Day 2: Fast and Furious

Day 2 found us moving up the eastern Florida coast from Ft. Lauderdale to Orlando. A leisurely   188-mile drive with six cars and our support vehicle, a 2016 Ford F-350 pulling a 36 ft trailer. Other than the usual I-95 weekday traffic it was a ho-hummer, except the El Camino seemed to struggle at highway speed with my pedal nearly to the floor and burp a backfire or two through the carburetor every so often in protest. When we made a stop, I reported the struggle to my partner Bill Hall and astutely asked why I was carrying 350 lbs of sandbags (for our displays) in the bed of my truck. I didn’t have a good answer so we moved the bags to the support truck trailer and it made a measurable difference in the El Camino’s performance.

Back on the pavement, we cruised up the road until Dave in the support truck reported a vibration that within an hour had been diagnosed as a catastrophic bearing failure in the front wheel. Off to the nearest dealership went Dave and the truck and trailer and we kept ambling north for a video shoot on the coast of A-1-A near Honest John’s Fish Camp that has been in business since 1888 (or at least that’s what Honest John says).

Keith and Tabetha working on the 1962 Travelette

About that time we stopped at a gas station to check the 1962 International Travelette, which was having electrical problems and driver Tabetha decided to just run it from the battery and bypass the generator. At about that point someone looked up and noticed a pickup had driven off with a gas hose stuck in its side so Keith reported to the attendants that pump No. 10 seemed to have a bit of a problem and was leaking gas. While they were deciding if they should get a bucket to catch the gas under the pump we got back on the road for Orlando. But not too much later the side rear window on the Cadillac came loose and dropped into the quarter panel, leaving Diane, Kip and Michael a chilly ride the rest of the way. Not to be outdone, Keith soon reported some noise in the Chrysler he suspects could be loose flywheel bolts (more on that when fully diagnosed in the next day or so…).

Needless to say we were all ready to arrive at the famed Ace Café in Orlando. If you don’t know the history and provenance of the Ace Café, it’s something worth looking into. Owner Mark Mckee created a terrific event for us and as it happened George Tsuchnikas, a Londoner, and one of the partners that started Ace was there as well. He shared the fascinating history of the Ace Café, why it’s a unique concept and why he gets weekly calls from all over the world from entrepreneurs wanting to open new ones.    

From left: Keith, George Tsuchnikas, and David

As if all that weren’t enough fun for one day, the State Farm Good Neighbor Crew showed up to provide giveaways to the several hundred attendees who came to see the cars and enjoy Ace food and beverages.

But the real highlight for me was connecting with fellow State Farmers -- Agents Gary Merideth (and his wife Vivian), Matt Balady, and Manny Acosta as well as Agency Administration Leader Jim Williamson. The six of us had a great dinner discussing family, Gary’s Corvairs and Porsches and Matt and Manny’s new State Farm agencies.

From left, Agent Matt Balady, Rock, Agent Gary Merideth and wife Vivian, Agency Administration Leader Jim Williamson, and Agent Manny Acosta

All in all a Fast and Furious trip to Orlando. But wait, there’s more: The good news is that Dave got the truck fixed in Vero Beach and rolled into the Ace Café by about 7 p.m. Even better, we were really glad he showed up because he has all our luggage in the trailer…

Back to Ace in the a.m. for Cars and Coffee and then on to Tallahassee where we hear the snow has melted but the chill is still very much in the Florida air!