While Exhale took a little break – tied up at the Isle of Hope, Savannah GA – Capt. Rick, Buttercup and I flew to Austin, TX; hometown of Dana Belknap, M/V Tumbleweed, and second home of Craig Adford and Maureen O’Gara.
We left long before breakfast – Buttercup was not impressed.
First, a heartfelt thank you to Gail and David Bernstein who facilitated this amazing trip to see the Formula One races! Former Austin residents, they started going to the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) track when it opened in October of 2012, that year Mario Andretti waived the green flag to officially start the races! It was reported that 117,429 folks watched the races that year – now that’s a precise number.
Gail, David, Bert and EJ are private seat licensed (PSL) ticket holders. Strategically, their seats are at Turn 15 – the best in the house! Rob and Kerry went last year, so they know what we mean.
If you have never experienced the frenzy, here are a few bragging stats from COTA for last year (2022): Record attendance: over 440,0000 sweaty persons; Economic impact ~ $10 billion, that’s with a “B”, think roughly two Super Bowls; Austin jobs ~ 64,000.
There were lots of Fan-atics in the crowd.
Although the final numbers are not in yet, 2023 was predicted by COTA to top all of that, in sweltering heat. We believe it!
With PSL tickets, we walked the pits on Thursday.
Just in time for a fun publicity stunt by Drew Barrymore, who posed with my favorite, Red Bull racer Sergio Checo Perez #11.
Red Bull racing team, Drew Barrymore and team principal Christian Horner.
Thank you to Maureen and Craig for spoiling us, rotten for an entire week! We ate, we drank, we ate some more!
Craig and Mo live in a peaceful community with lots of hiking trails. The view overlooks Lake Travis. We hope you get rain, soon!
One of our favorite moments was the tailgate party in the parking lot!
Buttercup enjoyed every moment!
In Texas everything was fabulous!
Go Max Go
And the winner is …. Because this blog is late, again, you already know that Max won!
From Race Cars to Baby Pods, who knew!?
Not sure who to root for with so many great teams? Consider Williams – okay, the 2023 drivers did not fare well, but the company is awesome. Maureen, our hostess with the most-ess, offered a heartwarming story of the unexpected application of race car engineering utilized by Williams!
More than just racing – introducing the Babypod 20!
Real-time data is the oxygen, the lifeblood of a Formula One race car. Every ripple of movement – by the driver and his car – is carefully monitored and anlayzed. The car is also designed to withstand a 20 G-force crash, so when the car smashes into other cars, or a wall, it is highly probable the driver(s) will walk away!
Now imagine designing a portable, crash-resilient transport carrier for new-born infants! Made of carbon-fibre, the Babypod 20 is ultralight, temperature-controlled, with a built-in vital signs monitor (like the race cars!). Easily transferred to a stretcher, trolley, ambulance, car or helicopter, the pod has already saved the lives of countless infants!
Pure brilliance! Bravo to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, located in the London Borough of Camden, who partnered with Williams and Advanced Healthcare Technology to develop the Babypod!
“Second to the right, and then straight on till morning”
One more super cool thing about that hospital – Author James Matthew Barrie gifted all of his copyrights to Peter Pan (book and theatre) to support Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children back in 1929. It turns out, JM Barrie once lived on Grenville Street, behind Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH). That house became the inspiration for the Darlings’ family home in his fabulous novel Peter Pan. In 1988 the House of Lords extended the rights, in perpetuity, to insure the royalty checks would continue! What a fabulous legacy. If you want to learn more, click here! https://www.gosh.org/about-us/peter-pan/history/
Celebrating Milestones (a few missed birthday).
October 22, Kelly Thorn-Hiebert; October 27, Steven “with a v” Hunt – still throwing flowers; October 29, Jo Callaway; October 30, Lana Savona
Coming Up: Heading to Kilkenny Marina
Note to our followers – our last post was from South Port SC – we will do a “gap post” soon to fill in the missing stops from Little River, Waccca Wachie (hello Free Style), Georgetown, Charleston, Beaufort SC, and Hilton Head)
For Dana – FreeStyle caught up with us in Isle of Hope. We have been bumping into them for years now, beginning in Maine in 2021, and most recently during our Canadian adventure. You should be here, Tumbleweed!
Exhale on the Water 
Looks like you 2 have been bitten by the “race bug.” Been there done that! Having attended 2 Daytona 500s and one Indy 500 and 3 NASCAR championships in Homestead, nothing compares to being there. TV does not do it justice. The sound , the smell, the excitement! So much fun!
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Hi Exhale! Wow…lots of info! Sounds like you had an awesome Texas Time at the races! Something I’ve never experienced or known much about! Glad all the logistics worked out well and that you were able to enjoy time w special friends. I bet you’re getting the “homestretch itch” now that you’re getting close to the Florida line! Travel safe friends!😘
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