Man, let me tell you… this summer has been brutal! Not only did we hit new heat index records here in South Florida (hitting 110 earlier this week), but my AC died at my house and left me and my family sweating for several days. Thankfully we were able to sleep at a neighbor’s house and took a trip to Orlando to stay in a hotel to keep cool. The week before, we were sweating it out in the hot South Florida sun at Palm Beach International Raceway for the Braman MINI 50th Birthday Bash. What a fun time that was. Huge props to the folks at Braman MINI for putting on one heck of an event.

There were MINIs from as far away as Jacksonville to came down to celebrate. $10 got you in the track for the whole day of go-karting, drag strip runs, auto-x and more! I took Scooter out on the drag strip and managed to click off a 15.098 second 1/4 mile. In that run, I actually beat a brand new Infinity G37 . Unfortunately, my day got cut short because I had to go start dealing with my ailing AC, but I still had a blast!

Palm Beach’s Braman MINI will be following Vista MINI’s lead in throwing a birthday bash for the Mini on Sunday, June 14th. Braman appears to be putting out all the stops for this event - a full day at the track for ALL Mini/MINI clubs to attend. This is the first time I have seen a local dealer in South Florida attract MINIacs from all over the state for a dealer event. It should be a lot of fun and a great chance to see people you don’t get to see except for larger events like Mickey and MINI.

MINIacs will be able to try their hand at autocross, a road course and even try out their MINIs on the drag strip at the newly renovated Palm Beach International Raceway (formerly Morosso). A live band, “Ever So Klever”, will be performing and there will be plenty to do for the whole family. An event flyer is located at the link below, so if you are in the “region”, come on out and say hi!

[ Event Flyer ]

[ Map of Event ]

[ Club/Event Sign-up ]

A few friends of mine made the trip over to MINI United 2009. I am still waiting to see some of their pics but fellow Sunshine MINIs member, mk1coopers, who is over there posted some pretty sweet photos that I think are worth a look at. Check out the link below for more!

MINI United 2009 Thread @ SSM

Like other dealers around the world, Vista MINI will be hosting a 50th anniversary bash to celebrate the Mini’s 50th anniversary. A full car show and BBQ is planned and a fun time will be had by all. If you will be in the South Florida area on May 31st, make sure to stop by and say hi. A big thanks to all the hard working people at Vista MINI for putting this event on! Click the banner for all the info!

This weekend, the second annual Undie 500 took place to benefit those less fortunate. Once again, MotoringFun.com member, speedy1 organized a state-wide rally that brought out the generosity in people. Thousands of undergarments were collected at various stops along the rally route. I caught up with the rally in Jupiter, Florida at the Queen Mary British Pub. It was great to see such a good turn-out once again for this event. Make sure to check out the photo gallery at the link below. A HUGE thanks to speedy1 for organizing another well-planned event. There is some talk about taking the Undie 500 national so stay tuned for next year’s event!

[ 2009 Undie 500 Gallery ]
[ Undie 500 Information ]

I finally had a chance to post up photos from last weekend’s Mickey & MINI 4 event. It wasn’t until I got home that I realized I had my exposure setting on my camera all messed up so if some of the photos are a little light, that is why (sorry about that). I also included a weekend recap below to let you know what we did and hoping that you realize that, if you didn’t go this year, you just HAVE to go next year . Enjoy!

Even though Mickey and MINI 4 officially kicked off on Friday the 26th, there were quite a few of us that arrived a day early to beat the rush and get things ready for the MINIac invasion that was to come. A nice group of us went to dinner Thursday night at Trail’s End restaurant at Disney’s Fort Wilderness. The food was good and the conversation was even better. Disney fireworks topped the night off in splendid fashion.

Read the rest of this entry »

Another Mickey & MINI is in the record books and this year was the best one yet!! With 300 of the best MINIacs this side of the Mississippi, Orlando was THE place to be this weekend. It was so nice to see familiar faces from last year and so cool to see so many new faces who, for some, this was their first MINI event ever! I plan on having a full weekend recap once I get my photos retouched (darn camera lens got mucked up and now there are spots on most of my photos ).

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I am also working on a video from the weekend as well. For now, enjoy the group photo from our Saturday Morning Motoring adventure which led us to the main EPCOT parking lot in front of Spaceship Earth. There were 68 MINIs/Minis that made up this photo. If you look close, you will see we had to double them up and create a second row. Sadly, I am short and did not have a tall platform to get an aerial shot to get all the cars in both rows in the shot (hmmm…. there is always next year ).

The latest event update e-mail has just gone out. In case your e-mail provider blocked it for some odd reason, here is a copy of the message that was sent out:

Can you believe it? It is time to get ready to “Motor the Magic”!! That’s right, our 4th Annual Mickey and MINI event is less than 1 week away! Please take a moment to print out our “Event Guide” with all the event information you’ll need for the weekend. Make sure you print it out and bring it along. In case the Event Guide attached to this e-mail did not come through, you can download the guide at the following link:

Event Guide Download Link:
http://www.mickeyandmini.com/mm4-guide.pdf

Three special notes to keep in mind:

1. If you are going to participate in the Scavenger Hunt, make sure to bring your digital camera. (and yes the printer option has been deleted this year!!)

2. Don’t forget about our Food Drive to support the local community. (see details on page 4 of the Event Guide)

3. Don’t forget to bring your two-way radios. We will be on channel 7-21 all weekend long and will be using them to make announcements in and around the hotel as well as during the various caravans.

Also, if you are arriving early on Thursday and would like to join the planning team for a fun and unique dining experience, we have made dinner reservations at Trails End @ Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort. It is an all-you-can eat buffet with great food and great atmosphere. Dinner usually runs about $20 and we have room for 15 people. We will be departing from the rear parking lot of the Embassy Suites (our host hotel) promptly at 6:30pm to caravan over to the restaurant. Since there is limited seating available, we will do this on a first sign-up basis. If we end up with more than 15, we will call to see if we can increase our reservation, but can’t make any promises. If you want to join us, please add your name to the sign-up list at the following link:

Thursday Night Dinner Info & Sign Up Link:
http://www.sunshineminis.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=18356

Thanks and “see ya real soon”

Your dedicated Mickey and MINI planners!!

With just a few days left to get your Mickey & MINI 4 registration in, what are you waiting for? Over 260 MINIacs have already sent in their registrations and are making preparations to converge in Orlando for one huge party!! Don’t delay and make sure you are part of the largest Mickey & MINI yet. For those early birds who will be arriving Thursday, we have made some reservations at a Disney restaurant to kick the weekend off right. Check out the link below to add your name to the Thursday night dinner list. See you there!!

[ Mickey & MINI 4 Website ]
[ Mickey & MINI 4 Forum ]
[ Thursday Night Dinner Sign-Up ]

If you have been putting it off, DON’T wait any longer!! Deluxe registration for Mickey and MINI 4 will only be open for a couple of hours before it is closed for good! Join the rest of the 230+ MINIacs who will converge in Orlando, Florida in one month to be part of the largest MINI meet in the Southeast. Get ready to “Motor The Magic” and have a blast. Register NOW before it’s too late.

[ Mickey & MINI 4 Website ]
[ Mickey & MINI 4 Forum ]