Date:  May 20-22, 2005

Location:  Harper's Ferry, WV

Host:  Suffredini

The DVC’s annual spring tour for 2005 took place on the weekend of May 20th – 22nd.  We all met at the Gateway Shopping Center on RT 202 just south of King Of Prussia Mall.  It was a strange sight in the parking lot as ten MG’s of various models and colors all had their tops up and were covered with liquid sunshine.  We left the parking lot, preceded down RT. 202 south and onto RT. 30 West with the CB radios crackling with directions and rain jokes.  On picturesque secondary roads we motored into Chester County, then on into the rolling hills of Maryland horse country, skirting around Baltimore and Washington DC with rain coming in torrents and leaking through our windscreens and side curtains.  Onward the brave and wet DVC’ers and their MG’s traveled, briefly through Virginia and finally into West Virginia and our destination, Harpers Ferry.  What’s this, the sun is out and the sky is blue.  Check in was painless (and toothless!) so we did what all DVC’ers do – break out the snacks and beer and celebrate our safe arrival.  Diner was a short walk up an unforgiving hill to a wonderful inn.  Great food and even better conversation between DVC’ers made for a memorable evening.

 Saturday dawned bright and sunny.  We had the morning to meander around exploring Harpers Ferry on our own.  Some walked and some drove into town center. The town is a great weekend destination.  Lots of historic sites to see, even more antique shops and wonderful little eateries that serve reasonable lunches.  At 1 PM, tour organizers Dick and Sandy Suffredini led us on a terrific rallye on some fantastic back roads complete with a ferry crossing and finally winding up at a pair of wineries.  One of the wineries was a “pour your own” and believe me, we did!  Our trip back to the motel was a repeat performance of great MG roads, lively CB conversation and beautiful scenery.  We got back in time for either a quick nap or viewing the Preakness.  Our dinner destination for Saturday night took us on another wonderful drive through small towns and villages to a German restaurant with German beer.  We were broken into small groups of four or five which made for conversation on a more personal level.  The drive back to our motel was under starry skies with a full moon.  Some of us weathered on in the motel’s lobby till the wee hours of the night.

Sunday was another perfect sunny day.  Luggage stowed away, oil added to the engine, ignition on, CB’s on and then our hardy band of ten MG’s are off on a rallye over to Antietum battlefield.  Once again - great roads and beautiful scenery.  The battlefield site is laid out with placards every couple of hundred feet so that you really can get a sense of the bloodiest single day battle of the Civil War (War of Northern Aggression for you Southerners).  Our ride toward home was a leisurely meander back to DVC land.  By then, all of us had become used to Dick and Sandy leading and Lew Phillips anchoring with the rest of filling in randomly.  DVC’ers attending were Roy & Sue Dougherty (MGB), Wolfgang & Gudie Fisher (MGBGT), Chuck & Judy Goelz (MGA), Joe & Sharon Lamando (MGB), Jim Finne & Marianne McGarrity (TD), Lee & Liz Niner (TD), Ben & Cyndi Nolan (TD), Lew Phillips (MGB), David & Gloria Schwab (MGB) and our spring tour leaders Dick & Sandy Suffredini (TD).  DVC’ers who had previously signed up but had to cancel at the last minute were Barre & Eleanor Williams (hope you’re better now Eleanor!) and Tom & Jaimee Rippert (jet lag from England!).  The really nice part of a DVC weekend trip is  getting to know other members.  Whether it be at breakfast, lunch, dinner, the parking lot, CB chatting or sightseeing, striking up conversations is a pleasant way to get to know your traveling companions.  This trip was most memorable for me because Liz & I got to see and talk to some members that were new or that we hadn’t seen since last year.  Another memory (and you had to be there) was our caravan on those back country roads complete with the sharp turns and twists that really get your adrelin going and make you realize what MG’s were designed to do and way they were so popular. 

Kudos and accolades go to Dick & Sandy for taking DVC long weekend trips to the next level.  Our trip packets which had directions, maps, participant cell phone numbers and brochures were complete and accurate.  Our planned stops were done so that both DVC’ers and their cars could go & gas at the same time!  The routes were on secondary roads and made the trip to and from Harpers Ferry as enjoyable as our destination.    Thanks for all your efforts.