It’s Bristol Baby!! Visiting The Bristol Motor Speedway

Last week I had a three day meeting in Bristol, Virginia/Tennessee. Bristol Virginia and Bristol Tennessee actually share a main street called State Street, where you can stand in both states at one time.

I left out early on Monday morning. I was coming in from the Tennessee side. It was about a 3.5 hour drive for me. I was having a meeting with our tourism attractions organization, Southern Highlands. This is a group of tourism attractions and we meet about three times a year. We visit other attractions and learn the different ways they do things within their organizations. It is such a learning experience. We discuss point of sale systems, websites, ticketing and lots of other things.

I got into Bristol Virginia around 11:30 AM. Our first meeting started at noon with lunch. After a short lunch we had our meeting for about 2 hours. When our meeting ended we boarded a couple of vans and took off for The Bristol Motor Speedway.

I had been to the Speedway twice before. But I had never ridden on the track in a pace car. The last time we went out on the track it was in a Ford Bronco. So this time was very different. I was a little nervous. Three of us could ride at one time so having a couple of friends with me helped. They let me sit in the front seat.

The driver started out fast and got faster in the straightaways where we were up to 95 MPH. My hair was whipping straight back behind me. We went around the track several times. It was awesome!!!! After the ride I climbed out of the car and my legs were shaking.

After everyone had a chance to ride we did a tour of one of the private suites belonging to one of the drivers. It was probably as big as some houses. It was very nice with lots of seating and a private bar and kitchenette.

You can see why my legs were shaking when I got out of the car.

We were there for a couple of hours and then moved on to the next stop, The Birthplace Of Country Music Museum. I will share that with you in a different post. There is so much history there.

A few facts about The Bristol Motor Speedway:

The Speedway is a 0.533-mile oval short track. Billed as the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile and has been a site of many memorable NASCAR moments.
It is actually located in Bristol Tennessee.
Opened in 1961.
Capacity is 160,000 some of the turns are 24-48 degrees.
Featured in Toy Story, specifically in the scene where the characters race toy cars in the “Race Track” sequence.

I hope you enjoyed this short adventure to The Bristol Motor Speedway. Check out their website, www.bristolmotorspeedway.com

Always remember

Love your day your way!!! N

Wordless Wednesday Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park, Preston MN

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

Wordless Wednesday Niagara Cave, Harmony MN.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!!

Home Again, Home Again

Hello and happy Monday. I just got back from a week long trip to La Crosse Wisconsin. What a beautiful city La Crosse is. La Crosse is located on the banks of the Mississippi River in the southwestern part of the state. I was there for a work trip. I foolishly thought I could churn out a blog post or two while I was there, but people, it just didn’t happen. There was no free time.

It all started last Monday morning when I left my house at 5:15 AM. I had about an hour’s drive to the airport and my flight left at 8:00. I was very concerned because I only had a 45 minute layover in Chicago O’Hare airport. I considered only taking a carry-on but I was going to be there for a week and I just couldn’t do it. So I had to check a bag and then I was worried my bags wouldn’t make it.

Luckily, All of my flights were on time and getting through O’Hare was a breeze. I have flown through there several times and I am getting very familiar with the layout of the airport. Even my bags made it to La Crosse. The hotel has airport shuttle and they picked me up outside the airport. Easy peasy. Remember my post a few weeks back about travel? If not you can check it out here. I did follow a lot of those suggestions but sometimes I think it is just the luck of the draw when dealing with time zones and flights.

I got into La Crosse at noon on Monday. There was a one hour time difference. I took a little rest in my room and then met one of my friends for lunch. She had arrived for the meeting the day before. We walked into town and found a neat little restaurant, Bodega’s. We then spent some time walking through the town and visiting some of the little shops. We went to an amazing book store that was connected to a coffee shop. There was a young man playing a piano inside the book store and singing softly. It was just precious. We also got Ice Cream at a shop called The Pearl. It was so yummy. Oh and I almost forgot to tell you the temperatures that week were mid 60’s F. It was lovely. The trees were golden and had changed color much more than here at home.

Monday night we had an opening reception. This is an annual meeting so I was reunited with some of my friends that I don’t get to see often. It is always so much fun catching up. The following days were filled with meetings, seminars and a day trip into Minnesota where we toured two different caves. More on those in my next post. Let me tell you it was an exhausting, exhilarating, learning, and sharing week. Whew.

Before I knew it, it was Friday morning and my flight left at 6:00 AM. I was okay with that. I like early flights because that means I get home early. I did cringe a little when the hotel told me the shuttle to the airport would leave at 4:15 AM. Oh well, who needs sleep?