. Talk to Jim or Mary, the owners, and tell them I sent you.

As far as food goes, the two best restaurants in the area by far are the
Stonecat Café and the Bistro at Red Newt Cellars, where I did my pre-event
dinners and banquets. Both are on Route 414 on the other side of the lake,
10-15 miles from the town of Watkins Glen. Talk to Jessica Signori (manager
and wife of the chef/owner) at Stonecat (607-546-5000) and Debbie Whiting
(manager and wife of chef/owner Scott) at Red Newt (607-546-4100).

[Jim Garfield]

Well, I tried to see if we could reserve 15 rooms at the Falls Motel and they are already completely booked for that weekend. I tried the Seneca Lodge also and keep getting a voice message, I have a feeling that they are closed for the winter. They suggest sending a reservation request by mail to their PO box.

I have a feeling that a lot of people book the same room every year for the Vintage weekend, and do it a year in advance.

Let me know if I can help with anything.

[CurtEgerer]

Hmmm .... I'm afraid you're right Jim. Same people booking the same lodging year after year. We need to find somebody who's a regular at Watkins Glen to give us some inside tips.