The first thing to know about this tour is that it will be a five day, four night tour. It is a long way to Melbourne, FL where the primary destination is located, so it is two days down and two days back unless you fly. However, we are going to be very flexible and allow you to join us, or depart from us at various points of the tour. This tour will visit the Brumos Collection, the American Muscle Car Museum, the Florida Owners Group 356 concours, and the Don Garlits Drag Museum. In addition, we will have at least two group dinners planned, so there will be plenty of time for socialization. But be aware that the restaurants have limited capacity so there will be limits on how many can attend the group dinners, so register early.
The American Muscle Car Museum is not open to the public. You only get in by being part of a charity event. So, we will be making donations to Drive Toward a Cure for this tour to qualify, and registration will be on their site. For those who might not know Drive Toward a Cure supports Parkinsons’ victims, and all of the money we donate goes to the charity, and they support Emory Udall Parkinson’s Disease Center with our donations. We will require a minimum $100 donation for the first two people covered by your registration. Additional people covered in your registration will be $50 / person. However, we recommend you make a GOLD donation of $200 for the first two people. You can also choose to make an additional donation of any amount you choose. All donations are tax deductible. Register here
Although titled as the American Muscle Car Museum, the museum has about 100 Porsches, and 300+ non-Porsche automobiles. It has every color of Ford GT40 in addition to all the classic muscle cars. This is the largest muscle car museum in the U.S. To make this tour even more interesting Dennis Gage, of Youtube fame, will be filming the morning we go there so we may get a chance to meet him. You won’t want to miss this opportunity.
Wednesday March 19 – sign-in at the Starbucks located at 3130 US-278 Covington, GA 30014 beginning at 8:30 Lunch in or near Dublin, GA Check-in to the ocean front Holiday Inn Resort 701 Beachview Dr N, Jekyll Island, GA 31527 You will receive an e-mail specifying the link to reserve your room from our block once you have registered for the tour. See their website Dinner will be your choice of several local restaurants
Thursday March 20 – 8:30 departure for Jacksonville, FL Lunch – approximately 11:30 at a restaurant of your choice in the Town Center Mall area – many to choose from Visit the Brumos Collection entering at approximately 1:00 (tickets are sold on a timed entry basis) Cost is $19.99 for seniors, $24.99 for adults plus tax and a credit card processing fee – you will purchase these during registration so that we can book the group together. See website
Approximately 2:30 - Depart Brumos Collection and drive to Melbourne 5:30 – arrive and check-into the Hilton Melbourne for 2 nights stay. You will receive a link to register from our block of rooms once you have registered for the tour. See website 6:15 or as soon as possible – depart for dinner at Grills Riverside Seafood Deck & Tikki Bar, which features seafood, but also has chicken, beef, ribs and soups and salads. See their web site: https://www.grillsseafood.com/ (this will be limited to the first 40 people to register – we will provide some suggestions for additional dining options for those who aren’t in the first 40 people to register)
Friday March 21 – 9:30 depart for the American Muscle Car Museum See their web site: https://www.americanmusclecarmuseum.com/ Lunch on your own Friday afternoon – on your own to explore, but I might suggest Mel Fisher’s Treasures museum which houses exhibits about the 1715 Spanish treasure fleet which was sunk off the coast near Vero Beach. See their web site: https://www.melfisher.com/sebastian.html Friday 5:00 – depart the hotel for dinner at River Rocks Dining & Drinks Dockside restaurant where we will choose from a preset menu including appetizers, salads, and dinner specialties of Fresh Fish, Shrimp Scampi, Onion Crusted Chicken, Slow Roasted Prime Rib, or Glazed Scallops (limited to the first 50 people to register – we will provide some suggestions for additional dining options for those who aren’t in the first 50 people to register) See their website: https://www.riverrocksrestaurant.com/
Saturday March 22 – 9:00 depart to attend Florida Owners Group’s 356 concours and socialize with our Florida neighbors 11:30 we will depart to begin our return to Atlanta and will stop to get a quick lunch somewhere in the Melbourne area.
We will make a stop at Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing – there are two buildings, one with classic cars of the 20’s through 60’s, and the main attraction is the drag cars in the other. Ticket prices if we have a group of at least 10 will be $12 per adult or $10 for seniors plus credit card fee. If we don’t have at least 10 then tickets are $22 for adults and $17 for seniors plus credit card processing fee. Tickets not included in registration fee, but will be an optional purchase during registration.
Upon completion of our tour of Don Garlits we will continue to Ocala and check into the hotel which will be chosen based on how many people register and want to stay with us the whole tour. Possible hotel selections include the Holiday Inn and Conference Center, the Marriott Courtyard, and the Hilton Garden Inn. Once we have a better idea of how many rooms to get you will receive a link to register from our block of rooms.
We will choose a dinner location based on the number of people returning with us.
Sunday March 23 You will be on your own to drive home from Ocala.
If you do not want to attend the entire tour you could go to Jekyll Island and depart the tour. You could optionally stay 2 extra nights. Or you could continue to Melbourne with us, (or join us in Melbourne) and attend the Muscle Car Museum and Florida Owners Groups’ concours. You can stay for all of the events through the Saturday concours and choose not to return through Ocala with us. You can choose not to drive down, but instead fly to Orlando or Melbourne and rent a car and join us for the Melbourne portion of the tour and fly back home. You could decide to stay extra nights in Melbourne. So, you see you have lots of flexibility to participate in whatever portion of the tour you want. Also note that every hotel we have chosen has food and beverages available in the hotel. I just ask that you commit during registration as we must know how many people we have for each segment of this tour.
