March 25, 2015
151 Miles and 5 1/2 Hours Later…
Another great turn-out for the V.C.C.A. of 23 members, 2 guests, 12 Corvettes and 1 Firebird. Our destination on this fine Wednesday morning was the Mission Inn.
Located in Howy-in-the-Hills this is NOT your average seafood joint on the water, oh-no, far from it. The architecture kind of reminds you of an old mission, maybe that’s where the name came from…ya think?! The atmosphere in the restaurant was very nice. A pretty good buffet was served and I think most took advantage of it. A variety of Salad makings, cole slaw that I heard was really good and one of my favorites a very good 3-bean salad. These starters along with some good steaks, B-B-Q-Ribs and a variety of entrees made for some good eating, not to mention some deserts also.
Anyway we met at 10:00a.m. and started out and wouldn’t you know it, we got separated at the get-go. That’s right, only two Vettes got out of the drive together, but we gathered the herd in again and drove on. Another nice drive-out and once again we all arrived at our destination together.
After lunch we sat around and B.S.ed for a while then headed off to the obligatory stop up-the-road-a-piece (that’s country talk) to the Yalaha Bakery. Just walking into that place will put three pounds on you and raise your blood-sugar ten points!
I stuck to my self-imposed dietary restrictions and only eyeballed every delicious looking pastry in the place. There were éclairs, cookies, cakes, pies and a variety of great smelling breads to be had. Almost everyone took something to shoot holes in whatever diet they may have been on. I say “good for you!”
As the blacktops of Sumter, Lake and Volusia Counties rolled under our vehicles, which at this point were carrying slightly more weight than before, we headed back through more lightly traveled back roads. We saw lots of cows and wild flowers as we drove through Bevills Corner and Center Hill (never heard of ’em!). We turned off some road onto C.R. 567 which turned out to be like “The Loop” up North. It was like driving through a tunnel of trees in some spots, pretty neat.
Somewhere around Taveres, Mascotte City, or Groveland we did a pit stop at a place called Bean Street Coffee Co. for gas and some bottled water. As we drove on from there we started to splinter a bit. Some got caught by lights and some took a more direct route home. At one point a few of us who were bringing up the rear had been held up by sand hill cranes crossing the road, you know how slow they can be.
All-in-all it was another fun drive-out, good food and good people and another chapter in the “V.C.C.A. Book of Adventures”. Let’s all continue to…
Keep the Vettes Rollin’
Chuck Powers
