My trip to Prince Edward County

Red Pearl Restaurant (Gaslamp)
In the middle of the Gaslamp district this Asian fusion restaurant stands out from the steak and seafood joints that accompany almost every corner of downtown. Fusion is not for everyone and if you enjoy spicy twists then this may be the restaurant for you. Neither touristy nor pretentious for that matter, the Red Pearl has a deep selection of house cocktails and spirits. The menu itself is split into small and large, both of which are easy to share.

The Good: The mango fried rice is a pleasant surprise with sweet undertones. The house cocktails are full of flavor, even if they are not on the ‘strong’ side. The chili prawns may be some of the best spicy/sweet prawns I have the world over. Service was the perfect balance of helpful without being over bearing.

The So-so: The dumplings (pot stickers) were the lowlight, but edible none the less. Too meaty and on the light side of flavor, steer clear as the rest of the menu is on the solid side.

Cowboy Star Restaurant & Butcher Shop (Gaslamp)
This restaurant is on the higher end of the scale for downtown San Diego. Do not let the western motif fool you; this is a high end steak house that takes pride in all aspects of the dining experience. Immaculate tables compliment the detailed staff. The menu is broad enough to not corner you into steak, but make no bones about it, this is a steakhouse.

The food was excellent; the wine selection was diverse and allowed for both small and big budget selections. Desert appeared to be delicious, but as normal I prefer my calories to be in the form of red wine. Overall this restaurant will impress your clients, out of town guests or the foodie friend who is willing to go mainstream with a ‘steak house’.

Top of the Hyatt (Gaslamp)
A drink stop only (which is really how the Hyatt markets this top of the sky lounge) at one of the best views of San Diego Bay/Harbour, this stop features overstated wood and trim.

The Top of the Hyatt seems to be torn between hip, cool lounge and old-man parlour motif. If you are looking for a good view and standard cocktails, this is a must, the US Navy ships, helicopters and every day run of the mill million dollar yachts dot the skyline as you sip your drink. Matching the wealthy harbor equipment are the prices, which go hand in hand with the elevation. If you are not use to Manhattan or Toronto cocktail prices, do not take the ride up to the ‘top’ of the Manchester Hyatt as your blood pressure may also rise to the occasion.

All that said, the view more than compensates for the prices and like most major metropolises around the world, it is always worthwhile climbing to the top to have a good view of the sprawl beneath.

Influx Café (Little Italy)
We decided to not go to my regular Caffe Italia on India St. in Little Italy and to try out this ‘newish’ java shop. Cafés were excellent, staff has hip and trendy (maybe a tad ironic), the wifi was free and the oatmeal very good. Worth the morning stroll to sit in the sun and sip your caffeine fix on a leisurely morning.

Buon Appetito (Little Italy)
I took a group of 8 to this Little Italy mainstay. As per normal the food was excellent, the staff helpful and knowledgeable and the wine selection outstanding. If you are looking for a good classic Italian meal while out and about in San Diego, you cannot go wrong with Buon Appetito, not to mention the pricing is fair if not an almost bargain for the quality.

Phil’s BBQ (I-5 & I-8)
I took a group of 7 to Phil’s to engross ourselves in BBQ. The tip steak sandwich was good, and the baby back ribs flawless, from the tenderness, the fall off the bone all the way to the sauce. Our service was even excellent with a very helpful staff member making sure we had all we needed.

This is a BBQ house so do not expect fancy, quiet or gourmet. You are coming here to get dirty and filled full of smoky goodness. Just a good stop all around.

El Pescador Fish Market (La Jolla)
We got this idea for lunch from a top ten list of San Diego. Helpful staff did not make up for the dry fish tacos. While the chowder was quite tasty we will have to come back to try some sandwiches before we write this off our list of future visits. From the crowds we must have just had an off day.

