Hello everyone! It's been a busy day even though I had the day off - I can't imagine those of you that had to be at work today. I have so many pictures to sort through (thanks to gmp, nicholas j, and others) that it may take a little longer than I thought to post some pictures up. I will try and have them up as soon as I can. I wanted to chime in on what I thought of the drive...
I think it's pretty safe to assume that this trip met, and in most cases EXCEEDED everybody's expectations (including my own).
We were very lucky to have such wonderful weather that served as an ideal complement to our planned itinerary. Our suites were extremely spacious and comfortable and as the Rennteam community will see when the pictures go up, the Montauk Manor did a tremendous job accomodating all of us -- how cool was the Porsche exclusive parking?!
Some thoughts...
The food, as expected, was excellent - especially those of you that ordered the seared foie gras or lobster at East Hampton point... or the shrimp at Gosman's...
The Wolffer Estate wine tasting featured some average/above-average wine but apparently it was good enough to cause more than half of us to buy bottles to bring home!
More importantly though, it was the perfect event for everyone to truly get to know each other better.
Doug deserves special mention for his localized tour of the great mansions of the Hamptons - I hope you'll be out there with us longer next time!
How can I forget to mention Mindy and Mark, Rennlisters that joined us (a new Rennteam member, FYI -- mindyopp)? The amazing roads we drove and routes we took can be largely attributed to her recommendations. Without her input, the "drive" in Summer Drive would probably have been 50% less fun. We took the extremely LONG WAY to each of our destinations, but those roads + Porsche = driving nirvana.
Speaking of apologies - I would like to apologize for a few things. The most glaring misstep was a little botch-up of our reservations on Sunday for lunch on Shelter Island. Gladly, we improvised and found a quaint lunch spot instead that would probably be just as good as Sunset Beach. Second, I'm sorry for those of you that were briefly exposed to unnecessary drama/the ex-girlfriend propaganda machine
(especially you Capo...can you pro-rate and bill me your gas consumption for tha extra 100lbs you fit in your back seat?
) Third, I am sorry for putting so many miles on your cars - a problem for you leasers and low-mileage car sellers....and lastly, sorry about the weather on Friday evening with the rain shower
Like a sports car's performance is determined by the skill of its driver, this trip's success was determined by the quality and character of its people. Planning such an event has taken months. Although, I took many factors into account there was one I could not research or plan for - and that was our group's chemistry. I have never been in the company of such truly kind, knowledgeable and respectful people. We may have come from different backgrounds, contribute to society in many different ways, and believe in varying ideals and philosophies -- but our passion for Porsche and the people that adore them kept us in the same frame of mind.
I'm sure most of you can still smell the sea, taste the wine, feel the breeze, and hear the boxer-6 engine redline on the road. It was the first massively organized Rennteam event on the East Coast and by the looks of it, far from the last. I received many thanks and gestures of gratitude this past weekend, but I am saving the most important one for last.
Thank you all for making this trip the best it could be. I will not hesitate to travel with any of you on any drive in the future. The trip's strength was in its people, and lucky for me, I had the best group one could ask for.
Here's to Hamptons 2006, and looking forward to Hamptons 2007.
Best Regards,
AJ
PS - Pictures coming soon
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