Well the theme of this years (our clubs 25th anniversary year) scenic tour road rally was water, water and more water as the rally route took us across the NYC reservoir system in Westchester & Putnam Counties. It turned out we got more water then we bargained for as an enthusiastic group of Alfisti had to contend with gray skies and intermittent showers throughout the day.
The LI contingent of Mike & Linda Bange, George & Barbara Linton, Vic & Gail Cerami, John & Cornelia Catera, Vinny Lambroia together with his navigator Angelo Amoia (really invited along to check for soft top leaks), Aaron Liebowitz and Phil Jacobs met up at Fort Totten.
Three Spiders a 164 a couple of wannabe Alfa’s and Phli’s British JagUar departed at 8:00am sharp for the drive to the North White Plains starting location.
At the Imperial Wok parking lot in North White Plains, the LI crew met up with the Westchester/Connecticut contingent of Mike & Cathy Davias, Nick & Lou Scarano, Laurence & Mark Steve and Kimerling Marius & son. A few minutes later we were joined by the loud sounding GTV of Fred Frey and his team captain/navigator Beverly. Last to arrive were Hayden and Colleen Catera Iglesias in a 4WD Acura MDX (ready to do some in water reservoir driving if necessary).
Laurence Steve, from Westchester, was not able to join the rally but came over to the Imperial Wok with his son Mark to meet and chat with the other club members. Great to meet you Laurence & Mark & hope to see you at future events!
The first difficult decision of the day was where to have breakfast. Was it the nearby diner, Dunkin Donuts or a Chinese breakfast at the Imperial Wok (Egg Drop soup over easy???).
Having tanked up our trusty Alfa’s, we were off by 9:30 am under cloudy skies. Our caravan of 8 Alfa’s and 4 non Alfa’s headed North. The caravan traveled past Kensico, Cross River, East Branch & Middle Branch Reservoirs on some fantastic roads & great scenery. Unfortunately, 6 of our caravan missed a turn and got separated. With the electronic wizardry (GPS) of Phil Jacobs, the separated group navigated to the 1st pit stop location to reunite with the 1st half of the caravan. At the pit stop, all drivers were able to demonstrate their vast knowledge of Alfa Romeo by answering 10 very easy questions for the Pit Stop Challenge.
After the pit stop, the fearless contingent headed to the Targa Florio type roads that lead to the Bear Mountain Bridge. We traveled to Washingtonville to the Brotherhood Winery (the oldest winery in the US dating back to 1839). The stonework construction of the winery buildings certainly had an 1800’s look. Our group’s wine connoisseurs participated in the wine tasting of the various labels produced by Brotherhood. Vic Cerami kept remarking how fantastic the crackers were. Yes Vic they were aged to perfection! After a push start for Fred’s GTV, the caravan headed over to Newburgh to visit Orange County Choppers. Everyone was impressed with the large number of custom bikes on display to the general public. If you’re into leather clothing, this is the place for you. We almost purchased a pair of leather pants for our own Shifty Lou Grasso. A hungry group of Alfisti headed over to Leo’s Restaurant for late lunch/early dinner. At Leo’s, awards were presented to Vic & Gail Cerami for winning the Pit Stop Challenge. In addition, Nick Scarano won the Reservoir of Trivia Award (on his birthday no less) which included a six pack of bottled water from the Reservoirs we passed along the route. I think all in all everyone had a terrific time and the gray skies and rain showers couldn’t dampen our spirits