Burger and Beers (El Centro, CA)
Mediocre food was served by a distracted waitress, not on my recommend list unless you must have a hard to find beer (like the Cooper’s Pale Ale I had to have). This is my second and last visit to the restaurant as the food quality is not in line with the pricing.

Manchester Grand Hyatt
We spent seven nights here, our second visit in the past 3 years. Where to start… First off this was for a small conference I organized, bringing team members from as far away as Cobar Australia. The event/catering/conference staff was excellent in their detail and planning. All the days we had exactly what we agree upon and needed. Instead of going into paragraph by paragraph of the minute details, let’s look at the good and the bad:

The Good:
– Perfect location for Gaslamp & the San Diego Convention Center
- Catering team are on the ball and look after you well (Sara Lacro)
- The Diamond/Platinum and Bell desk staff were excellent; accommodating and helpful.

The Mediocre:
- Rooms are not up to Grand Hyatt status. Good beds and average size but very small and below average quality bathrooms. Overall, a below average room when comparing it to Hyatts in Hong Kong, Seoul or even Vancouver. If this was just a Hyatt than I would not be mentioning it.
- Concierge staff was hit or miss on the basics, like making reservations. I never expect miracles, but a decent suggestion and the ability to book a reservation is par for the course the world over, it was challenging here.
- With such a large pool area, the pool itself is actually quite small, and with 700+ rooms can be over-crowded easily.

The Bad:
- Of the 30+ hotels I have stayed in this year this was the worst housekeeping service by far. From failing to refill basics to throwing hotel bathrobes onto our luggage it was well below average.
- Cost for quality, aka value.
- Hyatt Regency Room is the smallest I can remember on record, and with a full hotel for 2 of the 7 nights, it was full to capacity and beyond on the two visits. To have an executive lounge as small as that, for a hotel with two 30+ story towers of rooms, is atrocious.

Would I stay here again? It would depend on the rate for the room, but for $200+ I would not, for $150 I would.

Name aside, what is Gertrude like? Well After the test drive by Steve, the PPI by Rod I got a sense that this car was mechanically sound and cosmetically challenged. What rolled off the back of the trailer that first Saturday morning was definitely latter. The paint is sun-baked on the flat surfaces with a few impressions on the roof with a couple of minor dents elsewhere. The paint aside, the body has no rust and nothing structurally wrong with it outside of the front ground spoiler is cracked and will need replacing. The interior is a mixed bag. The dash and instrument console are in amazing shape for the age, with the only complaint being a few minor blemishes to stitches on the top of the console. The quality of the middle console is also in excellent shape, including all the switches and the parking break (no tears or wear marks). The armrests are in great shape as well. The leather on the drivers seat is worn with a small tear, and overall the seat leather looks 33 years old. The door panels are no different with the leather being less beige and more worn beige/black. The passenger side cover for the manual window crank is missing on top of that. The carpets, despite some dirt are in particularly good condition, while the mats are dirty and a tad tired. Overall the interior is indicative of the age and shows very similar to the exterior. Cosmetically this car will not please the discerning eye.

Mechanically the car is interesting, I will start with the cockpit electricals, move to the ride/feel/exhaust and end with engine.

The A/C worked, then did not, and now works again (Thanks Paul!). The previous owner obviously put decent money into the system as it has been overhauled and when it runs, it blows cold. The issue in question was a loose wire that had caught onto a belt and been pulled from the compressor, so luckily it was very minor. The windshield wipers work well for a 33 year old car and both the speed switch and intermittent setting work, i have not however filled the spray reservoir to test the window washer functionality. The dash illumination light does not function and the turn signal indicators work, but the clicking sound only works when the right turn signal is on. All warning lights worked to start, thought the choke light stopped working mid-trip. The radio is not even connected so you can guess how it works, though with the wonderful noise that is emitted from the engine and exhaust I am not sure how you would hear it anyways. The old fashion lighter will need to be replaced with a modern 12V receptacle at some point. The electric windows work and are not as slow as I expected, though at some point they should probably be cleaned out and re-lubricated. Overall the electrics are what i was expecting from an older car that had spent some time neglected. My first order of business, before trying to troubleshoot anything at all, is to replace the fuse box with the “Birdman” fuse panel. I want to make sure that potential decay/corrosion is eliminated before I start doing anything more. All in all everything electrical is trivial and poses a nice weekend or three of projects to clean up and bring it to spec.

