Left Column

[Gil-galad]

Hey gang, hope you can join us for the capstone event on our 2009 schedule! [Please RSVP by replying to this post so we can get a good count.]

We plan to meet for lunch at the renowned Breitbach's Restaurant in Balltown, IA on Saturday, November 14th. Lunchtime will be at 11:30 am, but feel free to arrive a bit early so we can park together out in front of the building and admire our MINIs together. This will be a great opportunity to reminisce about the fun times we've had together over the past year, give a little recognition to a few noteworthy folk, and share ideas for 2010 events. After lunch we'll plan to relocate our MINIs a couple hundred yards down the road at the Balltown scenic overlook for some photo ops.

Of course, half the fun will be getting there and coming home! While there is no planned drive as part of this event, the area around Balltown boasts some of the best motoring roads in the state. You'll want to include US-52, C9Y, or any of the other local paved roads in your route. Ad hoc departure rendezvous with other MINIs near your home for companion motoring to Balltown are encouraged.

It's been exactly one year (as of this post) since the second fire at Breitbach's. For those not familiar with the recent history of the establishment, this recent video clip from the James Beard Foundation Awards is a wonderful primer:




Lastly, this image gives you some sense of the summertime view from Balltown, looking northeast towards the Mississippi River:




Hope to see you there!