Recap of the Summer Basch weekend, June 28-30, 2002 Orlando FL

(photos and copy by Wei-Shen Chin unless otherwise stated)

It was clear from the beginning that this weekend was special.  The weather in Orlando has been absolutely AWFUL for the past 3 weeks.  It would pour everyday from sunup to sundown and then sometimes it would REALLY rain for a few hours.  Had we planned the NSX/S2000 Basch for any OTHER weekend in June, we would have needed boats to navigate southern Lake County.

NSXs and S2000s came from all over the Southeast US to attend.  There were cars from as far away as Atlanta and Montgomery AL!  In all we had 25 NSXs participating with 9 S2000s, over 60 participants and their families.  This was our largest and best attended event yet!  Our headquarters hotel was the Mission Inn, selected due to its location in rural Lake County, surrounded by hilly lightly traveled roads, with excellent room rates and facilities for our club.

We started with a Friday evening sunset cruise and dinner on the restored Riverboat La Reina.  The weather was poor during the afternoon with thunderstorms but several hours before the departure it started to let up with only a few spits of drizzle when we left the dock at 710pm.  The clouds even broke for a short while at sunset.  There wasn't much wind and it was cool, mid 70's, from the rain.

(summer BBQ dinner and fixins' on La Reina....the food was EXCELLENT)

(L to R...Mimi, Barry, Armando, and Mercy)

(L to R...Wei-Shen, Tom, Jerry, Dave, Vince, and Deb, photo by Petra)

(Paul and Ronda...photo by Petra)

(hamming it up on the bus...photo by Petra!)

After dinner, nobody had the energy to DANCE.  We were all very tired and decided to call it a night EXCEPT for Armando and Mercy who visited Universal City Walk for MORE activity!

Saturday morning I awoke and went out to retrieve the paper.  I felt this unusual warm sensation on my back and it took me a second to realize that it was....THE SUN!!!  The sky was an unusual color....BLUE.  Well, I thought, this ought to last at LEAST a minute or two before I pull my CLEAN car out of the garage.

(morning drivers meeting....SAFETY FIRST!!...photo by Mark Payton)

NSXs  and S2000s starting gathering EARLY at Mission Inn for our 9am departure.  We sent the cars out in three groups after a stern drivers meeting about such things as safety, speeding (Howey in the Hills cops are definitely looking for us) and general traffic hazards.  Everyone had an itinerary and specific directions in writing and on a map.  Despite instructions to FILL GAS and EMPTY bladders PRIOR to the start of the caravan, two of the three groups had to make early stops for BOTH.

Wynn Davis led the S2k's, Vince Howard and Gunner led two groups of NSXs.  My wife and son, Mark Payton (our photographer), and I drove separately so we could get photos, watch for road problems and insure general safety for everyone.

(What's that BUICK doing in the way!!....Vince Howard leading group 2)

(Group 3 led by H Gunner....)

I am happy to report that we had no incidents....no tickets, no encounters with law enforcement and no off road excursions....well, except for Gunner's overshoot of the turnoff for Buckhill Road!  I ran part of the route backwards to make sure there were no new road hazards.  The route took a meandering course through south Lake County and West Orange county utilizing some of the hilliest curvy roads in Florida.  At 155 miles, it was LONG but FUN.  We had two cars break down.  A turbo Miata (who ran with us in the past) made it exactly 4 miles before smoking a turbo, and Greg McCarthy's car which had a stalling problem that was quickly corrected about halfway through.

Sue, Austin, Mark and I ran ahead to the Fantasy of Flight to get ready for our photo session, lunch and museum tour.  The facility manager Pam Petersen rolled out the red carpet, allowing us to park our cars out next to the planes and setting up a private lunch in the Officer's quarters.  Staffers guided cars from the lot into the staging area and in 30 minutes we had all 30 cars set up and ready to go.

(3 early arrivals....starting the staging process)

(a group shot of the owners and their cars....we're missing three NSXs who came a few minutes late...)

(overhead shot from the cherry picker....by Mark Payton...to purchase hi-res copies of this photo contact Mark at speed2burn@hotmail.com OR by phone at 407-443-8867)

(planes everywhere...)

(Pam Peterson at the front entrance)

(above...Zebra NOS NSX from Jacksonville with B24 in the background...photo by Mark Payton)

L to R...Greg, Mark, and Scott

After the lunch and tours were completed, many of us headed back to the hotel for a NAP.  We gathered next for our Saturday evening dinner at the Mission Inn.  More NSXers joined us, some who couldn't make it to the lunch.  At dinner we gave away TONS of free stuff....free dyno runs, NSX brake pads and T-shirts from Cybernation, discount track fees from Chin Motorsports, stuff from Science of Speed, Courtesy Acura free oil changes and oil changes from Fournier's Performance Automotive.  Mark Basch was so busy with supercharger installs he was unable to attend the meal in his honor.  A total of 10 units were installed for the week....quite a feat considering all the modifications that were already in the cars.  After dinner, several of us headed to Disney's Boardwalk to listen to live music.  Unfortunately the Latin band usually at Atlantic Dance was not playing so we left early for home.

Sunday started partly cloudy with rain threatening....what's new.  We met at Mission Inn at 10am to take a scenic route to downtown Orlando and Lake Eola Yacht Club....that has no yachts or boats, and sits on a landlocked 100 acre lake!  7 NSXs made the trip to the restored Thornton Park Area, a new yuppie neighborhood just east of downtown with quaint shops and wonderful restaurants that was a dump just 5 years ago.

L to R...Bob, Gunner, and Mark enjoying the NEW Basch supercharger

L to R....the Sunday brunch group....Bob, Heather, Paul, Rhonda, Susan, Bill, Gunner, Maria and Mark

lunch overlooking the lake

After lunch, we took everyone up to my apartment/office for more views of Orlando.  Even with the cloudy skies, the view from #1502 was outstanding.  It turns out that Paul works right next door.  With the impending rain, the tour of Thornton Park was postponed and we all said our goodbyes until NEXT TIME!!

So you're afraid of of heights?  L to R....Gunner, Petra, Mark, Maria, Mimi, Dave, and Paul