Please join us for a "Dog Day Afternoon" as we motor through rural Delaware sampling some "Adult Beverages" and local "cuisine."

The first stop on this is a run that Paul and Nancy have been contemplating for a while, and it finally all came together this past weekend with FranticFreddy's and Erin's (from PhillyMINI) help... It is comprised of:

• Visiting/Touring the Dogfish Head Brewery in Lewes, Delaware. Those of us that are interested in doing so are going to be taking the Cape May/Lewes Ferry on our way the Brewery, but this is not a requirement.
  Motoring through the Delaware backroads to "The Dog House" for dinner.

The details are coming together and I will update the information in this post as it becomes finalized.

I will be keeping a list of folks who are attending in this post as well.

Attending:

• Paul and Nancy [Ferry, Tour spots 1, 2]
• Fred (FranticFreddy) [Ferry, Tour spot 3]
• Russ (007MINI) and Joyce [Ferry, Tour spots 4, 5]
• Ian [Ferry, Tour spot 6]
• Rob and Dani [Ferry, Tour spots 7, 8]
• Manny and Lynn [Ferry, Tour spots 9, 10]
• Mike and Mike (Blue Lightning) (NAM) [Ferry, Tour spots 11, 12]
• Jen Banning +1(JenBanning) (PM) [Tour spots 13, 14]
• Erin +1 (Suprcoopr) (PM) [Tour spots 15, 16]
• NightFlyR (NAM) [Ferry, Tour spots 17, 18]
• Vlad (N666BK) (NAM) [Ferry, Tour spot 19]
• Edgar Fong, David Fong (PM)[Ferry Only]
• Kathleen (msmarvel) (PM) [Ferry, Tour spot 20]
• Chris, Jen, Izzy (NAM) [Ferry, Tour spots 21, 22]
• Ed and Dorothy (Liquid Yellow) (NAM)[Ferry, Tour spots 23, 24]
• Loren and Jocelyn (inimini) (NAM) [Ferry, Tour spots 25, 26]
• Roland, Hazel and Katrina (daughter)(docchavs)(NAM) [Ferry, Tour]

1: Cape May/Lewes Ferry [UPDATE: 1/27/10]
Ferry's Street Address: 1200 Lincoln Blvd, Cape May, NJ 08204

• Departure from Cape May, NJ, at 11:00 AM, arriving in Lewes, DE, at 12:25 PM
  Cost: $29.50. Group rate is available if we have 25 cars.

From the ferry's website:

• Reservations are always recommended, particularly during holiday periods and weekends.
• We recommend reserving at least 24 hours in advance. Reservations are required to guarantee vehicle space aboard the vessel.
• Upon cancellation of a journey, a non-refundable $5.00 cancellation fee will be imposed.Fares charged at time of booking. Please have vehicle length, number of passengers, and credit card ready when calling.
• 30 Minute Rule: Reservation customers are required to be checked-in 30 minutes prior to their scheduled departure. Due to high traffic volume during peak travel times, we recommend customers arrive at least one hour prior to their scheduled departure. Reservations customers may forfeit their reserved status if they have not checked-in 30 minutes prior to the scheduled departure.
• Buses and other groups require reservations. Please call for group rates.
• All drivers and passengers 18 years and older must present a valid photo ID at check-in. Foreign travelers must present a valid passport.

Please be at the Cape May Terminal no later than 10:15 AM.

Jersey Caravans to the Ferry Terminal:

Jackson Outlets:

• Meet at the outlets at 7:00 AM
  Depart the outlets no later than 7:30 AM
  Follow this route to the Atlantic City Rest Area (Pin B on the route sheet) on the GSP (mile marker 41.4) where we will meet up with anyone coming from North Jersey and taking the GSP straight down. We anticipate arriving at the rest area around 9:00 AM.
  Depart the AC Rest Area no later than 9:15 AM.

North Jersey:

• If you are joining us from North Jersey (or beyond!) and are taking the GSP straight down, meet us at 9:00 AM at the Atlantic City Rest Area (mile marker 41.4) on the GSP.
  Depart the AC Rest Area no later than 9:15 AM.

