Spent the day down in South/Central Ohio running around with some great cars and great folks, very enjoyable day. The takeaway for me is that I have plenty of ‘car’ but not quite enough ‘driver’…yet. Probably the most fun I’ve had behind the wheel of a great car, our 2016 Porsche Cayman S. Or any car, really…dragstrips are short bursts of fun but driving AND turning is MUCH more entertaining.
Photographer w/ a drone was there, put together a cool video: Spring Drive
Was a long day, lots miles but the Cayman is so comfortable, no issues.
Nice shot from the lead car and organizer of the event.
Photo courtesy of Instagram la8rg8r
Stopped for some pics at Lake Hope…
We all met up at Esoteric prior to heading out, was a perfect opportunity to try to recreate on of my favorite pictures. The day we dropped Margaret’s new Corvette at Esoteric immediately after taking delivery at Chesrown Chevrolet, just snapped this pic w/ no thought but for some reason I’ve come to really like it:
Somehow just didn’t come out the same w/ the Cayman; angle a bit wrong, not quite parked in the same place…something was awry. Eh, will have to try again sometime…would be nice to have the pair.
Just an overall incredible experience, can’t thank the folks who put it together enough. Given the oddness of 2020 so far, a bit of fun was a great way to feel better about life overall.
Pick a car, time to head out…
And yeah, I’m still a dork who takes pictures of tape dispensers for future reference…
Probably a good thing the shelf was bare where the Polish Angel High Gloss Paste Wax sits or I would be $225 poorer.
Friend of ours and his Porsche GT3. Met him last year down in Columbus @ Esoteric/Cars & Coffee…turned out he lives up here close to us. Great fun, good people.
Video 2015 Porsche GT3 991.1
More info here: Pagani Huayra Roadster
(fortunately it was noted on the info placard on the pavement ‘cuz all McLaren’s look exotically curvaceous to me, meaning I really can’t tell them apart)
More Info Here: McLaren Senna
Those Porsche guys are always drawing attention to themselves, no?
Look closely and you’ll see how well the blue on the ring of the wheel center hub matches the blue of the calipers and striping. Synergy, to borrow a corporate buzzword. Very appealing Synergy.
Coincidentally, a MotorWeek segment on TV just moments ago showed the history of the M1; how convenient! Video: BMW M1
This car was recently completely wrapped in STEK DynoShield by our hosts so it was nice that the STEK folks were there to answer a few of my questions. I sometimes have a lot of questions, occasionally even sensible, relative ones. Was cool to see their self-healing demo panel do its thing at 90 degrees F, easily reached in summer sun. When ya own a black car, every little bit helps.
Kai Morita was there, the mind behind the Kamikaze Collection. Fantastic stuff and for whatever reason, the Theory behind it appeals to me. Can read about it further here if you’re so inclined: Kamikaze Collection – Theory
It’s a superb product line, great results, easy & fun to use. Have tried a boxload of different ceramic/glass/quartz coatings but when it’s a ‘car that matters’, Kamikaze is the choice.
Kai from Kamikaze is a bit hard to understand, not really a language barrier (he speaks English well, but I can never seem to catch everything) but also cuz he speaks in a rapid, mad-scientist like fashion, delving into chemistry specifics that are way over my head! Just kinda nod my head when it gets beyond me.
The husband and wife behind the BigBoi blowers had their cordless Buddi there and are coming out with an attachment for the Mini that will let it be a blower and a vacuum (like the MetroVac). They were *really* cool and fun to talk to. I really enjoyed speaking with them and they were just as excited that their products worked so well for me.
See notes above under ‘Shameless plug for wife’s car…’
Polish Angel has recognized the somewhat inconsistent US supply issues of the past and have worked to remedy them going forward. There was a quick mention of some color-specific Cosmic Spritz offerings, kinda like their Black Wolfenite type enhancers for their current waxes/sealants. Travis mentioned that last year so we`ll see. They did have a tin (ok, a plastic tub but ‘Tin’ sounds more, I dunno, European? Although from what I’ve read online, the Europeans, UK in particular, seem to like to call wax containers ‘pots’…which may even sound cooler than ‘tins’) Anyway, I saw it on the shelves at Esoteric and it was purple and had a wonderful scent to it. Can’t find a mention of it on the Esoteric site, the Polish Angel USA site or the Polish Angel main site so possibly something new.
