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By Tour Leader Tom
Ducibella Thanks to a pre-planned rain date, the weather gods from the dark side took a much-needed vacation, and the Cape Ann / Essex / Ipswich / Glynn Motorsports (GMS) event was blessed with perfect weather. This may have encouraged the huge turnout of about twenty Alfas and twice as many people who attended the drive or arrived directly at GMS. After the faithful gathered for rest stop route rap on Route 128 in Beverly, the Alfa “train” left for the coastline. Our first stop was the beach on Ocean Street in Manchester-by-the-Sea, where we regrouped and were greeted by a young photographer who was looking for large Italian sculptural objects for his photo collection. Of course, we obliged and encouraged him to get an Alfa of his own in the future, something he said was definitely on his wish list. Then we headed for Gloucester and, as luck would have it, the drawbridge went up just before the first car went over. After five minutes of watching the bridge do its thing, we cruised through the commercial coast side of Gloucester and headed out East Main Street onto a scenic seacoast drive, winding along the rocky shoreline. It was a perfect road for top-down convertible driving, with speeds around 40 mph and unimpeded water views. Then the tour turned inland through “clam country”, including world-famous Farnham’s, Woodman’s, and The Clam Box — perfect for someone with very low cholesterol and fried food fantasies. Somehow, none of our group stopped (must have been that Italian food waiting at the tour’s end). Clam country also includes attractions for those with antique addictions, as Route 133 in Essex has one of the highest densities of antique dealers in the country (according to last week’s “Chronicle” TV show on New England). Again, the faithful passed up the antique sirens to press on for GMS. Just before Ipswich center, we did another scenic tour of Jeffries Neck, a little-known, off-the-beaten-track peninsula north of Ipswich center. Unfortunately, the tour leader’s car had an aging moment (his 1969 Spider did not come with GPS), heading down the wrong “neck” road, only to find himself and half of his flock on a dead-end road with a tight turn-around. Meanwhile, of course, the other half of the flock followed the directions and went on to a beach photo op spot, where we all soon regrouped. Fortunately for the tour leader, everyone’s mind was on food, and we completed the neck tour before heading out Route 133 for GMS, which was only about ten minutes away. It was almost like old times once all the cars pulled into GMS, where so many events have taken place over the years. Once again, the lot was filled with Giuliettas, GTVs, and Spiders, in addition to Rod Burdick’s Sprint Speciale, Rick Lesniewicz’s Giulia Super, and Tom Freiberger’s Montreal. Paul Glynn, Michael Wrigley, and Ian Anderson hosted us, and many owners picked their brains with questions that had been hibernating since the last GMS event.
Angela and Ralph, owners of Dom’s Trattoria of Beverly Farms, soon
rolled in with the calzones, pasta salad, and greens, and the event
was complete. We would like to thank Peter Walker for considerable
help with the tour, as well as wives Meg (Peter) and Angela (myself,
and no relation to Dom’s Angela) for their cell phone work on
regrouping for photo ops.
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(Click on the thumbnails below for a larger view, and then
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