The Dana Point Festival of Whales was a huge success. The weather was terrific and the turnout for the British Invasion car show was also outstanding. Each day, we had about 30-35 cars from the British marques: Austin Healey (of course!), Jaguar, Triumph, MG, Mini, Lotus. We even had a Ford GT40, several Cobras and even an English Daimler sedan. Both on Saturday and Sunday, April 12-13th, we parked our cars on the grassy harbor walk overlooking the harbor and all the boat slips.
In addition to car and people watching, we attended several of the festival events, the clam chowder tasting was a big hit and many of us gathered (thanks to George Marino) at the Dana West Yacht Club for an excellent dinner on Saturday night and lunch on Sunday. Many of our members made a weekend of it and stayed overnight at the Dana Point Inn or at friend’s homes in the area. Attending from our club were myself & Kathy, Steve Kirby, Peter & Alexandra Roses, George Merino, Tim & Joyce McNiff, Dex & Peggy Kaytis, Phil & Nancy Caliva, Greg Aden, Corkey & Lupita Holt, Lenny Tinturin, Mike & Anna Biss, Mitch Gonzales, Sam & Denise Thoman, and Jim Young. Many thanks to Steve Kirby who helped recruit the excellent Jaguar turnout and for helping me check-in and park the cars.
The car presentation was beautiful, and with all the festival attendance, we had many interested onlookers. We sat on our folding chairs under our “easy-up” drinking wine and watching the people admire the cars. The cars were the “eye candy” that attracted attendees to the surrounding booths and events.