As I had recently ordered their Interior Care Essentials (time to give up ChemGuys SilkShine, perhaps?) and their Leather Care Essentials kits, it was interesting to get a bit more insight. The glass cleaner in the interior essentials kit is apparently also excellent for TV and computer screens…so I got that going for me.
Website: https://lynhiner.com/
An expressionist artist with an eye towards automotive subjects, a small print of hers was included in the participant ‘Goodie Bag’ and she was on-site as well.
Having all the vendors there is a real treat. Opportunity to meet some new ones, find out what’s in the pipeline from old familiar friends. One of my favorite parts of these events.
There were a few Acura NSX’s in the lot yesterday and I continue to be intrigued by this car. It certainly has a look I find appealing, is reportedly ‘Honda Reliable’ and has some pretty respectable performance metrics associated with it.
It seems a relatively safe entry into that level of car but at $170k is still waaaaay outta my reach but it’s fun to dream…and buy a few lottery tickets every now and again. The metallic red paint could also move me away from my affinity for black cars.
Being AWD, it would be a very practical and safe 4-season driver, no?
Being a connoisseur of Haute Couture, I was not disappointed this day:
Some other misc ramblings…
The Open House has really kinda grown over the last 3 years I`ve been going with this year being just crazy over the top. While it was very well attended in 2017 & 2018, it seemed more vendor-detailer focused with the `car show` part being more of a casual `Cars and Coffee element.
With the Pagani unveiling, the need to pre-register for parking in the immediate lot, the nearly $20k in detailing services they raffled off and other logistical things it`s really, really grown into far more than a 3hr, in and out event. It`s really automotive sensory overload if you`re into this kinda stuff…in a very, very good kinda way.
Great fun with the opportunity to speak with some vendors and get some detailing insight from them as well as the Esoteric staff. Always come away with something good to file away for future reference.
Considering how involved they are with various other Columbus area automotive events, the Open House is their particular highlight of the season methinks (although ya never know what they’re thinking up next…) and the logistical stuff involved with this one had to be considerable. I’m just really glad they do it and offer up their location for all this automotive goodness.
The 20% off sale they were running in their showroom had people lined up out the door from 10am to 1pm solid, so much so that I really didn`t take the time to buy anything. Not that i needed to buy anything in particular but ya know how that goes.
Esoteric is likely gonna start offering some more enthusiast training, not as in depth as their current 2 day program but rather 1 day courses on things like coating application, paint correction and similar. They`ve brought on DJ Mayo of DJ Mayo Studios in Virginia as an instructor for some of these.
Unfortunately, I forgot to ask Todd Cooperider the genesis of the Esoteric name. I’d guess it would follow the dictionary definition as it certainly fits but ya never know. Just kinda a random point of interest to me.
esoteric adjective
es·o·ter·ic | \ ˌe-sə-ˈter-ik , -ˈte-rik\
Definition of esoteric
1a: designed for or understood by the specially initiated alone
b: requiring or exhibiting knowledge that is restricted to a small group
2a: limited to a small circle
b: PRIVATE,CONFIDENTIAL
3: of special, rare, or unusual interest
Still more to come as it occurs to me, a sometimes slow process.
Headed down to New Albany in Margaret’s new car for the C & C at Esoteric. Always a plethora of exotics in Columbus area.
Drive down was fraught with peril, Highway Patrol everywhere.
Fortunately, plenty of Rest Areas along the way. Not so much for resting but rather because of their 1/4 mile long on ramps are fun with a 460hp car that just passed out of its break-in period.
Sunny and a bit chilly but the coffee and pastries they were dolling out helped.
After spending the day with Margaret’s new Corvette and seeing and hearing all of these other examples of automotive excess I find myself in a state of automotive depression; somehow my Honda Accord just isn’t very inspiring in comparison.
Such a pleasantly overwhelming experience, a totally immersive day. Walk around, meet some great folks or just grab a spot on the grass at the corner of Karmar & Zarley and let it all flow over and around you.
