F1

@copb8tx and @OllieC We expect a FULL report when you return. The Admiral has taken to F1 racing since we were in Monaco for the race earlier this year. I'm sure that we will be in Austin in a year or two. I await your reports, with pictures!

Jaybeaux
 
Will do.

I'd like to hear about your Monaco experience. We were there one week after the race a few years ago and walked the entire track. Great new perspective. I can't imagine how packed that town must get.
 
copb8tx said:
Will do.

I'd like to hear about your Monaco experience. We were there one week after the race a few years ago and walked the entire track. Great new perspective. I can't imagine how packed that town must get.
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We were on a cruise...Silver Sea....left out of Barcelona and ended up in Rome. Monaco was a 2 day stop. We anchored out as the ship's normal berth in the harbor was taken by a French ship being used as a hotel.

We met Perry McCarthy on our ship. He was on board to talk about F1 racing. Really cool guy. We hung out with him, his wife, and some of his pals for a couple of nights during the cruise. He wrote a book called "Flat Out, Flat Broke". Really cool and funny guy.

So here is the tough part to admit: We didn't participate in either the qualifying or the race as it was purely an accident that we were on that cruise to begin with. The day of the race, as you know, it pissed rain. We were up by the Palace and got to "see" (free vantage point) the first lap before they red flagged the race. Hearing the sound the cars made, as it echoed across the harbor, was exhilirating! It is what prompted us to explore F1. The place is incredible. The people are well behaved. No one acts like an asshole. Are there some jerks? Yes, but they are few and far between. I'm not sure if it the multiplicity of cultures all crammed into a small area or what, but it is a very different "feel". The city is basically shut down for the race. There are restaurants and bars open around the circuit (see, I got the lingo!) Taking the tender from our ship to and from shore is a hoot. It is like I-95 around Washington DC at rush hour! The mega yachts are incredible. Someone told me that most of them are "empty", meaning just crew. The owners want their boats "seen" at Monaco during the race weekend. I can't imagine what it cost to stay in Monaco in a hotel, and the traffic from Nice is a nightmare. We were fortunate that our ship was docked just outside the harbor.

When we got home, we started watching "Drive to Survive". We are so HOOKED. The Admiral now "tapes" and watches all practice rounds, qualifying, and races. As I write this, we just finished Season 4/Episode 4. One of the things that we enjoy about F1, and this is not a negative comment, is that it is so Un-American. It is completely different. Every exposure we have to it is something new.

If you have any specific questions, let me know. All in all, and in retrospect, we wish we would have gone to the race. But we didn't know what we didn't know. Next time it would be fun to be on a yacht in the harbor. Check out Cafe Milano for a race day experience. I looked at that one hard. The $4000/person (IIRC) frightened me a bit. Might have to start saving my nickels.

Jaybeaux
 
We did the exact cruise but with Windstar. 2 days in Monaco but not the race weekend. Honestly, we made a conscious choice but to go during the race weekend. Even tho I'm a life-long F1 fan (grew up in south Africa) I wanted to experience the city and but just a race venue.

I've done Spa, Montreal, Salami and if course Austin, 11 times. Montreal we went like Rick stars with Alaine prost in our box. At Spa we went full on native hanging in the trees to get a good view. Loved the vibe either way. Eventually want to do Miami and Las Vegas.
 
Edit: Austin has been my 1st and only F1 track/race. My racing friend and I have been to the Grand Prix of Long Beach since the 80s and in 2015 and 2017 did the pit lane club. 2017 was our last race in LB.


1st year in Austin we stayed in a hotel and pretty much hung out at turn 11. Last year we VRBO’d and hung out around turn 11. This year we rented a 28’ RV. Many beers are in my future
 
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My racing buddy and I have discussed Monaco over the years, and know that our better halves would love it. It may happen if things turn around.
 
OllieC said:
My racing buddy and I have discussed Monaco over the years, and know that our better halves would love it. It may happen if things turn around.
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Are you saying your wives would love the race specifically, or visiting Monaco?

