I will begin this story of a fine evening at the Belmont Pier English Car gathering by asking WHERE is Chica/Hot Chili Pepper, Monica Lago Kaytis and Clay? They missed a doozy of an afternoon and might I say, valuable points for the Spirit Trophy chase!!.
I called Bob Bolling early in the morning to see if Bob and Shari wanted to do an early dinner with Dawn Lakowski, my wife Nancy and me, before going to the Belmont Pier. We chose a lovely and wonderful Rome, Italy Restaurant (the Chico and Chicas favorite) named : La Parolaccia Osteria at 2945 E. Broadway St, in Long Beach Ca., phone 562-438-1235. We highly recommend this Italian eatery to all you folks in the South Bay and all nearby areas. It is Molto Delicioso!! Si. All accepted my invitation and we gathered there at 4:30 PM to enjoy a wonderful meal and camaraderie with great friend prior to driving a couple of miles to the Belmont Pier show. It only took a few minutes to get there and Bob and I were the only two English cars at this point. After a short while a few MGA’s appeared and a couple of Jaguars and finally our great buddy Dan O’Neill showed up with his Healey.
We all chatted for a while and then I asked Nancy, due to the abnormal heat and the fact that we would have to go back to our shop in Torrance and trade cars to my daily driver, a Dodge Dakota, if it was time to vamonos al camino pronto (let's hit the road Jack!). Of course Nancy was more than ready, we had had a very long day starting with a 0645 Gym session and then work on the old heaps at the shop until we met up for dinner.
I do say, old chaps – it is all for the adventure of owning these lovely old cars.
Cheers / Ciao Dan O’Neill took the photos of the showing at Belmont.