A peek ‘behind the curtain’ at the shop, ask some questions of the always available Esoteric staff, a chance to peruse the candy store of a showroom you have there…the added aspect of your world-class location added a dimension that transcended the usual gathering of cars, albeit an apparently incredible gathering of “Don’t see this every day” cars that Columbus C & C seems to offer monthly. Dunno why it never really took off to that extent in Cleveland; it exists up here but nowhere near what you they put together down there.
The events at Esoteric always offer a logistically pleasing environment for observers. Not just static, it’s always alive…360 degrees all around, not just the sights but also the sounds. The proximity to the freeway, with its wonderfully accommodating onramps (“Just getting up to safe merging speed, sir!”) provides a great backing soundtrack during the day. Shiny cars are certainly nice but shiny cars that can produce those exhaust notes…tack on a few bonus points there. Automotive sensory overload in the best possible way.
Figured it was gonna be a great day when a gray Lambo rolled by me around Mansfield on the drive down…pretty good guess where he was headed and sure enough, there he was parked out front when I got there, just a little bit behind him…ok, maybe more than a little bit behind him. Really kinda cool, closer I got to shop the more I was surrounded on freeway by amazing cars of all types. No need for Google Maps when ya have bright colored exotics leading the way.
By the time I arrived at 9:30, the area was already thumping… all sorts of wonderful automotive excess idling up and down, parking, moving, starting, stopping, along with popping and spitting of exhaust pipes as accommodating owners’ blipped throttles to the delight of those watching. Folks lined up around corners watching the parade roll in…some already milling about inside around the covered Chiron. Just a real neat vibe leading up to the Bugatti moment…something great in the works.
Ah, the Chiron…where else are you gonna be where a McLaren P1 is not the center of attention (that was a blue P1 in the other room, no)? But when you have a very limited edition, 1400+ hp, multi-million dollar rarity, fresh off a complete, spare-no-expense detail, sitting covered only 20 feet away, well…reality seems to shift a bit. And it shifted just a bit more when you pulled the cover off; was like the whole room was collectively catching its breath when the entire car was finally revealed…incomparable moment in time captured right there in your studio.
Great cars were everywhere. A yellow Chevy (’57 Bel Air, perhaps?) with a blower sticking thru the hood in an adjacent lot, a few Mustang Shelby GT350’s along the road, McLaren’s on the lawn, Lamborghini’s & Porsches everywhere, a Ferrari or 2 for good measure, a gaggle of Civic Type-R’s & Subie STI’s over that way… and was that an Aston Martin in the back lot? Could spend a lifetime visiting exotic car dealers and still not see or experience all that was at the event Saturday…compelling, astounding, in motion and forever memorable.
I’m sure it was an unreal amount of work to put that together but they really gotta be proud of how that turned out; as someone who has an interest in the cars themselves as well as what these guys do with them it was truly a memorable event, an authentic automotive Field of Dreams.
The opportunity to enjoy lunch with some of the staff afterwards, along with some others, was a great bonus as well. Always get some great knowledge/info/background when speaking with Zack, Dan and the others, really great folks. And just generally fun people. Having a chance to meet/speak with Mike Cardenas for a bit was fantastic as well; got a little insight on coatings (yeah, I’m still a junkie with those types of products) from his experiences in those areas…great guy.
Esoteric just absolutely killed it with this event; dunno how they’re gonna top this one but I’m sure they’ve got great stuff in the works. End of the day it was ‘Quality and Class Done Right’…just superb in every aspect. Glad I could experience it, very appreciative of them sharing it with everyone.
Kind of (pleasantly) odd how an event like this will stay with you for a long time, making you smile and chuckle knowingly to yourself every time you think of it, going thru the pictures for the 110th time. I guess it speaks to the passion that cars have to offer if one is so inclined to dig deeper than the core functionality of mere transportation. Be it the speed, handling and technology aspects a truly remarkable car can deliver at the upper end of the spectrum or the gloss, clarity and protection on the aesthetic end of it, there’s just something about it for those who ‘get it’. Thankfully we’ve got folks like Esoteric to help feed the addiction and share it with the rest of us…keep up the great work!
