2014 was the California Roadster's (CR) turn to plan and host our annual Central Coast Roadster Run with our roadster friends in the Bay Area Roadsters (BAR). We meet annually, toward the end of May, within the beautiful coastal town of San Luis Obispo (SLO), for a long weekend doing all things roadster.  I think this was a record run for attendance by both clubs, with 35 CRs and 49 BARs for a total of about 44 roadsters and about 90 people, including several guests from each club.

We reserved all the rooms at the Peachtree Inn, our favorite motor court along Monterey Street, just south of Highway 1.  This is an older, single-story motel, where you can actually park just outside your room and do a little detailing and/or bench racing with your neighbors.  It is owned by our friends Sandy and Hitch Hitchcock, who welcome us back every year and let us have the run of their facility.

We began the long weekend with two groups of CRs departing So Cal from North and South OC locations, with a slow, bumper to bumper drive through LA County, and rendezvous for lunch at the Padero Beach Cafe.  This is one of our favorite spots on a bluff overlooking the Pacific, and has pretty good burgers.  Both groups arrive about noon, and have a leisurely lunch before heading onto SLO.

After lunch, we gassed up and took off for the balance of day's run up the coast, which is about 2.5 hour drive northerly along Highway 101.  Arriving at the Peachtree Inn, seems like coming home, since we've been making this trip since the early 1990's.  The first order of business was checking in, but our President Tom Schauppner had already arranged with the manager for individual room assignments, with keys in the room. 

Welcome Thursday is always informal, getting to see old BAR friends again after a long winter of non-events.  The next thing was to assist Bajajon Kennedy in setting up the deck bar, because the BAR guys/gals were rolling in and needed a cool one.  Bajajon and Dick Roseberry took off in his woodie to stock the bar, and were gone for a long time, making Tom Schauppner upset because patrons were lining up for a cocktail.  We texted them, and Dick said they had stopped for a drink, and were schmoozing with a good looking barmaid, which set Tom off like a roman candle. They actually had to go to three different stores to get all the supplies needed and were on their way back, and pulled into the parking lot as Tom was steaming.

Dinner was open the first night with most taking the trolley downtown for the Thursday night street fair and some local BBQ.  There are lots of choices, from street food to nice sit down restaurants.  Some of our favorites are BBQ, turkey legs and roasted corn on the cob.

Friday was our first organized roadster run, and we had prearranged wine tasting and a lunch at Carmody/McKnight Estate Wines, a quaint winery, in the southerly portion of Paso Robles.  This was originally a very large 320 acre holding, but Carmody sold off 160 acres to neighboring Justin Winery, for construction of their very fine facility.  The winery is owned by a couple, who have been making fine wines for over thirty years.  Gary Carmody, or Gary Cole, his stage name, is a former actor, who starred in Burke's Law and other TV series and movies, and his wife is a former Miss America.  Gary is also an accomplished artist and paints all the labels for his wines and sells his art in the tasting room. 

Carmody/McKnight's premium wine is Cadenza, a meritage blend of  cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franz and sells for about $30 per bottle, which Gary discounted down to $24 for our visit.  This is the same blend as Justin's wine known as Isosceles which commands a premium of $100 per bottle.  I've tasted both and they are very similar, which is not surprising since they are adjacent wineries, use the same grapes and  Justin copied Carmody/McKnight's blend.  We had an extending tasting session and then a nice sit down, catered lunch on a grassy area with shade trees. The afternoon was free to visit the other wineries in the area, and/or explore old downtown Paso.

That afternoon, back at Peachtree Inn, the deck bar was well stocked and open before our catered dinner of hot tamales/chili, with both being excellente.  It's always nice to have a few drinks before dinner and not have to worry about driving home.

Saturday morning, we had our second roadster run planned, but this time we took the more scenic coastal route up Highway 1 to Cambria/Moonstone Beach area for lunch at the Moonstone Beach Bar & Grille.  This a very popular restaurant and one of our favorite spots due to its bluff location overlooking Moonstone Beach with a large outside dining deck.  Unfortunately, they don't take reservations, so we had to be there just before they opened at 11AM.  We packed the place when they opened the doors, causing an impromptu car show for the locals, while we enjoyed their seafood menu. Again, the afternoon was free for exploring and sightseeing trips into Cambria and Morro Bay.

Back at the Peachtree Inn, the deck bar opened at 4 PM, with Joe Cordoza manning his popular, gas powered margarita machine.  Again, we had a nice catered dinner, with tonight's fare being a tri-tip and chicken BBQ, which was also excellent. We also added a DJ playing some oldies but goodies, and a little dancing after dinner, which the ladies really enjoyed.

Sunday morning came all too soon, with roadsters heading out north/south after breakfast,  until we all join up again at the LA Roadster Show on Father's Day. We have been meeting the BAR for the past ten years, as a thank you for sponsoring us at the annual Roadster Roundup.  This is the first run of our roadster season, and is our club's favorite run of the year.

This was the first year that our Indiana member Dr. Mark Van Buskirk, DDS was able to make the run, and he drove his 1940 Ford pickup, which is the California Roadster Service Truck. He came out with his friend Doug, another Bonneville racer, who thoroughly enjoyed themselves, taking several side trips, including two tours of the Hearst Castle.