Joe and Roxanne Pearlstein had been driving the "scenic twisties" of the lower Hudson River Valley for years alone. That all changed in the Fall of 1997, when other MR2's joined them for the first time. Joe Pearlstein named this "Bear Mountain MR2 Meeting." The following was posted by Joe Pearlstein in the Fall of 1997.
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What a beautiful day we had for this colorful, exciting, and culinary MR2 Gathering! Three couples (Len & Mel Z., Ron & Dodi, and Joe (me) & Roxanne) spent the evening before at the Comfort Inn in Mahwah, NJ at the south end of our tour (hey, guys, next year let's stay at the Ramada next door!). We ate dinner next door at the New York Steak House, where a delectible and huge (24oz.) Delmonico could be had for $11.95 and everyone enjoyed several pints of brew. Hey, we weren't driving until morning, so what the heck? Rumor has it that Ron & Len snuck back over to the place for many more pints of Killian's and Coors, but that is only a rumor. By the way, there was actually a room at our hotel labelled "MR2" which originally stood for "Meeting Rm. 2". That sign incidently is no longer mounted on that door, but I'm not rattin' out the culprit!
As the sun came up the next morning (yes I was up and about before dawn), the beautiful fall coloring in the nearby hills was evident, and I knew we were in for a great day! We met everyone up at the Tuxedo Pk. train station just a few minutes north of the hotel. There was Len & Mel (navy MKI), Aly and Kim (red '85 MKI soon to have a Momo Monte Carlo steering wheel), Anna Klein and Gary Richardson (midnight blue MKII turbo), Mark Finnegan & his fiancee Maureen (Black MKII turbo), Paul Rowe (gold MKI), (Dr!)Tony DeFeo (white MKII turbo, John Hornfeck (white MKII turbo hardtop), and Paul Kennedy (jeez, Paul, I forget exactly what MR2 you have...I'll blame it on the steroid-induced short term memory problem I have!). |
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Tony came up with a fantastic course of scenic twisties to drive through. If I had grown up in these parts, I never would have lived to make it to 21, as these roads would have killed me in my more zealous driving youth! Absolutely incredible! At least until John got stuck behind a Stikin' Lincoln, going sinfully slow. I flashed my lights at Paul Rowe in front of me, and we dropped out of the pack. We waited at the next circle near Bear Mountain for the pack to come back, but such was not to be! Does our tour end here? No way! Tony, who headed up the rest of the pack decided to climb Bear Mountain (we previously discussed that we probably wouldn't, due to expected traffic). Paul Rowe, John, myself and Roxanne decided to drive up to West Point and wait in town right before the main entrance to the United States Military Academy and wait. Maybe, just maybe they would show up. Paul and I actually walked into a bar and tried to page Jeff Fazio (who had a Reading, PA pager), as Jeff was also carrying a cell phone (we didn't have THAT number). No luck with the page, but 25 minutes or so later while we were parked at a West Point McDonald's with our MR2's showing to the approaching traffic, I saw a string of the other 8 MR2's coming our way! Pure kismet or pure luck? Doesn't matter! We were a force again! At this point Len & Mel had to head back home. The rest (now 10 MR2's) headed onto the West Point Military Reservation and posed for a photo with our cars parked on a bi-level lot with us in front. I'll keep you advised where you can find the photos as soon as I process and then scan them.
From West Point, we headed up the Storm King Highway (incredible!) up to our most northern point, crossed over the Hudson River, and came back down the other direction. We ate in a 4-star rated restaurant called The Inn @ Breakneck Mountain. This was a place in the hollow of a humungous cliff (that photo to follow as well). The food was absolutely first rate! After our early dinner, we continued down the east side of the Hudson, crossed over at the Bear Mountain Bridge, went through Harriman State Park (twisties all the way!) and finally back to where we started. It was an absolutely fabulous day, and fun was had by all. There are lots of highlights I'm probably forgetting, please forgive me. The comment I made about short-term memory problems due to steroids is actually true--it is one of the side-effects I have due to the anti-rejection meds for my heart transplant.
Oh, here's a good one...We had to bring 10 MR2's though an incredibly conjested traffic circle...The one between the foot of Bear Mountain and the Bear Mountain Bridge. It was taking quite a while to maneuver the cars through the circle, and we had to go around 270 degrees. Jeff Fazio (who else?!) actually ran interference for the group by driving in front of an oncoming road, blocking the traffic flow from it so the MR2's could pass without splitting up! What a move!
I'd like to thank Aly for being the group's eyes for determining the best weekend for this trip (timing the fall coloring perfectly!) and Tony Defeo for actually putting the route together and leading us through it. And most of all, thanks to everyone who showed up and helped the rest of us enjoy the day! This is a trip that Roxanne and I have been doing for years; this is the first time we did it with other MR2's, and it was the best! Thanks again!
Joe Pearlstein
'91 Crimson Red MKII, Past owner of '86 Super Red MKI
Philadelphia, PA
From West Point, we headed up the Storm King Highway (incredible!) up to our most northern point, crossed over the Hudson River, and came back down the other direction. We ate in a 4-star rated restaurant called The Inn @ Breakneck Mountain. This was a place in the hollow of a humungous cliff (that photo to follow as well). The food was absolutely first rate! After our early dinner, we continued down the east side of the Hudson, crossed over at the Bear Mountain Bridge, went through Harriman State Park (twisties all the way!) and finally back to where we started. It was an absolutely fabulous day, and fun was had by all. There are lots of highlights I'm probably forgetting, please forgive me. The comment I made about short-term memory problems due to steroids is actually true--it is one of the side-effects I have due to the anti-rejection meds for my heart transplant.
Oh, here's a good one...We had to bring 10 MR2's though an incredibly conjested traffic circle...The one between the foot of Bear Mountain and the Bear Mountain Bridge. It was taking quite a while to maneuver the cars through the circle, and we had to go around 270 degrees. Jeff Fazio (who else?!) actually ran interference for the group by driving in front of an oncoming road, blocking the traffic flow from it so the MR2's could pass without splitting up! What a move!
I'd like to thank Aly for being the group's eyes for determining the best weekend for this trip (timing the fall coloring perfectly!) and Tony Defeo for actually putting the route together and leading us through it. And most of all, thanks to everyone who showed up and helped the rest of us enjoy the day! This is a trip that Roxanne and I have been doing for years; this is the first time we did it with other MR2's, and it was the best! Thanks again!
Joe Pearlstein
'91 Crimson Red MKII, Past owner of '86 Super Red MKI
Philadelphia, PA
