Folks,
@Imperialist67 and I will be driving
two C-bodies (likely Medina, my 1971 Monaco and Ming, my 1973 NYB) Buttercup, my 1972 NYB, from DC (Windom Pl. NW, next to the Van Ness metro station) to visit
@73MFImperial in McLean, VA and then drive with him, his wife, and their gorgeous 1973 Imperial on to the
Old House Vineyard in Culpeper, VA for lunch (and wine in moderation) and a chat outside. I have talked to
@Analog Kid and
@Imps Rule and have good hope that at least one of them (and perhaps both) will be able to join us, too.
As usual with the runs that I co-organize (cue the
Links Bridge Run,
Creamery Run and the
Potomac Run in the mid-Atlantic, or the annual
CATL drives in the Midwest), driving big Mopars on small scenic roads is the plan!
I am posting this thread so that others can join us. I know that
@1970FuryConv unfortunately cannot partake in the fun this time, but I hope that others will be able to do so. As always, if the whole trip is too long, feel free to join for just a part of the drive or even just for a meeting. At the winery, we will make reservations for 6+ folks and the owners know that we may be even more numerous.
The date is
Nov. 15 from 10AM-4PM. The weather for that Saturday is supposed to be nice, 66F at lunch time in Culpeper with little chance of rain:
View attachment 742469
--> Here is a
synopsis of the run (
clickable map; the link will be removed after the drive):
View attachment 742504
--> And here are some details:
1. 9:50 to 10 AM: Meeting time! @Imperialist67 and I park in front of UPS on Windom Pl. NW in DC (technically, 4401a Connecticut Ave. NW). I chose this spot because there is very little traffic on that section of Windom Pl. and it is very wide -- so we can park/turn a few C-bodies easily there.
View attachment 742505
2. 10AM: Departure! We all leave Windom Place and head to McLean, VA to meet up with
@73MFImperial -- whom we should reach around 10:30AM. To get to McLean, we will start by turning left on Connecticut Ave. NW and then making a right on Van Ness St. NW (see map above). We take Van Ness all the way to Nebraska Ave. NW, turn left at that light, and drive on Nebraska all the way to Arizona Ave. NW. We make a left at Arizona, and drive AZ all the way down to Canal Road. We turn right on Canal, make a left at the first light to cross the Chain Bridge, and make a right at the end of the bridge onto VA-123 -- which takes us to McLean (see map below).
View attachment 742507
3. 10:30 to 10:45 AM: meet up with @73MFImperial ! After shooting the breeze with Mike and Darlene, we head to the winery. We take VA-123 to the Beltway (I-495) and soon after get onto I-66. I am usually a fan of smaller roads, but
@73MFImperial convinced me that I-66 is much better (because suburbia at that time on a Saturday is full of traffic and stops). He's right of course, so I-66 to the Sheetz station it is:
View attachment 742508
4. 11:15 to 11:30AM: Stopover at Sheetz in Gainesville, VA: We get off I-66 at the intersection with Lee Highway (VA-29 / VA-15). Before getting onto VA-29, we make a stop at the Sheetz station to get gas and (hopefully) meet up with some other FCBO members.
View attachment 742509
5. Gainesville to Culpeper: we leave the Sheetz station and head to the winery. The directions are simple: get onto Lee Highway (VA-29), which becomes VA-15 around New Baltimore, and continue on VA-15 till Culpeper.
View attachment 742515
We will drive on VA-15 till VA-666 (next major exit after crossing VA-762). From 15, we turn left onto 666 after taking the off-ramp. We make a right onto Corky's Lane -- a gravel road that leads to the winery and the Green Ribbon restaurant attached to it. The parking lot is good sized, so we could park together. To do so, we would turn right when reach it vs. going towards (left) the building (Pub/Winery).
Note: Again entire way on Corkys Lane is 20-15 Mph and a gravel driveway.
View attachment 742512
View attachment 742514
5. 12:30PM: Lunch! We should reach the vineyard around 12:30PM.
@73MFImperial has been there before, he and his better half can vouch for wonderful setting and folks. There is
ample parking for our cars on the lawn.
6. 2:30PM: return home...
It'll be wonderful if others in the area / near the route can join us. With apologies to those whom I am unwittingly forgetting, I am paging in particular local members
@Newport Man in MD, and
@kowalski1970 @Jim 68cuda @Copper1982 @hootothecore @68NewportDDD @Badvert65 @jmustian @Dillon @Julesva5 @mopars4life @ravenscat @The Rum Cove @MonacoBlue and others in VA or near our planned route.
In total, we will be out for two hours of driving together (plus driving time to/from Glen Echo) and probably close to 6-7 hours in total. Folks who cannot join for the whole run can easily join at the 2 stopping points: Sheetz in Gainesville (11:15-11:30AM) and Old House Vineyard (12:30-2PM).
