“Curse you, Red Baron!” I yelled – with fist raised high - from the driver’s seat in Kathleen’s Spider towards the little tomato-soup red Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato in front of us.  Like Snoopy in his imaginary First World War Sopwith Camel, I was day-dreaming.  The only difference was that my day-dream was about chasing a young Tazio Nuvolari in some long-ago ‘Mille Miglia’!  I giggled audibly as our much more powerful Alfa Spider…and car after car following us, danced a rubber-souled ballet around one of many well-banked 160 degree corners.  These were typical of the ‘twisties’ which peppered the ups and downs of the beautiful Western Virginia mountain roads selected by David and Susan, our planners and hosts extraordinaire.  This year’s ‘Giro di Campagna’, held in the historic and very picturesque wine-growing region near Lexington, Virginia marked the 2nd year for this successful and fun spring weekend event.  And what an event it was!

Beginning with a small group of Alfas and other ‘lesser’ cars gathered at a gas station just to the West of the nation’s capital, our hosts led the way for the long drive out of the city and on towards Lexington.  This particular group of road-trippers included our leaders, David and Susan in their very red, pristine Bertone GTV 2000, Jack and Terry in their newly restored ’69 Berlina, Denny and Trish in Trish’s ’89 Milano Verde and Randy and Josie in their red Series IV Spider.  For a variety of reasons, some of the group used other means of transportation.  Harlan, the Capital Chapter’s President (who apparently changes loyalties as easily as Fangio!) switched into his and Garnet’s patina-plated ’67 Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato, while Dennis and Beth brought their Porsche Boxster, as their ’71 Spider had decided it didn’t want to play.  Dermott and Lois chose a modern Mercedes sedan because none of their other cars were weather-proof, while Garnet drove her MB convertible solely for the commute, as she had to leave early to return to the city for work on Sunday.  Finally, John and Hillary drove their distinctly Italian Rosso-colored late-model Corvette…John should have known better than to bring a knife to a gunfight!  Making the drive independently from Baltimore, were Bert and Judy in their ’61 Giulietta Spider, and Kathleen and I in her ’82 Spider.  Still later, and sneaking in under cover of darkness in the wee hours on Friday night, Michael appeared in his very clean GTV6.  Eventually settling into our headquarters for the weekend, our group was very well situated in an elegant and historic old Inn called Maple Hall, located conveniently near Interstate 81.

Friday’s first event was a trip to the local Tractor-Supply store, where John Deere fashion is ‘de riguer’.  Following the up-scale shopping trip, folks gathered on the back porch of Maple Hall’s Pond House for a pot-luck wine and cheese welcome party, whetting our appetites for dinner.  After Kathleen completed her comparison test of Alfa Spider bumper heights, we all motored off into historic Lexington past the somber gates of the Virginia Military Institute, where ‘Stonewall’ Jackson taught until the outbreak of the Civil War.  Following our hosts like a platoon of VMI cadets, we stopped for a wonderful dinner at a local Bistro - which was actually called ‘Bistro’ - and some great conversation.

Bright and early the next morning, we all gathered at the Inn for a quick continental breakfast and driver’s meeting, and then set-off on a sunny morning’s jaunt over some spectacular mountain roads.  Playing ‘follow the leader’ in their flawless ’74 GTV, David and Susan led our rag-tag band of merry Alfisti uphill for the first of our mountain look-out stops at the Maury River Overlook.  Coursing quickly several hundred feet below was the clean and clear Maury River.  Some of us regretted that we hadn’t brought our fly-fishing equipment and hip-waders along for the weekend.  Several devilish curves, elevation changes and a few quaint country rest-stops later (there was even a special on night-crawlers!), we attacked another very twisty uphill mountain road, stopping at the summit to take-in the awesome view from the ‘Confederate Breastworks’, located on U.S. 250 atop Shenandoah Mountain where Confederate soldiers constructed a long trench-like fortification to defend the mountain pass.  With the downhill turns having just as much twist as those on the way up, this ride gave our fine Italian machinery and our forearms a chance to exercise doing what they were designed to do.  Settling down slowly into the Shenandoah Valley, we continued our curvy and circuitous route into another historic small-city called Staunton, where we stopped for a delicious lunch at DiScotto’s Restaurant.  Giddy with the excitement of a great morning’s run with Garnet at the wheel, Harlan said: “See?  We were easily able to keep up with your Alfas on those mountain runs with our little 1.3L Lancia…well, when going downhill anyway!”

