MINI Takes the States Takes Virginia Beach in Style

WOW! Yesterday evening and this morning were a lot of fun. That was when Checkered Flag MINI hosted the Virginia Beach stop of the MINI Takes the States Rally with the Flying Finn. This is a drive by MINI owners up the East Coast, from Miami to Boston, that is taking place this week and is one of several rallies across the country. This one is named Flying Finn in honor of Rauno Aaltonen, the Finnish-born rally champion who is participating in the East Coast event.

Checkered Flag MINI held a meet and greet outside of the Virginia Beach Convention Center yesterday evening, where local MINI owners welcomed the rally participants to town. This morning, Checkered Flag had a breakfast send-off for the group at First Landing State Park.

WinsGal and I had the "job" ("fun" is a more accurate word) of helping with the two events. As always, WinsGal did much more work than I did. I spent a lot of time meeting the MINI owners and looking at the cars. A highlight of the meet and greet was a talk by Rauno about rallying in a MINI Cooper S in the 1960s (that is the car he and Bob Holden were driving when they won the Gallaher 500, a premier touring race in New South Wales, Australia in 1966.) Rauno also autographed postcards and he signed the one shown here for the Checkered Blog.

Something else cool that happened last night was that WTKR Channel 3 television stopped by and reporter Ted Alexander interviewed Checkered Flag MINI brand manager Susan Drees, who explained that at 37 miles per gallon, the MINI combines fuel efficiency and flair. I saw Susan on the 11 p.m. news last night and of course, she was great.

This morning was a super time, too. It was a relaxed breakfast amid the wooded beauty of First Landing. As you can see here, the MINIs looked especially lovely in this setting. True to form, the rally participants departed in style. They formed a convoy and headed toward the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel for a photo-op of crossing the bridge. They are en route to Philadelphia now.

Happy motoring to everyone in the rally and thanks for visiting Virginia Beach!