[JONAT] Sector stop suggestions

Mark Stephenson jonat@autox.team.net
Sun Aug 3 12:02:02 2003


I think this is the last of my communiqués for the moment, unless something
else tweaks my one-man brainstorming session. (I'm making these all separate
so that each can be discussed individually and easily found in the
archives.)

As I was writing up my suggestions on "selling" I began considering the
places I've visited that impressed me and that I would consider
continentally and internationally famous. One is Gettysburg. As a
grade-schooler our class visited there on a couple of occasions. Even as
kids, who are not easily impressed by the vast sweep of history, we were
awed as our teachers painted a picture of what happened there. The American
Civil War and, to a certain extent, WWI were the last to employ hand-to-hand
combat as the prime battlefield strategy, in world where long-range
munitions had become available. The effect was devastating. There were as
many Americans killed there in three days as there were in the entire
Vietnam War. One could easily get lost in the magnitude of it and spend
days, but there is a drive through the park that takes you to all the
important battle sites. Could you get through in 3-4 hours? I'd have a hard
time, but I think so.

Another internationally famous spot is Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks of
North Carolina. Our route doesn't go near there, but we don't have a SC
either, so I guess it's open. We drove that a few years ago and it is
beautiful, sand dunes and sea grass. You enter by bridge on the north end.
In some places the outer bank is so narrow that you can see ocean on either
side, there's a short ferry trip between two banks in the middle and a
longer one, about an hour and a half, IIRC, at the south end. There is space
on the ferry for quite a few cars. It would require some logistical work to
get the timing right so everyone could make it on one ferry. There's about a
two hour wait between ferries as they have two that crisscross between the
mainland and the outer banks. But, with as much driving as we're doing, I
don't think anyone will complain about a little time out of the cars gazing
out over the Atlantic Ocean toward the mother country (for our cars,
anyway).

That brings me to Atlanta. While it would be great to stop and see Greg at
Coventry West (who might make a good SC, and CW, a good sponsor), I wonder
if that's an exciting place to stop? If Greg was a SC and CW a sponsor, then
definitely, but otherwise, I think running along the coast would be an even
more pleasant drive. The closer we are to the ocean, the cooler it will be.
We could run down through Charleston, where they have some beautiful
antebellum plantations open for tours, and then on to Savannah.

Mark Stephenson, Sector Coordinator - Arizona
Jaguar Owners North American Tour (www.jonat.org)
April 15 - July 4, 2004
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