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GO-KARTS, MEXICAN FOOD, & AN EVENING WITH GLADYS (cont.)
After parking Gladys and
covering her back up, I set up my tripod and snapped off about 30 or so pictures
of the sunset, and it would be an understatement to say that I was pleased with
the end results. We bid a final farewell to Gladys and to Aunt Kathy, thanking
her for her generosity in letting us spend an evening with Gladys.
Travis found his dream vehicle at Chuck’s Trucks in Orlando.
Tuesday was spent turning our semis around in preparation for our Wednesday departure, and messing around in Orlando. We paid a visit to Chuck’s Trucks, a fairly obscure and “off-the-beaten-path” fab/4wd shop with a killer reputation. The place (and Chuck) have become pretty well known for their “Trucks Gone Wild” series of DVD’s (of which they supplied us Vols. 2 & 3). It’s a pretty neat place to say the least, and Chuck was as nice of a guy as you could hope to meet. I look forward to catching one of their events the next time I’m down in Florida. For lunch we visited one of Florida’s oldest tourist attractions: The Citrus Tower. Apparently some sort of watchtower-type of facility that was used to keep an eye out for fires in the orange groves back in the day, the Citrus Tower features a small Mexican restaurant in the ground floor. We were once again met with decent food and mediocre service. Mexican place #2 – 6/10. That afternoon we settled on a go-kart facility to terrorize, a place called “Fun Spot” located right off I-Drive. Although none of the four tracks at “Fun Spot” featured particularly high-performance karts, I can assure you that the racing was elevated to a level that the staff of Fun Spot won’t see again any time soon. At one point we paired up and raced the two-seater karts, with one of us doing the steering and the other working the gas and brakes. Let’s just say that Dale and I were not at all afraid to let DW and Travis test out the integrity of the wall and their car’s front bumper.
Current HRC 2007 Tour Count = 2
Anyone who has been to a Hard Rock knows that they look cool during the day, but they come alive at night. I’m glad we ended up going at night instead of during the day, as the view was killer. CityWalk is essentially a long, curvy pond that is surrounded by a variety of theme bars, restaurants, and shops. In addition to the HRC, there was a Margaritaville, a NASCAR Café, an NBA Café, a Universal Studios Store, and so on. Upon entering the Hard Rock, we decided to go ahead and get dinner while we were there, which gave us a bit more time to explore the expansive and cavernous interior of the place. I’m convinced it would take a week to fully explore and enjoy the vast variety of photos, records, instruments, and artifacts that are stored there. If there is one thing that can be said about the Hard Rock Cafes, it is that the level of quality and craftsmanship in the design and décor of their restaurants is top-notch. They have clearly spared no expense. Oh, and yes, I did get some great pictures of Mr. Townshend’s guitar.
The plaque next to Pete’s guitar read as follows: “This Gibson Les Paul was smashed in concert by Pete Townshend at the Newcastle Odeon, November 7, 1973. Approximately 30mins into the show, it appears that Pete threw the guitar into the air as part of the stage act, but was unable to catch it on its descent and the guitar suffered some damage. Because of this, Pete proceeded to demolish the guitar to the point that you now see.”
At this point normal people would be worn out and ready to sleep for a couple of days, but we aren’t normal people. So after a short night of sleep, we got back after it Wednesday morning. We finished up our polishing duties, and then I took care of some email and paperwork that was in need of finishing. Just after lunch we handed back the keys to our Durango, and headed back towards I-75. Our next destination: Ocala, FL, home to the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing. A must-see for any drag racing fan (or race fans in general), Garlits’ museum features an impressive collection of incredibly historic and important drag racing vehicles and artifacts, in addition to a sizeable assortment of Garlits’ own personal Swamp Rat cars. We cruised through the museum over the course of three or four hours, but I’m quite sure that you could spend at least an entire day in there sifting through the raw history contained in the two buildings. From there, it was then time to head towards our next destination: Baldwin, GA.
Chances are you won’t have this photo op anytime soon.
Baldwin is home to the Hays Family Dealerships, the same family that puts on the huge Southeastern Mopar Meet each September at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce. Not only is the Hays family deeply rooted in selling Chrysler products, but their dealership is one of the largest Mopar Performance Parts retailers in the country. So naturally, having a pair of Raminator trucks at their annual community car show is a given. I ran the R/T for two days, while Mark Hall (who had driven down from IL to join us) and Dale Benear traded seat time over the course of three car crush performances that were held on Saturday. Friday night in Baldwin, we located the local Mexican restaurant, and it was met with mixed results. Apparently, Travis and Dale had ordered the “enchiladas rancheros” expecting some sort of ranch dressing or something to be covering their entrée. Such was not the case, and they quickly confirmed that the brown sauce smothering their precious supper tasted like…well…not very good. I found much better success with mine (perhaps because I know what I’m ordering). Mexican place #3 – 7/10.
Dale starting off Saturday with a car crush.
We departed Baldwin Saturday evening after a very long (and muddy) (and dusty) day of rides and car crushes. Despite all the fun we had been having, I think it is safe to say that we are all eager to get home. The prospect of sleeping in our own beds was a very enticing one, so needless to say we didn’t waste much time in our trip back home. Some days you enjoy watching the scenery as you drive by the highway, and others you just keep the door shut and the hammer down.
- KD Email KD and let him know what you thought!!
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