[MSCW list] MSCW 2024 Destination Drive #6 - Flying Circus Balloon Festival - August 10, 2024

[Timothy Metzinger]

This is an EARLY MORNING event, where we'll head to the Flying Circus in Bealeton, VA for their annual balloon festival.

We will start at the Centreville High School Parking Lot on 6001 Union Mill Road in Clifton, Virginia.  We'll leave the lot at 5:15 AM (before sunrise in the morning twilight), head over through Clifton, and bypass Manassas on back roads and skirt our way around the Northern and Western edges of Quantico base as we make our way to the airshow, arriving around 6:30 AM.  The hot air balloons will begin launching at 7:00 AM, and there's a $20 admission fee to the Flying Circus, though that will let you stay for the afternoon airshow at 1:30 PM.  Once we get there, folks are on their own to stay or leave as they please.  You'll likely want to bring your own seating.  I expect I'll bring an extra chair, and that Ian will have his chair and sunshade as well. Once we're all in and the baloons have launched (between 7 and 9 AM), anyone interested can follow me to the Corner Deli in Remington VA.  The airshow will take place at 1:30 PM, and once it's over (hopefully with no incidents/accidents!) I'll be heading home via Moo Thru ice cream on US 15.

Logistics:
Assembly - On Saturday, August 10th, we'll start assembling at the Centreville High School parking lot at 4:45 AM.
Departure - We'll leave the school at 5:15 AM.
Time/Distance - The drive is about 50 miles and should take 75 minutes.   Please have plenty of gas and an empty bladder as there's no decent place to stop on the route.  There ARE bathrooms at the Flying Circus.  I believe that once we are checked in, we can exit if we wish and get a ticket for readmission, though the line will be long after 12:30 since the airshow is starting at 1:30.
Food - There is a snack bar at the Flying Circus, or you may bring your own picnic food.   If we have a number of folks who want to have food together, we can leave and try the Corner Deli in Remington for lunch, probably eating around 11 AM.
Fees - $20 for admission to the Flying Circus (https://flyingcircusairshow.com).  Discounts for military and kids
Car limits - This is a pop-up event, early in the morning, so I'm not expecting a lot of folks to be coming.  The limit will be set at twenty (20) cars.
Rain Date - The balloons and the airshow rely on good weather.  If the weather is poor on Saturday, we will try again on Sunday the 11th, though the Corner Deli will be closed that day.
Technology - I will bring nine extra Midland GMRS radios.  If you want to bring your own GMRS radio, we will be using Channel 30 on Midland Radios, or 462.7000 MHz frequency and CTCSS 17 for the privacy code.  In Glympse, we'll use the !mscw_cruise tag to keep track of each other.  I'll have GPS for the subgroup leaders, and there may be an extra as well.

RSVP via signup genius at https://bit.ly/mscw2024-dd-6
Visit www.midatlanticscenicdrives.com<http://www.midatlanticscenicdrives.com> for maps and KML/GPX files.

Drive safely and HAVE FUN,
Timothy (Tim) Metzinger
Scenic Drive Coordinator - Mazda Sport Cars of Washington, DC
tim.metzinger at outlook.com
703.963.3015