My wife comes with me every year to F1 and really enjoys it, and has always wanted to go to Monaco as well. But she didn't want to do F1 in Monaco because of the crowds and access. You're not getting into any of the cool places due to them being either closed, too crowded, or in our case, too much of a nobody to get past the velvet ropes.

I've also always wondered where you can sit, and afford, in Monaco to see much of the track.
 
copb8tx said:
Are you saying your wives would love the race specifically, or visiting Monaco?

My wife comes with me every year to F1 and really enjoys it, and has always wanted to go to Monaco as well. But she didn't want to do F1 in Monaco because of the crowds and access. You're not getting into any of the cool places due to them being either closed, too crowded, or in our case, too much of a nobody to get past the velvet ropes.

I've also always wondered where you can sit, and afford, in Monaco to see much of the track.
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They would ‘tolerate’ the race to go to Monaco. Racing isn’t their thing. We figured we make a week of travel up the coast then do the race weekend.
 
copb8tx said:
OllieC, are you camping onsite at the track? I'd want to hear back about how that was.
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Yes - we’re having a great time with some fantastic neighbors. Nothing crazy in our area has happened so far. We’ve been getting together every evening with the neighbors and in bed by 11. I don’t think I’ll run out of beer which is good.
 
Well, ours didn't work out that well. On Saturday while hanging around and watching qualifying I started feeling bad and it just got worse. Didn't eat a bite all day. That night I knew there's no way I was going to the race in the morning. I was disappointed but not crushed, I'd been 8 of the 9 times they've had it there.

Gave my tickets to our friends, who we were staying with, and headed home. They're not Formula 1 fans but enjoy new experiences so they made a day out of it. They absolutely raved about the events, seats, and race. Honestly, they're such an awesome couple I may have gotten more joy out of them going than me being there.

One bright side, I certainly didn't miss the crowds and traffic driving back to Dallas.
 
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copb8tx said:
Well, ours didn't work out that well. On Saturday while hanging around and watching qualifying I started feeling bad and it just got worse. Didn't eat a bite all day. That night I knew there's no way I was going to the race in the morning. I was disappointed but not crushed, I'd been 8 of the 9 times they've had it there.

Gave my tickets to our friends, who we were staying with, and headed home. They're not Formula 1 fans but enjoy new experiences so they made a day out of it. They absolutely raved about the events, seats, and race. Honestly, they're such an awesome couple I may have gotten more joy out of them going than me being there.

One bright side, I certainly didn't miss the crowds and traffic driving back to Dallas.
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That’s too bad. As you probably know it was a good race. Are you doing better today?

We just dropped off the RV and are headed back up to DFW. We all agreed that RV’ing was the way to go. We’re wore out tho. My liver is looking forward to a needed break.

In regards to traffic, it didn’t seem to be too bad. Last year was nuts. We actually left our camp site last night at 8 pm and there was no traffic. We didn’t want to deal with all the campers leaving this morning and also the rain.
 
Yes, I'm feeling much better. Thanks for asking. I did watch the race from the comfort of my own couch and it was a doozy.

Interesting about the RV'ing approach. Are they primitive sites with no water, electric or sewage? Did you rent the RV down there or up in Dallas?

I have a friend with a nice RV who wants to go. He's reached out to COTA several times about getting a spot along the back straight but says he's not getting any response from them. I don't think he quite understands just how spendy that's going to be though.
 
You can get a spot without hookups like we did. I believe it was around $700. We ordered it the same day as General admission IIRC. General admission sold out in 24hrs. Anyway, they do have premium spots with hookups, but I heard they were in the $5-6k range.

There are trucks rolling around that will do a pump out for $60 and a water full for $55 which we had to do. They also have ice on sight for $6 a bag as well as showers.

We rented an RV from Cruise America. We would probably rent again but from a different outfit or one of those VRBO types and get a nicer one. CA was okay, and it was a good experience, but you get nickel and dime’d.

Well my flight is finally here and we’ve been delayed 30 mins. It’s going to make my 2hr drive home after we land a little longer:(
 
copb8tx said:
Thanks. Great info.

Have a safe trip home
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Welp…my flight was canceled because of the storms. Luckily I could stay at my friends place. We’ll try and get home tomorrow I guess.
 
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