Anyone have connections in Sebring? Going to the SPEED World Challenge races. - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

DZeckhausen · 4th March 2005, 04:44

I just scored two "hot pit" crew passes for the upcoming SCCA SPEED World Challenge races (March 17-18) and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring race (March 19). My wife and I will have total access to the cars & race teams during the three days of qualifying and racing. However, every hotel within a zillion miles of Sebring is sold out from the 16th to the 20th of this month. Doh!

Does anyone know of a "secret" Bed & Breakfast in the area that might not be listed on Orbitz or Travelocity and might still have vacancies? Or does anyone have a condo within 30 miles of Sebring they might consider renting out for those days?

If only I had received these tickets a few weeks earlier!

Anyone else from the board going to the races that week?

gsfent · 4th March 2005, 16:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by DZeckhausen

I just scored two "hot pit" crew passes for the upcoming SCCA SPEED World Challenge races (March 17-18) and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring race (March 19). My wife and I will have total access to the cars & race teams during the three days of qualifying and racing. However, every hotel within a zillion miles of Sebring is sold out from the 16th to the 20th of this month. Doh!

Does anyone know of a "secret" Bed & Breakfast in the area that might not be listed on Orbitz or Travelocity and might still have vacancies? Or does anyone have a condo within 30 miles of Sebring they might consider renting out for those days?

If only I had received these tickets a few weeks earlier!

Anyone else from the board going to the races that week?

Dave
I'll check for you on Monday, I have one of my race buddies there this weekend for some racing. He has been going for 20 years so he may know a place. Depending on how far away, you can check Okeechobee, a small farming community about an hour away on Route 70 (east of the Route 98 cutoff to Sebring). For reference, West Palm Beach is about 1.5-2 hours away.
Regards,
Jerry

DZeckhausen · 5th March 2005, 21:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsfent

I'll check for you on Monday, I have one of my race buddies there this weekend for some racing. He has been going for 20 years so he may know a place. Depending on how far away, you can check Okeechobee, a small farming community about an hour away on Route 70 (east of the Route 98 cutoff to Sebring). For reference, West Palm Beach is about 1.5-2 hours away.

Jerry,

Thanks for the offer to check and for generous offer (off line) to use your conversion van. I finally managed to find accomodations at a Best Western Diplomat Inn in Lakeland. So the drive from Tampa, then night we arrive, will be very short. And the commute to and from Sebring each day won't be too awful.

I bought the plane tickets (got the last two seats on the return flight) and booked the room last night. Where I received a nasty surprise was when I tried to rent a car. Normally I use Hertz with the NeverLost navigation system. They said they had no cars available in Tampa at all. So I searched all the rental agencies and found National, Alamo, Budget, and others all charging $89/day for an economy car! I'm used to paying $20 - $30 per day for a rental car in Florida. That's a big jump. I noticed that a Luxury car (Cadillac DeVille) at Avis was $109 per day, so for the extra $20 I decided to go in comfort and style. (Well, perhaps just in comfort!)

I'm really looking forward to a few days off and to enjoying the races with my wife. Is anyone else from the forum planning to attend? Any good restaurant reccomendations in the Lakeland area? Perhaps I'll make dinner reservations in advance.

gsfent · 6th March 2005, 01:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by DZeckhausen

Jerry,

Thanks for the offer to check and for generous offer (off line) to use your conversion van. I finally managed to find accomodations at a Best Western Diplomat Inn in Lakeland. So the drive from Tampa, then night we arrive, will be very short. And the commute to and from Sebring each day won't be too awful.

I bought the plane tickets (got the last two seats on the return flight) and booked the room last night. Where I received a nasty surprise was when I tried to rent a car. Normally I use Hertz with the NeverLost navigation system. They said they had no cars available in Tampa at all. So I searched all the rental agencies and found National, Alamo, Budget, and others all charging $89/day for an economy car! I'm used to paying $20 - $30 per day for a rental car in Florida. That's a big jump. I noticed that a Luxury car (Cadillac DeVille) at Avis was $109 per day, so for the extra $20 I decided to go in comfort and style. (Well, perhaps just in comfort!)

I'm really looking forward to a few days off and to enjoying the races with my wife. Is anyone else from the forum planning to attend? Any good restaurant reccomendations in the Lakeland area? Perhaps I'll make dinner reservations in advance.

Glad you are squared away. Let me make some inquiries in Lakeland to see if I can help you out. There some decent restaurants in Sebring on 27, nothing fancy, but it will be crowed. If you take 98 towards Okeechobee, there is a steak house that looks good at the intersection of 98 and 70. Maybe 20 minutes from the track (go out the back way-when you go out the main entrance, turn left, go straight, don't turn right towards Sebring and that road leads to 98. Turn left at 98).
I will see what else I can find.
Regards,
Jerry