Have you ever wondered what it would be like to Caravan 780 miles with 1,000 Corvettes? Well, Team VETTE did just that, and we had a blast! We traveled through three states-without incident-with a great group of Corvette people and made many new friends during our adventure. The experience reaffirmed our belief that Corvette owners of all generations enjoy having fun with their Corvettes. Every car was gleaming, and the owners' smiles were a wonderful site to behold. Our arm got tired from waving, but the smile never left our face!
The National Corvette Museum hosted the first Corvette Caravan during their 1994 Grand Opening. Corvettes from all over the country swarmed to the newly opened museum, and the Corvette Caravan was born. This year marks the 50th anniversary of our favorite sports car, and Bowling Green, Kentucky, and Nashville, Tennessee, celebrated this milestone with a four-day birthday party. Starting the celebration was a national caravan that ended at the party site; what a great way to gain national attention to this significant automotive milestone!
National Corvette Museum Marketing Director Bobbie Jo Lee invited Team VETTE to shadow one of these caravans. We gladly accepted her invitation and joined the National Corvette Caravan Florida Chapter lead by Andy Pilgrim. Andy is one of the factory C5-R drivers who had just completed the 24 Hours of LeMans race in France. He was certainly an excellent choice to lead a pack of Corvettes! Sue Barton Morrison was the Florida Caravan Captain and was a gracious host to Team VETTE during our trip. Her team ran the event in a very professional manner. Each caravan member was provided with a complete driver's handbook, car stickers, name tags, hotel reservation information, and a Nashville parking permit.
Day 1 started with groups leaving from seven Florida locations: Orlando, Miami, Tampa, Sarasota, Gainesville, Jacksonville, and Winter Haven. Our destination was Bruce Glueck Chevrolet in Jasper, Florida. Bruce's dealership sells a lot of Corvettes, so it was fitting that he volunteered to be our host at his spacious home outside Jasper. The turnout was huge! Corvettes were parked in every vacant spot on his property. Free BBQ and liquid refreshments were provided to many hundreds of Corvette owners, as well as great rock 'n' roll music. Thanks Bruce! Our caravan spent the night in Lake City, Florida.