Video: https://youtu.be/8z333kyJ9Vk
Video: https://youtu.be/Fo1PEJW0DfU
Video: https://youtu.be/Fo1PEJW0DfU
Video: https://youtu.be/GSsyD3cq4qI
For a bit anyway.
See ya Cleveland.
Hello Vegas…
Couple o days at Venetian:
Thru Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon…
Down to Scottsdale for Barrett-Jackson
Only victim so far was a suitcase that airlines somehow broke zipper slider off of; hadda cut it open and tape it shut for ride to Arizona where I could by another for secure trip home. Gotta love duct tape.
CHILLIN’ THE MOST – KID ROCK CRUISE 2015 (we’re in that crowd somewhere…)
Me & Margaret on the 1st day:
Me after the cruise upon finally arriving back home (I’m old…it really took its toll):
Link to all, categorized pictures. Yeah, some are dups, some are blurry…deal with it: Slideshow
Clip of opening tune as ship left port (Sea Cruise):
Clip of ‘Cowboy’ from Wednesday show (“I’m on a boat motherf*cker!”)
That’s it…the end. Anyone up for helpin’ me pay my credit card bill next month?
Got up, took taxi to airport, paid $100 ‘Overweight Baggage Charge’ for 63lb suitcase (limit 50lb for ‘normal’ $25 fee; hmm, think it was the 4 litres of booze and 5 cartons of cigarettes that mighta pushed us over the limit?), cursed American Airlines, sat in front of sick guy spewing mucus all over us (literally), got in car, drove home, thanked God I survived, went to bed.
Greyhound of the skies:
Shit, now we gotta get off this rowboat. Stand in line like cattle, go through Customs (they were pretty apathetic about the whole process…thank God) and into the taxi to take us to the Eden Roc in Miami Beach to cool down and hang out for the night before going through the hellish ‘Greyhound w/ Wings’ experience of flying back to Cleveland.
Not a bad place, this Eden Roc. Nice corner oceanfront suite, lotsa pools, hot tubs (without sweaty, drunken yahoo’s in them). Should be nice, right?
F*cking WRONG! If ya notice the last picture, it appears they are setting up for an event of some sort, yes? That’s because they are…of course they neglected to mention this when we checked in and paid a $21 per person ‘Resort Fee’. All pools, pool areas and outside locations were off limits from 4pm onward. Now, I understand they have events and stuff but to still charge the resort fee when essentially you’re trapped in your room (think ‘Gilded Cage’) unless you leave the property, just what the ^%$#@ is the Resort Fee for? They’ll be getting a call this week, the asshats. On the plus side, before they roped everything off we did squeeze in a lunch of:
1 Chicken sandwich
1 Cuban sandwich
1 small glass of Pinot Grigio
1 Diet Coke
All for the bargain price of $88…but that did include the mandatory 18% gratuity for the shitty service so that’s something. Then again, maybe not.
But all is not lost, we’re right close to South Beach so I got on the phone, made an appointment at http://salvationtattoolounge.com/ and this was the result:
Great place, Maria was quite entertaining through the whole (3hr) process. For anyone reading this that works with me, you’ll see that I’m promoting the company brand via logo’d clothing even when I’m on vacation. Or maybe it was because all my other shit was in a suitcase wrapped around bottles of duty-free liquor as padding. Or perhaps because, aside from company and vendor supplied clothing, I have no other clothes. It was one of the those reasons…
That’s about it except Margaret started feeling sick; we’re hoping it’s not Malaria or the Dengue Fever. She’ll be immediately quarantined in the bedroom upon arrival home. Which means I have to do all the laundry so expect me to be wearing wrinkled, slightly pinkish clothing on Monday; I don’t particularly like to take the time to separate colors when I do a load of laundry ‘by volume’.
OK…so now it’s Thursday. Gotta admit that this shit is getting a little tiresome. Kid Rock played his last show yesterday night. There was a Q&A with him with pre-screened questions on the main stage but the questions were mostly bullshit softballs lobbed his way. One item of interest was when he was asked where/what the song Bawitdada came from; his answer: “Abso-fucking-lutely nothing; just a made up word/lyric.” Well, that certainly explains that.
Fuck it, time to pack up and get off this ship of fools tomorrow. Yah, I’m tired, sunburned (sunscreen is for little girls).
