Goodwood Revival and Queen Mary 2

In early September, we were off again for England.  This time it was the annual Goodwood Revival auto and aircraft show.  This differs from the Festival of Speed in two major ways.  First, this one is at a race track and the historic automobiles aren't just making time trials, they're racing.  Second, a  large number of people arrive in period dress from the 40's, 50's and 60's.  It can be quite a step back in time.

The trip started off on an interesting note.  We had checked in for our 8:30 p.m. flight on Aer Lingus at 8:00 a.m.  Boarding passes in hand, we arrived at the airport at 4:30.  When we approached the check-in counter, the first words out of the clerk's mouth were (and we quote)  "your flight has not been delayed, it has not been canceled, it has been re-timed.  The luggage check-in will open at 8:30 tomorrow morning".  WHAT????  The plane wasn't leaving until 12:30 p.m. the next day!  Look, "re-timed" doesn't cut it.  That's called a d-e-l-a-y.  Big time.  The people in line were having none of it, and within a few minutes Aer Lingus gave up their attempt at avoiding the hotel vouchers and started handing them out. 

At this point, we asked what about our connection in Dublin.  They had no answer to that.  Call this 800 number.  Useless boarding passes and hotel voucher in hand, we now called the 800 number.  Finally, sanity.  This person said oh heck no you're not going on that delayed flight and arrive in Dublin at one o'clock in the morning and wait until who knows when for a connection to Gatwick how about we rebook you on American Airlines to Heathrow instead?  Well, OK, let's do that, and we'd figure out how to get from Heathrow to Gatwick.  Must be a bus.

Checked in with American, got upgraded to Economy Plus (where the wine was free), flew to Heathrow, yes, there's a bus, and we arrived at Gatwick two hours earlier than planned.  Now that's retiming.  OK, so what happened next was just more of the same.  We were staying overnight at the Bloc Hotel at Gatwick.  It's right on the airport and the gimmick is the computer-controlled room.  Everything's operated from an iPad installed in the wall.  That's great until the system fails.  Which it did.  We had to go out into the hall and call reception to have them turn on the air conditioning and lower the window shade.  OK, fine, but then the air shut off and the window shade went up at 6:00 a.m.  At least the water was hot and they bought us breakfast for our trouble.  What else can happen, you might ask?  Oh, you'll find out...

So, now, off to Goodwood.   Saturday wasn't quite as rainy.  More about the rain later.  It was a good day to walk the track and look into the pits.

Period-perfect architecture:

And we watched the first session of the most fun race of the weekend, the St. Mary's Cup:

And airplanes!  Here's Red Bull's Lockheed P38L in action:

Here's what else can happen.  It's about the rain.  Southern England had an abnormally large amount.  The spectator areas were mostly covered with mud.  We felt sorry for those folks who put a lot of work into the period dress...Wellies and poodle skirts don't work well together.  The buses, so they would not be stuck in the mud, were put into a paved parking area about 10 minutes away.  Goodwood would run a shuttle from the front gate to the buses.  Trouble was, they needed more shuttles.  The shuttle line backed up, it started raining, it was a long wait, a fight broke out, and the security people gave up and walked away.  We had gone back to the bus about an hour early.  Everyone else showed up about two hours late.

Second day, more racing, more airplanes, and more rain. 

The winner!!

Behind the wheel of this NASCAR-themed T-Bird is "Tommy Lee Kristensen".  Really, Tom Kristensen who holds the record for the most wins at the 24 Hours of LeMans.  Nine wins, six of them consecutive.

Beautiful vintage airplanes:

The shuttle situation was marginally better.  Marginally.

We spent a couple of days in Portsmouth, shopping, eating fish and chips and pies, doing laundry and walking around, then moved to Southampton to catch the Queen Mary 2 to New York.  The crossing started with a stop at Le Havre, France, where we were saluted by the fire boats spraying water.  We started out on a great crossing.  Captain Peter Philpott (could the name be any better?) announced fair sailing each day.

The main restaurant:

Until we encountered the remnants of Tropical Storm Jose.  Jose was still in pretty good form and our last 36 hours were spent in 80 mph winds and 25 foot seas.  Captain Peter Philpott pointed out that QM2 is not a cruise ship, but an ocean liner, and she's built to take the weather.  Good thing, because we were on the very top deck (we're talking 13 stories here) and the spray was hitting our balcony.  The wind was so high and the sea so rough that our sliding glass door came unlocked and slid open in the middle of the night.  The view of the storm from our stateroom was interesting, but when you went down to the restaurant on deck 3, it was a sight to behold.  Most folks, including Mercury here, held up pretty well, but the crowd thinned out as quite a few retired to their rooms, seasick.

Arrived New York, and had an uneventful flight home.

Road America 2017

We missed the IndyCar race at Road America this year since we were in merry old England at the time.  In July, we did drive over to Newton, Iowa for the IndyCar Iowa Corn 300.  It was so darn hot at the speedway that we didn't even carry the cameras.  We just hid in the shade until the race started and then sprinted for the car when it was over.  Didn't even stay to see Helio Castroneves climb the fence. 

But August found us at Road America again for the IMSA WeatherTech sports car race.  As always, the weekend started with fish fry at our favorite "fine dining" venue, the Harborside.  Oh, OK, they've taken the fine dining story off their website and admitted that it's casual.  The beer's still cold and the food's still good!  We had our favorite room at the hotel, the two-room suite with a view of the lake and room to roam.

We've put plenty of photos of cars racing at Road America on here, so this time we take a different look at race day.

