Day 1 The Crawl begins.

We decided at dinner last night that missing, and very much missed on this Pub Crawl are Bill and Ellen Kukuk, participants of the last two crawls.  Bill was stricken with an illness last year and is not able to drive.  So we want to dedicate this entire pub crawl to him.  Best wishes Bill and Ellen, we are thinking of you everyday. 

And, we have a Flat Bill and Flat Ellen who will travel with us and participate in many activities.

Wednesday morning July 9. 

The morning started out with the remnants of last nights storm and here is Judy B and Reg H wringing out the drying towels.  The Seneca Lodge management sent over piles of clean cotton towels for us to use to clean our cars.  Very thoughtful, they are.

The section of the lodge where many of the "Crawlers" are staying.

Andy (Mr. Fitness) Leo.

 

 A very nice German family, touring the USA were staying at the lodge last night.  Their very polite and intelligent children stopped by this morning to look at our cars.  Here is Lukas (11) and Sinah (9) testing my car out for fit. 

 

 



Pat Buckley is our official photographer and along with contributions of others is making this blog possible.  Thanks Pat.

Group meeting to prep for the day.

 

And our first group picture. 

 

This is a touring day for the Crawlers in Watkins Glen, NY, a small village at the southern end of Seneca Lake in the Finger lakes of New York state.  The town is most famous for being the home of the first sports car races in America after World War II.  They town leaders created a 6.6 mile course on public roads and village streets.   Permits were required from six government entities to close the roads for the event.  The course was used for races from 1948 through 1952, and the public can still drive the original course, though not at the speeds of the racers. 

Lining up.

 



 Stonebridge, a famous and dangerous turn on the original race course.

 

The race needed a permit from the New York Central to stop the trains because the course crossed the tracks, on this very rough crossing.   It is still rough.

Can you imagine going as fast as you can down Franklin Ave (the main street) with thousands of spectators crowding closely.  Driving the course is a true lesson in motor racing history.

 

 

A view of Seneca Lake from the east side of the lake.

 

We were told there are 64 winery's in the area... this is the one where we had lunch.

 

 

After lunch some of us went to the International Motor Racing Research Center by the Watkins Glen public library.  They have the most complete racing archives in the country and a fascinating display of racing memorabilia, along with a Donahue Indy race car.  We very much enjoyed the short movie about Racing at the Glen.  By the way, this non-profit research center is supported by donations and fund raisers, the latest of which is a raffle for a Fiat Abarth car and a trip to Italy.  Tickets are $40 ea, three for $100, and the drawing will be in October.  You can buy tickets at www.racingarchives.org or call the center at 607-535-9044. As they say: "Tutte le strade conducono a Roma ... in un Fiat!"  All roads lead to Rome .. in a Fiat.

 

 

Dinner tonight in downtown with WNYmog, our gracious host for this part of the Crawl.  Many thanks to Bill and Desi Benet.

 

Tomorrow, off early in the morning to Alexandria Bay, NY, at the eastern end of Lake Ontario.