Gertrude is low, not kinda low, but exaggerated low. The second owner (it appears from invoices ) put some good money into the suspension and 328 16″ wheels with fresh Yokohama’s. The suspension is adjustable and it appears he went for low and cool over practical and awesome. Unfortunately it is so low almost everything scraps and the fenders are turning in. This will have to be adjusted and I am going to get it brought up at least one inch. One of the nice features of it being so low is it seems to just envelope the road, the handling is very good. When I say good I should say great, it is responsive to commands as soon as you are rolling and Gerty is beautifully straight (hands off driving is completely possible to grab something, adjust or what not for those few seconds). The ride is stiff but that is to be expected and I have no plans to dampen it. The only work required in the near future on the suspension will be replacing the bushings as most are still original. The braking is responsive and requires good pressure, both as expected, though the brake lines are original and will require replacing in the next few years. As you can expect with a vehicle that has an engine at your head, no real sound proofing and is carburated, the cockpit is noisy. I jest not when I say that a radio is probably a useless accessory for the 308 GTB. Gertrude growls in all gears and the carburetors rumble with a nice pitch. The exhaust notes are distinctive for the after market Tubi; and without the catalytic converter it is a very pleasant sound to listen to. Overall the ride is good and stiff, exactly as I was expecting. All in all driving this girl is just a great experience.

The engine is without a doubt the guts to the styling and handling’s glory. Gertude’s engine has been polished (more about that in the future) and for the most part all the complimentary pieces that make her run have been updated. From the radiator systems new hoses and re-core to the the rebuilt water pump a lot of work has been done to her. All that said, Barrie’s resident carburetor and 308 GTB expert (nodding to you Newman) has identified a few things that need addressing, primarily the move from dual to single distributor. This will get addressed when the car is painted. The most telling part of all this are the 3300 fault-free miles she has been driven over the past 14 days. The engine sings in the 3700-5000 RPM range and you get responsive power when you need it. Overall the engine is operating well, though with some tweaking from an expert I expect her to run better in 2012.

As I finish off today’s post, here are a few more pictures of the lovely lady being wheeled off the trailer and at Five Guys one of the best burger chains in the world.

I am a child of the 80′s being born in the early 70s. This means that Cannonball Run and Magnum P.I. were must see TV/Movie’s for me. While Miami Vice was definitely watched (seems mostly I remember bad clothing and Phil Collins singing and not that famous Testorossa) the real first Ferrari I remember as a child was the 308. Who can forget the Priests hauling their red rocket in the ‘Run or Tom Selleck wheeling that precious 308 around scenic Hawaii? If you were alive and kicking in the 80s and watching TV you knew what a Ferrari 308 was.

Now a history lesson for those who know more about Cabernets and Rieslings than Ferraris. The 308 was the first of the now famous F-cars (I think of them as the mid-engine V8′s) made by Ferrari, it also represented the replacement to the 246 GT Dino. F-Cars include the more recent F430 as well as the new 458 Italia. The first production 308′s came out in 1976 and were fibreglass bodies, in 1977 the first steel bodied units came off the line. Originally there were only GTB’s (Gran Turismo Berlinetta) aka: solid roofed 2 seater coupe. In 1977 Ferrari came out with a Spyder targa-topped version (called GTS) that is the better known version of the 308. From 76-80 the 308 was a carbureted car, using four Weber carburetors, had no power steering and no power brakes. The production numbers during this glorious era were as per the numbers below. I could go into alot more detail, but needless to say the 308 GTB of the late 70s is a unique car, when all production numbers are taken in accounted for approximately 6000 hand built cars over 6 years. There are speculations on how many of each version still exist, but a rough figure of 50% attrition means that 3000 or less remain. For those interested in the demand, the fibreglass models have seen a huge upward curve in prices the last few years, and many speculate that steel bodied GTBs may soon follow. I will not get into speculation, but it is easy to tell you that if you bought a 246 GT Dino 7 years ago when the prices were in the low to mid 5 figures, you are quite enjoying the usual 250,000 or more they are fetching in the current market, feel free to extrapolate.