Biggest challenge of the night? Fitting 4 liters of booze, 5 cartons of cigarettes, and various shipboard giveaways/souvenirs into luggage that was already bursting at the seams when we arrived.
Oh, and also stuffing in the 14 shoes Margaret felt the need to bring along. Just counting to 14 means I had to remove 1 of the 4 shoes I brought when I ran outta fingers counting her shoes.
Made it to Cozumal today, of to some beach park to eat, drink and for many, likely puke in the sand. Because nothing goes better with warm shots of Tequila than 87 degree heat and blazing hot sun shine. Mexico does have the distinct advantage of cheap cigarettes and booze. Nothing says nicotine addiction more than 5 cartons for $100.
Picked up some liquor for friends…that’s gonna be one heavy carry-on bag to stuff in the overhead bin on the flight home. Hope that shit don’t shift in flight and kill someone when they open the bin at the end of the flight.
Saw this at the Cozumel water park:
“Hey kids, go play under that tree that looks like a pissing monkey is sitting on top of”. Chlorine is a wonderful disinfectant.
Was thinking if getting tattoo on this trip:
But maybe Mexico ain’t the best place to have anything done that is involves needles and bleeding. Maybe Miami if I got the time…
Kid Rock did a kickin’ show when we got back, all the old and new favorites. Place went bat-shit crazy when he broke into Bawitdaba…
Having a blast…just gotta figure out how to tell work I ain’t coming home and am dedicating my remaining days to selling overpriced trinkets to tourists on the beach. Suggestions welcome.
Uh-oh…patience is waning with 2500 drunk mother – f*ckers rubbing and bumping into me.
If I ever found the d-bag who started that whole “Whooo…” scream shit, I’d ventilate their trachea with a fork. When the waiter drops off a fresh basket of bread at your table, it’s really not worthy of a concert-scream you weathered old assbag.
Now, admittedly, I used to study the finer points of the alcoholic arts but, while I certainly did dumb-ass shit, from what i recall, I did it quietly. Party drunk, outdoor drunk, no worries. But in a public dining roon? Shut yer fuckin blowhole you weathered old bitch.
Day 2
Rest of the non pre-party folks boarded. It seems as this by bunch, while a bit rowdier, had a less ‘used’ look to them. Kid Rock keep kicked off the trip with a kick ass show as the ship left port. Some diehards slept on deck last night to secure their place in n front of stage.
So on a more mainstream note, the ‘letting it all hang out’ contingent made their appearance today:
And here we have a 10′ hot tub jammed with about 20 people; more chlorine, anyone?
Packing took about 5 minutes; I excel in this area:
Aww…how cute; Margaret made little notes on what she was gonna wear for each Theme Night and packed accordingly. Amateur.
Lineup:
John Stone Band
DJ Soulman
Kelley James
The Band of Heathens
John Eddie
Whitey Morgan
The Big Rock Show
DJ Mark EP
Uncle Kracker
Comedian Chris Porter
Nikki Lane
Aside from John Eddie, have no idea who these people are…which I suppose is fair ‘cuz I’m guessing they have no idea who I am.
02/28/2015, 9:30pm:
OOPS…just got recorded message from airline that our flight tomorrow was cancelled and re-booking is getting us to MIA at 6:25pm. Well, that certainly won’t work, boat will have left by then. Call airline, get recording “We’re real busy…you can expect a call back in at 2 hours.”
They call us back at 11:30pm (at least they were accurate in the ‘call ya back in 2hrs’ thing), at first say they have NO other flights to get us to MIA in time, a little desperation (and a ‘supervisor’) then finds a flight through Chicago that WILL get us there by noon. Hooray…except the flight leaves in 5hrs…airport is 1hr away. Guess we won’t be sleeping much tonite.
My head hurts. Already.
Vacationing is OK; Traveling sucks.
03/01/2015
Left the house at 3:30am for 5:58am flight to Miami via Chicago. Drive to airport was 45mph over snow covered roads. Thanks ODOT, hope you all enjoyed your donuts this morning.
