NASM/USMC Museum/Potomac Mills Sojourn

September 10-12, 2010

ITINERARY

Friday

12:00 noon                Depart RDV spot, Sonic Drive-In, 12508 Capital Blvd, Wake Forest, NC  27587).

En route time approx six hours

Hotel:  Hampton Inn, 4050 WestFax Dr., Chantilly, VA (703.818.8200)

Near A&S Museum (http://www.nasm.si.edu/) complex near Dulles IAP

7:00 pm                      Backyard Grill, 13999 Metrotech Dr, Chantilly, 703/802-6400

http://www.backyardgrillrestaurant.com/chantilly

Saturday

8:00-9:00 am         Hot breakfast @ Hotel

9:00 - Noon             Tour Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Air & Space  Museum (Personal Pace)

http://www.nasm.si.edu/udvarhazy/

Noon -1:30 pm       Lunch (Dining available on site, but lots of places nearby)

1:30 -5:00 pm         Tour wrap-up, depart for hotel

7:00 pm                     Dinner: TBD

Sunday

8:00 - 9:00 am           Breakfast

9:00 am - Noon         USMC Museum (http://www.marineheritage.org/) at Quantico MC Base, Quantico, VA

Noon - 1:30 pm          Lunch at Potomac Mills

1:30 - 5:00 pm           Shopping at Potomac Mills Shopping Mall

5:00 - 6:00                  Dinner at Food Court in the Mall

6:00 pm                        Depart for home at personal pace

Join us at Michelin’s Laurens Proving Ground (LPG) for a day of Michelin®-Corvette love!

On Saturday, June 5th from 9 am to 4 pm, Michelin® will host Corvette® owners from around the Southeast at our test track in Laurens, SC:

• Experience the facility where Michelin tests and develops the tires that are fitted to your Corvette cars.
• Enjoy a parade lap around on of LPG’s many tracks.
• Learn driving tips from a Pro Driver from one of Michelin’s Driving School partners.
• Test drive and compare the MICHELIN Pilot Sport PS2 versus the MICHELIN Pilot Sport Cup tires.
• Purchase new MICHELIN tires for your Corvette and get them fitted right on site.
• Participate in other activities at the facility.

A catered lunch will be available (hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, etc.) for $10.00 per person.

If you would like to buy MICHELIN® tires for your Corvette®, you can purchase them on-site or call 800-722-3234 to pre-order and ensure that we’ll have your tires on-hand. It is highly recommend that you pre-order if possible.

Click Here to Register for the Corvette Driving Experience

If you have any questions, please call Frank Sancineto at (919) 604-6978

See you in Laurens!

Click here to see a map with the track’s location.

By providing the information on this form, you agree to receive advance notice of offers and/or new product information from Michelin North America. NOTE: Michelin has a very strict privacy policy. We do not sell or rent your personally identifiable information to third parties.

The shirts are $15.00 each.

Please send an e-mail to Frank at NCMAmbassador@rtp-corvettes.com with size(s) and quantity if you would like to place an order.  If you would like to have a t-shirt for the ‘Vettes Doin Charleston’  trip in April, please submit your order no later than March 31.

The following images show the t-shirt front and back with close ups of the logo on the front and the large image on the back.

For those of you new to the club there is a brief on the history of the company and a review from the N&O below.

We are confirmed for Sat Mar 27th at 1:30 p.m. (and non club guests are welcome).

As with last year there will be a $10 person fee, the fee includes: A 15-20 minute presentation / Q&A session by Bob, the owner, if there is interest. Unlimited chocolate samples for consumption on site. Please note his selection includes a number of sugar free items. Unlimited coffee / chocolate drinks made at the store for consumption on site. Unlimited gelato samples for consumption on site. Joe or Diana will be collecting the $ 10 per person fee at the door so Bob can focus on taking care of the club members.

Location:Chocolaterie Stam 1820 Martin Luther King Boulevard Suite B-10 ( In Chapel Hill North Shopping Center) Chapel Hill, NC 27514

Directions from Raleigh / Apex / Cary: Take I-40 to Exit 266 (Hwy 86 / MLK Blvd) turn left towards Chapel Hill, crossing over I -40. Proceed to third light, which is Perkins, and turn left. Take next left into the shopping center. Stam will be on your right across from the ABC Store and Blockbuster. (Bob suggested that we may wish to park on the side lot on the left just past Blockbuster)

History As early as 1817, an ancestor of the Stam Family ran a bakery that over time would develop a reputation for pastries and chocolates. In 1913, Jacobus Stam, upon urging from his clients decided to specialize in chocolates exclusively. Hence, Chocolaterie Stam was created. Three of his four sons, Frits, Wim and Jaap, and one daughter, Fredi, decided to join their father in the chocolate business in the late 1930’s and 1940’s with each developing their own branch of the Chocolaterie Stam family tree. Frits’ business turned very successful and was joined in 1978 by his second eldest son, Ad. The youngest of Frits’s seven sons, Ton, felt that America would appreciate his father’s chocolate as much as Netherlanders do. Now Americans can experience a nearly 100 - year Dutch tradition of fresh cream and nut filled chocolate bonbons from Chocolaterie Stam. Greg Cox, N&O Restaurant Critic and Food Writer …. in Chapel Hill, Bob Droog’s childhood memories of eating exquisite chocolates while growing up in Holland have culminated in the opening of Chocolaterie Stam in Chapel Hill North Shopping Center. Those chocolates had been made by the original Stam shop in Amsterdam, and memories were all Droog had of them until about a year ago. That’s when he saw a Food Network show featuring Chocolaterie Stam, and he learned that the Stam family now owns a handful of shops in Holland and Iowa (where subsequent generations of Stams have since settled). Droog got in touch with the company’s owners, and persuaded them to allow him to open the first non-family-owned franchise with his wife, Lee Ann. As a result, Droog can relive those sweet childhood memories any time he wants, sampling to his heart’s delight among some 80 confections — the orange peel chocolates he fondly recalls from childhood, or chocolates whose cream filling magically melts before the chocolate outside, or caramels, or truffles. He can sip ultra-rich hot chocolate as he boxes up mix-and-match selections for customers…or European-roasted coffee,and so can we.

Here is the link to the NCM site:  NCM HPDE at VIR

RTP Corvettes have a block of 15 rooms reserved for club members at the newly renovated Hampton Inn Charleston Airport/Coliseum.   You’ll be able to see some of the renovations in the pictures on the Hampton Inn website.

Click here to go to the reservations page:  Hampton Inn Charleston

In addition to a great weekend in a beautiful city with all our Corvette friends, the Blue Angels will be performing at the Charleston Air Expo on Saturday.  If you recall, the Tanger Outlet Center is located very close to Joint Base Charleston (formerly Charleston AFB) and we should get a good view of some of the air show ourselves.

Here is a link to the air show website: 2010 Charleston Air Expo

CCCC put on a terrific show last year so let’s have a large contingent of RTP Corvettes members at the show!