MTTS 2008 Update

Just a quick update regarding MINI Takes the States 2008. All the details of MIAMI leg of MTTS 2008 are now updated and available here. Then, Rauno Aaltonen affectionately known as the Flying Finn will be driving north with the entourage: Sunday, June 15, 2008 - Miami to an overnight in St. Augustine, FL. Then on Monday, June 16, 2008 on to Savannah, GA for the afternoon, early evening, then on to the next overnight in Charleston, SC. We will certainly be doing all we can to entertain them while they are here and some of us may even do the run to Charleston. Stay 'tuned' for more details.

It's May!!!

How did that happen? May already? We didn't skip April, but it went by so fast that it almost feels like it. We had a casual meeting over coffee, and today we did the same. Yes today was our first Sunday meeting! Shame on me for not posting a reminder.

However, now there is plenty to post about because Coastal MINIs has a full summer schedule ahead! We have several events for the summer that are in the planning stages. First off, MINI is planning another MINI Takes the States (MTTS) Event. It's not going to be a drive across the country adventure like 2006. This time they are staging 4 MINI extravaganzas. There is more here on MINI's official site. The event closest to us is in Miami on June 13-15. There are some MINIs driving from Miami to the next event in Boston, and they are planning on overnighting in Savannah! We would obviously want to give them a welcome party like only Coastal MINIs can. This would take place on either the 16th or the 17th of June which is a Monday or a Tuesday. Let us know via some comment love or an email if you'd be interested in welcoming the MTTS participants.

Next, remember the Great Ice Cream Run? Well, we'd like to do it again! It's just too much fun to close down Broughton Street and chow down on some ice cream for the sake of MINI camaraderie not to do it again. I mean really, who doesn't love Leopold's? This will likely take place in July or August, so stay tuned for more details!

Finally, the Savannah Sand Gnats have invited us, as a club, to a baseball game to showcase our cars and our club. How fun is that!? We're not sure when this is going to be happening yet, but we'll be sure to keep everyone updated. We are working with the Sand Gnats on a date, but in the meantime we need to know how many people would like to join us, so let us know!

Stay tuned for further updates on these events and more. It's going to be an exciting summer! :)

March Madness

Oh my, March has just about come and gone and whooshed right by us. It was a busy month! I hope everyone had a good Easter and kept their MINIs safe during St. Patrick’s Day and all the crazy weather that came with it. At our last meeting we had a good time sharing about the Helen trip that some of our members went on. Stephanie has pictures on her blog as usual. Go Stephanie! Looks like a good time was had by all!

Our next meeting is this coming Sunday the 6th of April. We’ll be at the usual time and place of course. We don’t have any formal plans to take a drive somewhere, but we could decide to take an impromptu trip out to Tybee or something if the mood (and weather) strikes us right. I know there were talks of going to Jacksonville soon to see our friends there. That might make a good May trip. We would also like to drive to Macon to meet with Middle Georgia MINIs sometime. Any ideas? If so, bring them to the meeting!

Now that it’s starting to get warmer, does anyone like the idea of a group carwash? Some of us (not naming names) have been way too swamped lately to pamper our MINIs (myself included) as we really should. However, we’re all detailing freaks at heart. Instead of running up someone’s water bill (unless there’s a volunteer), we could drive to a local car wash and make an afternoon of cleaning our cars together. Does anyone like the sound of that? We could even do it this Sunday! Comment if you like this idea and we’ll all plan on bringing our wash buckets, detailing towels, and quarters galore.

Cheers guys!

yes, we're alive

We're still alive over here but we did have a close call at our last meet up. Ok no, not really, but check this out:

Look at that sucker!!! He was HUGE!!!!

This guy and others were spotted at our February meeting at the beginning of this month. We had 7 MINIs get coffee, and 5 went on to a drive around the Nature Reserve. We even had a newcomer named Kevin in a lovely GP edition MINI. It's the only one in town, and we're so glad he decided to come along! It was a nice drive on a gorgeous day. Our cars got a bit dirty, but nothing a good California duster wouldn't fix.

Right now some of our members are on their way back from Helen, GA and the big rally organized by Middle GA MINIs. I'm sure there will be updates on how the trip went at our next meeting on the 2nd of March at the usual time and place. For those of you that went, share a link to photos you took and I will post it here.

There are more pictures of our February meet at Stephanie's blog.

See you next time!

February!

Hey everyone, long time no update…

We had a nice get together in January with what’s becoming a good sized group of “regulars”. Our little club has come a long way in the past year, and your dedication has been fabulous. Thank you! Anyway, the stalwarts of Coastal MINIs had a nice chat over coffee before heading our separate ways. We all decided that we’d like to have an informal outing for February (weather permitting). I think the general consensus was to head to the local wildlife refuge just over the bridge in SC. It’s a lovely drive, not very far at all, and we’ve made that trip before. We’ll plan on finding lunch somewhere afterwards of course. We haven’t been “motoring” in a while, so I’m looking forward to it. J

For those new to Coastal MINIs we will meet at our usual time and place on the first Sunday in February (the 3rd). We’ll hang around and get caffeinated for a little while, and then head out around 11. We’d love to have you, and feel free to bring friends!

There is also a big even being planned by our friends at Middle GA MINIs for the end of February. There is more info on the event here, but in short there are several GA MINI clubs getting together for some motoring, sightseeing, and twisty road driving in historic Helen, GA. Coastal MINIs has been invited, and we’d love to make a good showing for our new friends. If you’re interested in going on this trip, we will make plans at the February meeting. If you can’t come to the meeting, then email us and we will keep you informed.

Thanks for reading, and just a reminder, any suggestions for club matters or future motoring outings are always encouraged and appreciated.

Happy Motoring!

Brimming with Cheer

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!!!

Coastal MINIS has been business as usual lately. We met on December 2nd for some coffee and good company. We had some old faces, and some new ones too. It was also good to see our boys from Charleston again. Thanks for making the drive guys!

For those that were there... my car only smoked for about an hour or so after adding that oil. Lol.

We will also continue business as usual in 2008. I know we'll be getting together with the Middle Georgia MINIS, and we've always talked about making a trip up to the Dragon, plus our usual excursions to Charleston and Jekyl Island. It'll be a lot of fun! We hope to see you in 2008 at our usual time and place, for some motoring adventures. Feel free to bring along ideas, or anything else you have to share.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us at Coastal MINIS!!!!!

Anniversary

I just want to thank everyone SO much for their attendance on our anniversary run!! We had a total of I think 12 MINIs with about half from Savannah and half from Jacksonville. We had two clubs combine for this event, and it turned out wonderfully! The Savannah group stopped at the mini church as usual on our way down. It was a beautiful day, so when we got there we treated ourselves to lunch on the deck at Blackbeards that had a nice ocean view, with a little tour around the island afterwards. Our anniversay meeting turned out to be one of the best ones yet! Hopefully many more to come!

Our wonderful photographer Stephanie has loads of pics here on her site.

If you can pry yourself away from Thanksgiving leftovers, come get coffee and talk about your MINI with us, at the usual time and place on December 2nd.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!