308 GTB/GTS Production Numbers 1975-1980
308 GTB (Fibreglass) 712
308 GTB (Steel) 2185
308 GTS (Steel) 3219

With the history lesson covered it is probably obvious that I was/am a fan of the early 308′s, in particular the GTBs over the GTS’. Why? Well rarity was one reason, but the solid roof meant one thing less I had to worry about and overall I just believe that the GTB is a cleaner looking Ferrari. As one less then tactful saying goes, opinions are like arseholes everyone has one. With this desire for a 308 GTB I undertook the process of figuring out how to go about buying one and eventually maintaining the prancing horse. This led me to a plethora of websites and forums, with Ferrari Life and Ferrari Chat being the two I most commonly perused. Both sites have very good but different qualities to them, and like any online message board you need to ignore the drivel and concentrate on the goal, in my case as much information about 308′s I could muster. The first thing I learnt from my internet readings was that great 308s are hard to find and are much lower in price currently then other older model Ferraris. Mostly this is due to the abundance of crap 308s that are priced low because, well, they are crap. As with anything else if 8 of 10 cars for sale are in average to bad condition but priced 50-60% lower, those 2 other good/great cars suffer the pricing game. Ferrari’s are not cars that one can buy, neglect for many years and turn around and make money. In fact Ferrari’s simply cannot be neglected, and if I learnt one thing about Ferrari’s when reading the forums it was that most of the people who own 308′s and post on these board LOVE their cars and are mostly representative of the 2 out of 10 example above. As I continued to delve into the world of the prancing horse, I also started to understand the finer things about 308′s and what to look for and what to ignore. Mechanically I wanted a sound car that hand major servicing done and was routinely driven (more they are driven the better they are). As for cosmetics, while very important to ensure some of the basics (little to no rust, no major collisions…) it seemed that the cosmetic part could be overlooked for a mechanically sound 308. At the end of the day there was no manual for buying a 30+ year old car, but there were some basic guidelines to live by.

The tasked moved from figuring out what to look for to where to find them. The usual suspects arose but the three in question that I really monitored were ebay, the Dupont Registry and the Ferrari Chat classifieds as the autotrader classics section was a true hit or miss. Then came the waiting game, lots and lots of waiting. Oh, I failed to mention the debating with Mrs CWG was also at times interesting. Fast forward many months to June of 2011, several 308′s had come and gone and I had my eye squarely at a Chat/Life member’s black/red 308 GTB (sorry again Steve)), but as I was working towards getting a PPI (Pre-Purchase Inspection) arranged, one evening I found myself at a friend’s home who happens to be not just a Publisher/Editor in the automotive field, but also a car nut like myself. After talking about the nearing 308 purchase, Michael brought up this email he had just received from Ferraris-online.com, Michael Sheehan’s brokerage site. Michael Sheehan is a well known name in the Ferrari world and has been selling cars for a very long time. Well the email was flipped to me and there was a very good looking advertisement for a 1978 308 GTB. From there the relationship with ‘Gertrude’ and I started. I will post more on that in the upcoming days, including a full run down of the car’s in and outs and some funny tid bits on the trip. Till then, here are some photos!

Full write up to follow in the coming days, till then, the welcome photo!

Gertrude is officially Canadian now. We are pit-stopping currently in Strathroy, Ontario to refuel Preggers.

A few pics from today.

