Calling all MINIS!!! Registration is open for this year's MINI on the Mack! Join MINI USA and MINIACs from all over the country as we attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest parade of cars as we cross the Mackinac Bridge in northern Michigan! We did surprisingly well in 2013 with very little notice so this year it should be a piece of cake! Aug 1st is the date!!! WE CAN DO THIS!!!! Click on the link for more info and registration.
http://www.minionthemack.com/

 

(FYI: the registration link above for the MINIs on the Mack is still kicking an error message)

But on the "fun" side .. please note .. if you are looking for a way to get "from" the east coast area, to Michigan, there is an entire contingent (17 strong currently) doing an Ice Cream Run from Staunton to Michigan to arrive in time for this event. (This is replacing the Ice Cream Run that generally heads to Bar Harbour)

(this would also be a fun option for any in the Michigan/mid-west area to "start" east and then "get back" to the MINIs on the MACK event)

Here are the details .. and if you are interested, be sure and register SOON as the registration will be capped at ~ 25 MINIs.

2015 The Great Ice Cream Run 5 (Registration is NOW OPEN)

The GREAT Ice Cream Run 5 a.k.a TGICR5) - a Tar Heel MINI Motoring Club adventure dedicated to MINI Owners who love motoring AND love ice cream!

Registration is now OPEN.

The Great Ice Cream Run 5 is back. We normally begin the Ice Cream Run from Staunton, VA and heading north to Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, ME. For this year, the ice cream run will be heading to a new destination, Mackinaw City, Michigan.
At the end of the run, our group will join up with other MINIacs for the MINI On The Mack event in Mackinaw City.
In addition to the awesome motoring and at least 2-3 ice cream stops daily, we will be visiting the New River Gorge, the Air Force Museum and the Ford Museum along the way to our destination.
So mark your calendar July 26 - 30 for the Great Ice Cream Run 2015. You can do the entire run or just join us for a day or two as we pass through your area. This event will end in Michigan in time to join up with MINI USA for the MINIs on the MACK/Guinness World Record event)

Please find TGICR plan below.

Day 0 - Saturday July 25th, Driving day to Staunton, VA. Greet & Meet at hotel.
Dinner: Rowe's Family Restaurant, Ice cream: The Split Banana

Day 1 - Sunday July 26th, Staunton VA to Charleston WV: Visit New River Gorge (walk under the bridge and drive Fayette Station Rd.) Ice cream: King Tut Drive-In and Ellen's Homemade Ice Cream

Day 2 - Monday July 27, Charleston, WV to Dayton, OH: Drive along US 52 Ohio River scenic byway. Ice cream: Buona Terra Gelato, Aglamesis Brother and Graeter's Ice Cream

Day 3 - Tuesday July 28, Dayton, OH to Dearborn, MI: Visit US Air Force Museum (4 hrs). Today will be all highways driving. Ice cream: Dietsch Brothers Findlay, OH, Mr. Freeze, Perrysburg, OH.

Day 4 - Wednesday July 29, Dearborn, MI to South Haven, MI: Visit Ford Museum (4 hrs) then a short drive across to South Haven, MI. Ice cream: Bella Creamery @ Portage, Sherman's Ice Cream. Sweetwater's Donut Mill looks really good too. Also South Haven lighthouse looks interesting for sunset photos.

Day 5 - Thursday July 30th, South Haven, MI to Mackinaw City, MI: It will be our longest drive of the week. Motoring on scenic roads along Lake Michigan from Manistee to Mackinaw City. Ice cream: Hometown Creamery, Moomers and A&W Drive-In Frankfort, MI.

Day 6 - Friday July 31st, Free day, possible day trip St. Ignace to Marquette and do lunch at Vierling. Some people will be heading to the Soo Locks, Sault Sainte Marie at US/Canada border. You can do ferry to Mackinac Island or sunset cruise or do whatever you like. It is your free day.

Day 7 - Saturday August 1st, MINI On The Mack sponsored by MINI USA and MINI of Grand Rapid

For the rest of the details (hotels, routes, stops, Tshirt, etc) see this link on the THMMC forum: http://www.tarheelminis.org/calendar...info&e=407&c=1

If you have never done a multi-day/multi-state/multi-daily ice cream stop event with your MINI before, this is definitely one to consider!

 

REGISTERED!!

 

R1GiNC if your group is stopping in South Haven which I recommend you do. I would forego the Kalamazoo/Portage Sweetwaters Donuts although the best they are still donuts.
You must stop at Captain Nemo's Ice cream place downtown on the main street (Phoenix) in South Haven eating your Sherman's Ice cream while watching the SH lighthouse and sunset. Sherman's main creamery/ice cream store is of the beaten path but worth a stop as it is right of the highway. You can get the same flavors with some better atmosphere down-town at Nemo's.
Two doors down from Nemo's is Kilwins (fudge & ice cream) and across from Nemo's is the South Haven Trading Company Chocolatiers/Coffee/Cappuccino and ice cream shop.
3 places withing 100 ft from each other offering different types and flavors of ice cream, also available the build your own frozen yogurt place "Will-Yums" (more main stream).
If you want a scenic route North to the bridge from there let me know as I've done that many times.

