Watkins Glen, New York

This morning as we ate our breakfast outdoors in the cool, breezy autumn air, we heard the first of what would turn out to be the background noise for much of our day today: the rise and fall of whining race car engines as they sped around the Watkins Glen Raceway. We hadn't realized it, but it turns out that the raceway is only about one mile from our campsite. No worries...it didn't diminish our camping experience at all, we hurried to finish breakfast so we could go and find them!

We drove into the pretty little town of Watkins Glen, at the southern end of Seneca Lake.

Throughout the day we learned an enormous amount about auto racing and what it has meant to this formerly sleepy little town. Our first clue was when we drove into the town. On every street corner, and at several spots between each corner there flies an American flag. And just under almost every American flag there flies a black-and-white checkered flag. Even the local quilt shop carries out the town theme:

And then there's the main intersection of town. For many years, that was the starting point and finish line for the first sanctioned sports car race in America, which wound for 6.2 miles through the city streets and nearby roads...an extremely difficult track including pavement, dirt roads, a narrow bridge, twisting curves and steep hills. 

Almost everywhere you look in this pretty little town, you see something referring to sports car racing.

Here's the main feature in the Visitor Information Center:

And the beautiful classic Ferrari in the International Motor Racing Research Center, where we spent lots of time today (in the Research Center, that is, not in the Ferrari!, unfortunately!).

The Research Center houses memorabilia, archives, a vast library of all things relating to auto racing, and shows a great video on the history of auto racing in Watkins Glen. 

After visiting the Research Center, we headed out to the racetrack. 

No race was scheduled for today, but many of the contestants for tomorrow's Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) race were taking their practice laps to set their shifting and braking patterns for tomorrow. Even just watching them practice was enough to get our adrenaline up. Curt and I both used to race in SCCA Autocross races in the 1990's, driving a Ford Probe. Curt took it much farther than I did, even winning the SCCA Northwest Region championship (H Stock) in Wendover, Nevada one year. So it was great fun watching today. We both wished we were in the cars, not sitting up in the grandstands watching!

Here they come . . .

. . . And there they go!

I had to laugh when at one point I saw Curt, ever the gregarious one, deeply involved in a conversation about traveling, while the race cars we had come to watch zoomed by again and again. 

The only thing that makes a wonderful day even better (for me, at least....Curt is of a different opinion, I must admit) is to find a wonderful yarn / fiber shop. And eureka! Today was even better than wonderful in that respect!

Right there on the Main Street!

With beautiful window displays . . .

. . . A great selections of all things fiber related. . . 

. . .and even a "man corner" with magazines and hot coffee for the DPH's (Dear Patient Husbands).

I had a nice visit with Sue, who is one of 19 (yep, nineteen!) owners of the shop.

Here are some of the other owners in this photo. They look like a wonderful bunch of women!

So all in all, though it was cool and cloudy and a little drizzly at times, we had a wonderful day. A little something for everyone!

Now, if I suddenly start blogging from Italy, you'll know we won the raffle out in front of the Motor Racing Research Center!