Made it to airport, flight delayed 1hr for de-icing, made it to connecting flight in Chicago just as they were screaming “Faymon…last call for Faymon!”. Thank God we channeled our inner Avis-era O.J. running through airport.
Highlights of Day:
1. Woman asking Margaret to ‘taste her’ by licking her neck.
2. Same woman not batting an eye when new, male acquaintance proceeded to yank her top off.
3. Numerous run-in’s with ship staff squirting hand sanitizer on our hands while saying ” Washy-Washy”…truly strange, every time ya turn around…”Washy-Washy…” – SQUIRT!
Lessons learned:
1. There are three kinds of drunkenness:
– Good time, fun party drunk
– Silly, funny drunk.
– “STFU you no-class, loudmouth…” drunk.
Guess which was most prevalent today?
On the plus side, Duty Free liquor and tobacco on ship is very appealing in terms of price.
Couple of pics of band playing as ship sailed:
Heading to airport…2:30am.
Airline called 5 hrs ago to tell us original flight canceled; took an hour on phone to work out new arrangements to get to Miami in time. Airlines suck. Nice
phone reps, though.
2300+ hard-core fans, rumored 3X the alcohol load-in/consumption of a ‘normal’ cruise, dress up theme-nights such as ‘Redneck Prom Night’ and ‘Overalls Night’…I’m gonna need a vacation from this so-called vacation.
2013 Synopsis: http://www.gq.com/entertainment/celebrities/201306/kid-rock-annual-cruise-gq-june-2013
Images: http://www.gq.com/entertainment/travel-features/201306/photos-kid-rocks-rock-n-roll-cruise#slide=1
As much as I’m not really a fan of large groups of people, kinda looking forward to this…should be quite interesting and ya always get to be whoever you want when ya leave home. Maybe I should dye my hair blond or some other oddball color just for shits and giggles. That stuff will wash out after 7 days, right?
Anyone skeptical that I’ll survive this without my head literally fuckin’ exploding?:
At least all age groups will be represented; this ‘mature’ woman is right in there with the rest of those young, rowdy malcontents:
(and yes, Dion…I’ll try to take many pictures like this just for you…I’m pretty sure there will be ‘ample’ opportunity to do so)
They say a picture is worth a thousand words…I’m guessing this sums it up pretty well:
The Ship:
The luxurious ‘Obstructed View’ stateroom:
The luxurious ‘Obstructed View’ stateroom…if you’re packing 4 people into it; I think not. I guess the roll-away bed in the middle is for the person closest to alcohol-poisoning each night; easy to roll right down the the infirmary…they just think of everything, no?
More to come…
…gifts kinda suck as you get older.
As he grew up we used to buy our godson all sort’s of ‘cool’ stuff for his birthday. Sony Play Stations, Nerf Guns, drums* and one his favorite gifts, the ‘Shoebox Full of Cash’…all provided gobs of entertainment. Alas, he recently moved out of state into his first apartment; well, Happy Birthday, Jr.! Hope you enjoy your nice, new…uh, appliance. Too bad they don’t sell these in that 1970’s favorite ‘Avocado’ finish…
* Yeah, OK…maybe the drums were kinda a shitty thing to do to his parents but hey, couldn’t hear the racket from *my* house.
Cars parked everywhere on the lawn.
And who says you can’t walk a cat?
The cat does have a very pretty pink collar so that’s something…
…where even the fish come ashore to sunbathe on the pristine, gray sand.
How did i ever miss picking up the album with this gem on it?
And I really don’t give a shit. Really, I don’t. On the upside, the fuktard across the street finally quit with his fucking chain saw. Every morning, all day long for the past 3 weeks. If I ever talked to him I’d ask him what the hell he was preparing for. But after not having so much as even the smallest conversation in the 4 years since they moved in I guess it’ll remain a mystery. Until the apocolypse, anyway.
Quiet neighbors are good neighbors. 15 years ago everybody here talked to everybody; bonfires, clambakes, all that neighborly nonsense. Shit got old quick. That’s what fences are for…to keep the assholes out. Maybe in their minds, though, my fences are to keep the asshole in. Either way works for me. Thank God nobody around here ever had kids…just what I need, a neighborhood full of screaming ankle-biters. Fuck that…
Life's tough, wear a helmet. 