 

Got mail from the organizers this morning that over 900 have now registered...a couple of weeks to go. Need 1450'sh to break the record!

 

Hey Vendors! Who's going to be at MOTM?

 

Does anyone know of any "rallying" apps? I'm wondering if there's an app to show on a map where others in the same "group" are. Are MOTM people using a certain one?

 

Sorry for the late reply -- I just saw this note! I believe our itinerary is pretty well set since we depart Staunton, VA on Saturday (well, for some of us our ice cream starts earlier, with The Great Ice Cream Jog from Frederick, MD to Staunton!) but we are spending a night in South Haven so we should have time for extra indulgences!
Here is the link to the days adventures/dining/ice cream and routes:
http://www.tarheelminis.org/2015_eve...ly_planner.pdf

(Not sure if perhaps we are already routed the scenic direction you reference?)

Here's hoping we break the record .. but if not, it will be a great trip regardless! See you soon!

 

I haven't seen anything publicized on the various forums. IIRC on a prior MTTS many people used Waze "groups" but this function was removed from Waze. So: I don't know. Would be fun to have some sort of tagging and see where folks are.

 

I'll be there with two MINI's. Definitely doing my part to try to make this happen.

 

We need your help…please spread the word to fellow MINI owners, clubs, dealers etc, to sign up for MINIs on the Mack (MOTM) next weekend, July 31-August 3 in Mackinaw City/St. Ignace. The registration and information link is http://www.minionthemack.com/

The MINI community is trying to break a Guiness Book record for the most MINIs in parade over a bridge which was set a couple of years back by MINI owners in the UK. They had 1450 present to set the record. We need about 400 registrations or 50/day for the next 8 days to reach the goal of 1,451 MINIs. Currently, the registration is somewhere around 1,080as of July 24.

Any influence you all can bring to this effort would be greatly appreciated!

 

I created a Tag on Glympse there that others can share their location with But your location sharing on Glympse is temporary - the longest is 4 hours I think, so you'll have to make a point to keep adding time to your sharing. And it'll show a map of everyone (you prob have to zoom).

I created a tag on Glympse you can share your location with. Share your location with "!MOTM" (the exclamation is important). And tell everyone your'e travelling with too!

And can someone share this on other forums, I'm not on MA. And share with our club and people you're caravanning with Thanks!

 

I did this event in 2013 since it's only a bit over 100 miles from home. There were 841 Minis and all the owners were real enthusiasts, as you might expect.
The atmosphere at the straights is quite special, with plenty of historical vibrations in the air from the French & Indian War (Watch for Rogers' Rangers) as well as the war of 1812.
Just north is Sault St. Marie, a city founded in the 1600's.
It looks like you're on the ocean.
The event was wonderfully organized and just great fun all around. This time there will be two Minis from our house, my same Clubman and my son's R53. I hope we break the 1451 number, but if not... we get to try again, hopefully!

 

I will be there. We can do this!

 

I will be there too! Should be fun again. Leaving Thursday.

 

1319. So close. We need better/more advertising next time.

 

It was the best MINI watching I've ever enjoyed. Over 1300 Minis to gawk at, all driven by real enthusiasts. The weather was perfect. The bridge and the straits were showing off their blues.
I hope they try again in 2017.

 

It was quite a sight to see so many MINI's. It took over an hour to parade out of the queuing field in Mackinaw City!

I did find the organization to be disappointing, despite the level of officials involved. There was no route map provided, the one mention of the route was over a PA so underpowered that very few people could hear it. There was also no mention of where the Guinness recorder actually was. There's definitely room for improvement next time around.

 

So many MINIs / Minis, we really enjoyed that time in the staging area and visiting with so many MINI folk. They were SO well organized up to the point that we left the field, sadly enough. As said...once we started driving for the actual run to the bridge, things got a little disjointed. We were among the last third of cars to leave, and were having to run 60-65mph to try to keep up with anyone on the local roads, not good. Now separated, a bunch of us missed a turn and ended up in "downtown" Mac City for a bit, and took whatever ramp we could to get to the bridge. So that last part could indeed get a bit of attention to have it go better.

 

It was a lot of fun, my wife really enjoyed the event and is pretty proud to have been at least part of a US record, & we met a lot of great Mini owners and looked at some awesome Mini's. IMO, better promotion would go a long way to entice the additional 139 entries needed for the world record. It seems like you need to know of the event rather than be pulled in to it via marketing tools such as notices on various sites, dealer flyers, mailers, etc. I noticed there is nothing on the Mini USA website, I wonder why that is or did I miss something? I hope they correct it for the '17 event. The food was great considering it served 2000+ people, some nice trinkets given out and Michigan provided awesome weather and a beautiful venue (the bridge).


I thought the local officials did a great job and certainly embraced the event, particularly St. Ignace. Kudo's to all the volunteers for all their hard work in attempting to guide or herd the cats (Minis) appropriately. There was some of the accordion effect, certainly some was induced by the group itself, very hard to keep 1300 cars equally spaced in a line.

 

Thanks to our hosts. We had a great 4 days in the area. The best thing was it was our 40th wedding anniversary and my wife gave me a pair of Union Jack mirror caps. Thanks to the Indiana guys for including us in there activities. We will be back in 2017.


Craig