Other Locations:

• If you are coming from the Philadelphia Area and would like to meet us for the ferry ride, you are more then welcome to do so. Just plan to meet us at the ferry terminal by 10:15AM.
• If you are going to get up a group to caravan from another location, post-up and we will get the word out.

Once all of the caravans combine, we will be taking the GSP to Cape May and the Cape May Ferry Terminal.

2: Dogfish Head Brewery Tour
TOUR TIME: 2:00 PM
Location: Milton, DE.

Anyone going on the tour who is not taking the ferry to Delaware should plan on meeting us at the Lewes Ferry Terminal for a caravan up to the Brewery. Those of us taking the Cape May/Lewes Ferry will arrive in Lewes around 12:25 PM. Once we disembark from the ferry, we will all regroup in the parking lot and then caravan up to the brewery tour which, according to Google Maps, is about a half-hour drive from the Ferry Terminal. Will post route/map soon.

IMPORTANT: The tour size is limited by the Brewery to 35. This event is being cross-posted on NAM as well as PhillyMINI, so, to be fair to all, we are allocating 10 spots per site, with the remaining 5 spots going to the organizers of the event 8) As things progress, the allocation may change based on expressed interest on the other sites, but if you are interested in taking the tour, make sure you sign up early by posting here in this thread - the 10 spots will be on a first-come, first-served basis. I will also maintain a stand-by list.

ALSO - if you are taking the tour, you MUST wear closed-toe shoes. If not, you will not be allowed to go on the tour.

Cameras/photos on the tour are ok, so feel free to bring your camera if you are so inclined...

For those not taking the tour, all is NOT lost. Everyone can hang out at the tasting room (which opens at 11:00 AM) so you can sample the wares offered by our hosts. There is a gift store that will be open through which folks can browse. And yes, they DO sell bottled beer "to go" as well as official Dogfish merchandise...


3: Hot Dog Dinner

"The Dog House" on 1200 N. Dupont Highway, New Castle, De.
"If you haven't been, you haven't lived"

4: Kart Hog-Doggin' It

And if you have not had your fill of "Go-Kart Handling" and you want more, just up the road from the Dog House is Mid-Atlantic Grand Prix. Click on the link to find out more about the place. Don't rule out a future Drive 'n Eat run here, though...

 

For right now Dorothy and I are in for the entire run to Cape May and the Ferry ride to Delaware with the associated tour. Unfortunately, things have recently become much more "dynamic" in our lives as far as our ability to schedule. But at least for the present count us in for the gathering at the Jackson Outlet at 7:00AM on March 20th.

 

Hi Fred,

You can put Mike and Me down for this. Sounds like fun, we would like to do the whole run.
Mike

 

It's my weekend OFF and I would like to join the group for the complete tour (my MINI wants sailing again ).

Vlad

 

I dont have my March Schedule as of yet, but if I am off i will be there with a Co-Pilot

 

Hi Vlad,

Look forward to meeting you on the Delaware run.
I've been putting in a fair amount of time reading up on all the APRS sites and I'm really getting the bug to get on. Along those lines I was very happy to find out that my Alinco DR-635T (VHF/UHF) had a slot for a TNC and has all the menu commands already available to setup the TNC. Additionally, my local Amateur Radio supplier had the Alinco TNC in stock, so I picked it up this past weekend. I'm going to be using an old but very functional Garmin III Plus as it has the NMEA format required for the TNC. The only thing I needed was the special cable and connector that the Garmin uses to power it up and also provide access to the data out line. I ordered that today and it should be here in a couple of days. Hope to have a "Dot" on the map soon!

WA2ZYU

 

Sorry, I won't be making this outing...something has come up.

 

Great news Ed! Soon your MINI will be dropping those breadcrumbs wherever you go. You may check this APRS video made by bikers group.
See you on the run. I plan to join the group at Jackson Mall.
KC2TPD

 

Fred, Count Jen Izzy and myself in for all of the above so thats 2 1/2 ! Chris

 

The list has been updated.

And did anyone see that show about beer the other night? I don't remember what network it was on but they featured Dogfish Head Brewery. Sure did peak my interest.

 

Freddy,

Jocelyn and Lorin are in...that means we are going!

 

WOO-HOO!!!! Glad to hear it!