Tomorrow hopes to be home run, 380 miles to border and another 220 home, for a 600 mile day. Here’s praying that Gertrude, Lucie and I have it in us!

Pics to end, g’night all.

Rest of the day is pampering and no driving, all involved I think deserve it.

Stay tuned.

Gertrude the GTB’s air conditioning is officially dead. Not the fuse, not freezing and not the r134 charge (done less than a week ago), just dead, put a nail in that coffin till we get her home.

In other news today was hot, how hot? 114 on a few road side signs, How hot? St Louis damn near drowned, blew and lightning strikes us to dead. How hot? The better half felt the post CB (thunderstorm) mid 90s cool.

For those not in the know: 78 GTB + no A/C = Hades hot.

Besides all that we smiled ourselves silly today. Gertrude is a trooper, and as I write this we have finished a pre-dawn to 19:00 day covering some 625 miles with route 66 and Interstate driving. So it was a great day.

We have a very short jaunt into Chicago where the better pregnant half will be rewarded for her amazing fortitude with Shopping! and a nice Dinner.

Thursday morning will be a run for the border!

Post more tomorrow, cheers!

Half without air conditioning in 102-110 heat with a 22 week pregnant woman! Ouch. I am still alive as I write this so she has to be a) tough as nails b) awesome c) not so ‘well’ in the noggin. A & B for sure with a smattering of C. The A/C was suppose to be charged before it was out of California, so I am not sure the issue, hoping it just is frozen due to high heat on road and 5 hours of use.

We have driven over 1400 miles in three days since leaving Vegas at noon, not too shabby. Gertrude (the GTB) seems to be driving better in fact (well minus cabin cooling). If you are reading this and own a Ferrari and you do not put 1400 miles on in one year, shame on you!!

Tomorrow we start the 66 climb north, we are hoping to get ~400 miles in tomorrow if all goes well.

Some of today’s pictures.

Amarillo TX was disappointing for route 66, poor signage and massive neglect/run-downed.

Aim is to hit Oklahoma City early afternoon to meet up with another Ferrari owner, then head to Tulsa for the night.

A few pictures (one cannot roadtrip with one stop at Mickey d’s)

From Flagstaff we covered 525 miles with a few rain showers and high heat. Route 66 in New Mexico is a bit less picturesque than Arizona.

We are settled into Tucumcari New Mexico for the night with an early departure planned. The red rocket (named Gertrude) has been pleasant to drive, though she hates low RPMs and air conditioning.

No pictures to post as they are all on the DSLR, will get them done tomorrow.

Sleep time.

We are safe and sound in Flagstaff and all involved (including the as yet unnamed GTB) needed rest.

The trip should be 2500-2600 total miles, with all the detours, and we knocked off ~300 today. On tap for tomorrow is the Grand Canyon and then off to Albuquerque.

To finish, a few pics.

Mrs CWG is landing in 90 and we are about to roll. First stops:

Ferrari-Wynn at the Wynn resort to get two official hats

Hoover Dam

Flagstaff, Az.

Well many years later I have decided to throw common sense and reason to the way side and drive it.

Over the next few days final preparations are being done before the trip begins, stay tuned.

From the side of the box:
Color: Auburn
Nose: Malty, heather flowers and a hint of vanilla
Palate: Deep smooth and complex. Intense malt, marzipan and candied fruits mellowing to a get hop bitterness with a hint of roast malt character.
Finish: Creamy and mellow like hot buttered fruit toast.

Here is a nice little read on a GTA-Golden Horseshoe scammer that hits home. Feel free to pass it on.

Enjoy your Sunday, we will get a review up tomorrow.

-CWG

TTC Business Model:
1) beg the government for money
2) make sure we get our yearly wage increase & bonuses
3) bleed the riders dry
4) if all else fails, go on strike & hold the riders hostage until the government forks over more money.

Figure it may make a few people smile.

Cheers

CWG

chat soon

-CWG