Our Race Vacation to Homestead Florida
source:
paddocktalk.com / By Iain Shankland
At the beginning of March I had the opportunity to attend a race and to enjoy
a family vacation - what an amazing combination! Truly one of the best holidays
I've ever had. I'm sure there are many men (and maybe some women too) out there
that feel the "need-for-speed", who love motor racing and would love to take a
race vacation ... am I right?
I'm also sure that there are at least a few out there that have family
responsibilities, and they need to accommodate family members who don't share
their enthusiasm about motorsports. My suggestion ...why not plan a family
vacation to a beautiful holiday destination like Florida and include racing in
your holiday? You'll have the admiration of your family for planning a terrific
holiday, and will fulfil your own selfish desire for auto racing! Heck, if
you're lucky and follow a few of my suggestions, maybe you can get your whole
family hooked on racing (see also my previous article).
Our race vacation was to Homestead Florida for the Toyota Indy 300 - the season
opener for the IRL. Homestead Miami Speedway is also host to numerous race
events throughout the year. In addition to their season opener, the IRL had
their pre-season practice there in February. NASCAR holds a number of events in
Homestead every year, and to name a few more, the Performance Drivers Club,
Penguin Motorcycle Roadracing School and the Richard Petty Driving Experience
also stage events at this popular southern track each year.
If you've never been to south Florida, I highly recommend a trip. Who needs
Disney when you've got dolphins, alligators, swimming, camping, snorkelling and
many, many other tourist attractions to keep you busy! We made our base in
Cutler Ridge. We'd never been there before, but it turned out to be a perfect
location - about 20 minutes from the track, 20 minutes from the Miami airport,
and about 40 minutes from Key Largo. Or, you could chose to stay right in
Homestead, which has a number of nice-looking hotels/motels. There is also a new
Best Western that is almost complete, and it's about 5 minutes from the track
on Hwy. 1. Another great option would be to stay in Key Largo - you're still
only 20 minutes from the track. We found the traffic around the area very light
- to the extent of none-existence - even on race day it was hard to imagine
there was an event on!