 

We are now 4 weeks away, so here are a few updates...

• RE: BREWERY TOUR ONLY: If you are interested in joining us on this run and you want to go on the brewery tour, you MUST let us know NO LATER THAN MARCH 6 as I need to give my contact at Dogfish Head a final head count. NOTE: this applies to the Dogfish Head Tour ONLY... if you want to go on the run, do some beer-tasting and enjoy dogs at the Dog House but not take the tour, then you can let us know anytime up to the last minute.
• I would suggest that anyone taking the Ferry make a reservation soon so that you are guaranteed a spot on board. I would hate for anyone to take their chances and then have to miss the rest of the run because the ship filled up before they get on board. There are links to the Cape May Ferry in the first post.
• I believe I have accurately updated the list of everyone who is going to be on the run, but please double check your status with the list in the first post.

In the next couple of days we will be finalizing our routes from the Lewes Ferry to the Brewery as well as that for our trip from the Brewery to The Dog House, so look for that information to be posted soon as well.

I will add this information to the first post... as always, check the first post for all the information needed for the run...

This is going to be an awesome day! Can't wait...

 

Made my reservation today. They have $2 Internet discount. See you guys all on the run.

 

Hi VLAD,
Glad you will be with us on the run. This past week I put in a little time each evening and built up a small interface box to connect all my power and signal wires for the APRS setup. Everything is now interconnected and I got it working on Sunday and actually took a little local trip so it would plot to the map...sure enough, the trail was visible when I got back home and opened the map...woo hoo!

Ed
WA2ZYU

 

Congratulations Ed! Good job! Looks like lots of your markers got to the Internet. What's the interval between transmissions? 1 minute or more?

 

Freddy; I just saw that VLAD posted indicating that he just registered for the Ferry trip. I did the same just to be sure we got in as you recommended in your Feb 21st post above, however in your first post at the top of the thread you indicated that there might be a group rate if we had 25 or more vehicles...how was that going to work??? I'm not really concerned about the group rate, but I am very concerned if someone else is working off on the side and is making duplicate reservations based upon our initial posting indicating that we are going.

 

No...it took me a couple of days playing around with all the variables that had to be entered into the TNC module to finally hit upon the correct setting. I had all the wires connected up on Thursday, but it wasn't until Sunday that I finally got things set up correctly. My biggest issue was getting the LPATH variable set properly. So initially I had the interval set for a very short period which when I finally got it working I never changed that interval. I intend on increasing it considerably. I think I'm running somewhere around once/15 seconds right now (whatever the smallest interval setting is). The setup of the module can be made using PC terminal service via a RS232 connection to the TNC module or my xcvr also has a front panel setup for interval, although I haven't used it yet, but the manual says it's there. I have been using the RS232 connection for all the setup so far and it was just a pain to have to go out to the car with my mini laptop and hook up the RS232 and program the interval register...but I will!

 

The group rate was contingent on having 25 MINIs. and we don't as of this time.

So, that being said it's up to everyone to make their reservations for the 11:00am Ferry departing from Cape May. And as was reported in an earlier post there is a $2.00 discount for doing it online.

 

Thanks Freddy,

My wife reserved her MINI for the ferry.

 

Freddy,
Pls. include us in the list.
Roland, Hazel and Katrina (daughter).
I' ll be doing my reservation in a while.
Thanks...

 

10 days to go!!!

 

9 Days to go, Gee I hope the bay is choppy, there is nothing like a good stormy day to cross the bay!
UP and down, side to side, UP and down, side to side. You got to love it!!

 

Can't wait!!! Only 8 days to go!!! And we got two more NEMINI folks recruited last night - Robyn and her coworker, Rick (although she still needs to do a little more coersion... er, recruiting... of Rick )

ALSO, if you are taking the Ferry from Jersey and are going to be participating in either leg of the Jersey Caravan down to the Ferry (i.e., first leg starting at the Jackson Outlets, or second leg joining in at the AC Rest Area - ~mile marker 41 - on the GSP) can you please let me know ASAP so that I can make note of who will be joining us where? I don't want to leave anyone behind!

Thanks!

-=/\/=-

 

Has Rick seen AVATAR? We are the MINI version.