Located right in the heart of Staunton, DiScottos’ is conveniently located across from a large parking lot, nestled between a classic-car dealership, complete with flamed hot-rod ’40 Ford, Jaguar E-Type Coupe and a fiber-glass TV ‘Batmobile’ shell, a gift-shop, and a great coffee shop which served us some luxurious Lattes.  Just on the other side of the parking lot is a Porsche repair facility, complete with an interesting Indy Race Car from Porsche’s past.  Speaking of the parking lot; our ‘Boy Scout’ – Jack Rugh – who lives by the adage “Be Prepared” searched his trunk full of parts and tools to find Terry’s new fuel filter which he loaned Harlan for a quick parking lot repair.

Getting back underway, our afternoon’s drive was a bit shorter and not quite so challenging, but we really had some great wildlife viewing opportunities!  These included spotting several types of cows, sheep, goats, and even ostriches.  At some point during the afternoon’s maneuvers through a pastoral landscape of dairy and horse farms, the sky began to cloud-over, eventually becoming completely gray.  The Spiders then got a chance to find out how quickly tops can actually go up.  Alas, the afternoon’s rain was but a tease for what was to come on Sunday.  Back at Maple Hall, we ended the afternoon listening to the rain as it drummed its marching tune on the Inn’s tin roof in the lounge and the back porch of the Pond House.  Once again imagining we were stepping back into history, we exchanged tall-tales of our day’s adventures and tried hard to put a dent in the remaining wine and cheese.  Once everyone had showered and changed into evening attire – this was Alfa-style, so that meant that we wore our ‘dressier’ Alfa shirts - we mounted up and followed the trusty red GTV back into historic Lexington to dine on more fine Italian fare at the Tuscany Ristorante.  There, we were served in style…as the chef informed us of his special creations, which included Osso Buco and a delicious Lamb shank stew.  Several hours of great wine, food and terrific conversation with our fellow Alfisti followed.
One of the topics we discussed was the planning of this fabulous weekend and what our chapter should do for an encore next year.  Although we all agreed that the Western Virginia countryside is perfectly-suited for an Alfa Chapter’s Spring-time weekend event, getting there always involves a very long drive.  In fact, for those Alfisti living near Baltimore, the ride to Lexington was over 230 miles!  It was suggested that for next year’s event, the distance traveled to the ‘headquarters’ should be less than about 100 miles.  This should make driving on Saturday and Sunday more enjoyable.  David and Susan graciously offered to investigate the options and present them to the chapter.

Continuing unabated overnight, the rains rinsed the dust from our noble steeds.  On Sunday we awoke to a light drizzle and the departure of some of our members.  Unfortunately, Garnet had work to do back in the city and the ever intrepid Bert and Judy (whose Giulietta hasn’t seen a top in over 31 years!) decided to try and beat the rain home.  Fortunately, Jack and Terry in their watertight Berlina agreed to travel back towards Baltimore with them.  As I understand it, Judy soon found her way into the comfort of the Berlina’s back seat as the clouds began to burst, while Bert continued in his open speedboat…err, I mean Spider as long as he could.  Dropping anchor in Charlestown WV, Bert finally tied-up to a covered dock and left his Giulietta amongst the good company of a ’55 Chevy and some other contemporaries of his ‘Principesa’.  As an aside, Bert and I drove to pick up his Spider the following Tuesday.  After catching two good-sized trout in the floorboards, he fired up the bilge-pump and got his Giulietta back home.

For the rest of us, the rain kept away long enough for some top-down motoring, which included some more great mountain runs, as we squiggled our way via the Blue Ridge Parkway and other rapidly rising, falling, twisting and turning routes - reminding me of a paved snake - towards  the North.  Eventually stopping in a school parking lot near Charlottesville to meet-up with members of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter who were enjoying their annual Spring Wine Tour gave us an opportunity to renew old acquaintances and make a few new ones as well.  MAARC was well-represented and their cars included several Spiders and GTV6s and even a Jeep Grand Wagoneer, which had only slightly better ground clearance than MAARC member Skip Patnode’s ‘off-road’ Duetto.

Departing the Charlottesville area and bidding adieu to our Southern brethren, the skies opened up once again, and just as the rain began to really come down, we arrived at our Brunch stop at a lovely French Bistro called “Pomme” in Gordonsville.  As our final stop for the Giro, it was fitting that it had the feel, flavor and fare of a proper French countryside Bistro.  Because thanks to our hosts, this wonderful weekend wander was highly reminiscent of a road-trip between Northern Italy and France.  I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m already day-dreaming about next year…and this time, Tazio will eat MY dust!

- Alex Csank

Tags: grio de campagna