A crisp fall Saturday was the perfect backdrop for a group of hearty car buffs to embark on SoCal’s version of a mounted fox hunt.
No, we were not jumping fences on galloping straining steeds chasing a pack of hounds and a small furry animal with a bushy tail. But we were doing a road rally in stately vehicles built more for luxury than agility. Note the fox tail extending from the elegant open Rolls above.
Our day began around 10 a.m. with a leisurely meet-and-greet with coffee and donuts in a Seal Beach mall off Pacific Coast Highway on the border with Long Beach. Most participants piloted a Rolls but other brands such as a lovely Mercedes and Jim Ayes’ agile Mustang coupe also joined in the fun.
Soon it was time to mount up and hit the road. Each vehicle was equipped with a driver, a set of instructions and at least one passenger/navigator.
While the driver needed to demonstrate stop-on-a-dime reflexes, the navigator’s job wasn’t any easier. He/she was called upon to read, write, flip pages and look for street signs and landmarks all at the same time in a moving car. Yikes!
Straight out of the parking lot we hit the crowded and eclectic Seal Beach Main Street looking for our first two landmarks—a restaurant and ice cream parlor before turning right and embarking on our real fox hunt adventure. Almost immediately after the first turn in the Mustang we hit a dead end and instantly recognized we had made a mistake. Quickly reversing course we got back on the right track and kept on going, trusting that the rally instructions were at least close to accurate.
The bulk of our journey was on and near E. Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach in the Bluff Park part of the city and surrounding areas.
We passed many landmarks including the Long Beach Museum of Art (below).
There were stately mansions, bungalows, schools, churches, parks, apartments, a Buddhist mansion and even the Colorado Lagoon, one of the fox hunt checkpoints. But we had little time to enjoy the view, as the next landmark came up faster than we could write and juggle the instructions.
Although we were among the last to depart, it wasn’t long before we lost sight of the other vehicles. That is never a good sign in a road rally environment…or even a fox hunt.
Al last after nearly two hours of circling and switchbacks, as we neared the end of our instructions, we came upon a street I recognized—Loynes Drive—which flowed into Pacific Coast Highway near the Acapulco Restaurant in Marina Pacifica, our luncheon destination. Just two more challenges remained—finding parking and our group at Acapulco.
We chose the underground garage and hoofed it a short distance to Acapulco, but once there the hostess was unable to direct us to our reserved room and we didn’t see anyone from our group. However, in tiny print under the large name of the restaurant in our rally sheet was the final clue—“upon entering, take the elevator.”
That did it! After checking in, we realized we were just the second team to complete the fox hunt. The first was a team in a yellow Rolls-Royce No, not that one from the movie of the same name released in 1964 starring Shirley MacLaine, George C. Scott, Rex Harrison, Ingrid Bergman and many others, but a lovely example nevertheless.
Boy did that marguerita taste good! So did the Mexican buffet lunch we enjoyed not long thereafter as the other fox hunters arrived. Rice, beans, enchiladas and tacos, capped off with flan and cookies was the perfect finale for a great day of fox hunting Rolls-Royce style.
Our sincere thanks to Jim Davidson of the Rolls-Royce Club and his fox hunt team for planning and executing an outstanding event!
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