The garages:

The autograph session:

The driver interview:

The Office:

Of course, no trip to Road America would be complete without a stop at the outlet mall at Pleasant Prairie.  For more on IMSA:  https://sportscarchampionship.imsa.com/    For more on Road America:  www.roadamerica.com 

Goodwood Festival of Speed 2017

For gearheads, Goodwood needs little explanation whether they've been there or not.  For non-gearheads, here's the poop.  The Goodwood Festival of Speed was founded in 1993 by Lord March in order to bring motor racing back to the Goodwood estate — a location steeped in British motor racing history. Shortly after taking over the estate in the early 1990s, Lord March wanted to bring back motor racing to Goodwood Circuit, but did not have the necessary permit to host a race there. Therefore, he instead hosted it on his own grounds. With a small selection of entrants made up of invited historic vehicles, the first event that took place proved to be a success, taking in a crowd of 25,000 despite a date clash with the 24 Hours of Le Mans that year. After the first event's date clash, Lord March would ensure that the event would never be allowed to clash with either Le Mans or Formula One races.  Each year, a representative sculpture is placed on the lawn of the House.  This year, Bernie Ecclestone (who, in his eighties, has recently "retired" as the head of Formula 1 racing...we doubt that his retirement was voluntary) was the focus, and Formula 1 cars took the place of honor:

Mostly what you hear about at the FOS is the hill climb.  This is just what it says:  a fast run up the hill from the House to the Rally area.  Cars compete in classes that include everything from early 20th century race cars to the latest models of super cars.

Getting ready to climb.  Older F1 cars...

 and F1 World Champion Nico Rosberg, in a 2014 Mercedes F1:

Climbing:

Now here's Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, driving his Ferrari 250 GTO.  The car competed at LeMans in the early 60's and is valued in excess of $40,000,000.

But there's so much more!  The whole event was more than we ever expected!  In addition to watching the hill climb, one can wander through all the garages, attend the Cartier Style et Luxe concourse, and take a hayride behind a tractor to the top of the hill to watch historic cars take to the rally stage.  From there, walk downhill and pass a off-roading venue (with rides for the fans), a motocross area, an area dedicated to drifting, and loads of vendors selling everything from antiques to ice cream.  It's a steady stream of automotive entertainment and we couldn't see how anyone could get bored.

Another pastime at the FOS is looking for automotive celebrities.  Here's who we found wandering among us.

British racing legend Brian Redman:

Formula 1 hero Rene Arnoux:

The Wee Scot (Sir Jackie Stewart):

Former Ferrari team boss (during the Schumacher years) and now FIA honcho Jean Todt, taking a very French look at an auto on the concourse:

CART and IndyCar champ Dario Franchitti:

Imo!  Emerson Fittipaldi:

And who the heck are these guys?

If we'd spent more time around the House, we'd have also found Bernie Ecclestone, Flavio Briattore, Chase Carey, Nico Rosberg, Luca Montezemolo, etc. etc. Remember Brendon Hartley, one of the winning drivers at LeMans?  And the Jackie Chan guys in the P2 cars?  There were all out there climbing the hill!

Up close around the garages:

A crowd favorite was a one-of-a-kind that's too good to miss.  It's called the Beast of Turin, and it achieved 116 mph in 1911.  We should have taken a video of this, but we were too busy laughing at this thing living up to its name, roaring and belching fire.   It's a good thing, because this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsdWgmp4TaQ

is much better than we could have done.  In the video, the car actually does the hill climb and finally parks on the circular drive in front of the House at Goodwood.  

Oh, did we forget to mention the airshows?  The Red Arrows:

And finally, the concourse:

So, obviously, we were thrilled.  So much so that we're going back to Goodwood this year for the second annual event, the Revival.  And we can hardly wait.

Edinburgh Part 2: Yacht and Castle

"Yacht and Castle".  Sounds like a pub.  Let's nip across for a swift half!

Really, we're talking about the Royal Yacht Britannia, in Her Majesty's service from 1954 until 1997.  She was the 83rd such vessel since King Charles II acceded to the throne in 1660, and is the second royal yacht to bear the name, the first being the racing cutter built for the Prince of Wales in 1893. During her 43-year career, the yacht traveled more than a million nautical miles around the globe. Now retired from royal service, Britannia is open to visitors and is permanently berthed at Ocean Terminal, Leith, in Edinburgh.

It's a trip through history, since the interior of the yacht was maintained in original condition through the years, and not really modernized.  For example, look at the Queen's phone:

And Her Majesty's bedroom:

The dining room was set and ready for service (there is a restaurant onboard now, so the kitchen's good to go):

Our last stop on the "must see" tour was the Edinburgh Castle, up on the hill at the top of the High Street (which, if you go downhill, leads back to Holyrood House).  There has been a royal castle on the rock since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century, and the site continued to be a royal residence until 1633. From the 15th century the castle's residential role declined, and by the 17th century it was principally used as military barracks with a large garrison.  As one of the most important strongholds in the Kingdom of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle was involved in many historical conflicts from the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century to the Jacobite Rising of 1745. Research undertaken in 2014 identified 26 sieges in its 1100-year-old history, giving it a claim to having been "the most besieged place in Great Britain and one of the most attacked in the world".

One thing is for certain.  It's got a commanding view of the city.

The cannon are still there, just in case.

Detail from around the grounds, including a very royal downspout:

Inside the Royal rooms:

And the great hall is ready for the garrisons:

There are lots of souvenir shops on the High Street where one can get hold of kilts, whiskey, bagpipes, tartans, and all things Scottish.  We wound up with two tweed hats for Gordon and a thistle-themed necklace and earrings for Pati.  Overall, visiting Edinburgh was a very happy accident!  Good news is, we'll be back next year.  Twice.  More on that later...