Texan
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| posted on 21/9/12 at 04:31 AM |
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Holiday in the U.S.?
I am a long time lurker and live in the States. Fort Worth, Texas to be precise.
The other night I was reading through all the posts and noticed the thread on Venice. Then I noticed several more in the same travel & lodging
vein which got me to thinking.
A couple of years ago I visited the U.K. S2000 club and went on a Northumberland meet. For 3 days we toured all over with a bunch of crazy guys &
gals and saw places we'd never have seen if we had been on our own. We made some friends and offered to host each other should we find
ourselves in either country, which due to the economy hasn't happened - yet.
But things seem to be changing, at least for us. And your threads gave me a crazy idea.
You guys get a lot more vacation time than we do in the states and it seems that when you travel you don't stay in motels/hotels but due to your
extended stays you seem to rent apartments, bed & breakfasts, etc. So this is an exploratory post. What if there were a more or less car themed
place to base out of in the States? When I designed and built my home I designed it so that it could be a Bed & Breakfast, never thinking
we'd ever really do that, but wanting the most in a flexible design. (We've been in real estate all our adult life so I'm always
thinking towards maximizing resale values & attraction.)
We live in the country outside Fort Worth.
http://www.fortworth.com/about-fort-worth/
We're not far from the Fort Worth Stockyards. We have long horned cattle just outside the entrance to our neighborhood.
http://www.fortworthstockyards.org/
http://www.motorsportranch.com/
Motorsport ranch is about 30 minutes from my front door. You can rent a Spec Miata (MX5) and run the track
http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com/
Texas Motor Speedway is about 20 minutes from my front door.
I know you don't have autocrosses in England, but here at the TMS parking lot and multiple other locations around the metroplex we have a least
one autocross available about 50 weekends out of the year, and I have an S2000 we could go play in.
http://dfwautocross.com/
http://www.hallettracing.net/
The Hallet track is about 3 hours away & you can rent a Spec Miata (MX5) and run the track
http://dallas.carsandcoffee.info/
Cars & Coffee is held the first Saturday of every month and there are some unbelievable cars there every time. Upwards of 300 every month.
http://www.financiersmortgage.com/Financiersmortgage/Central_Market.html
This is a business video and not geared at all towards tourists, but this shows you a little of what we do with our off time and while we
wouldn't be tour guides so much, we would be happy to show people around some. Introduce you to some of the culture around here. Help people
figure out where to go and go with them, if desired, to the tracks, autocrosses, Cars & Coffee, etc.
I can probably have a locost ready for use as well.
We aren't all that far from the DFW airport and it's almost a straight shot from here to Austin, San Antonio & Houston so it's a
good basing point.
So if this is attractive to you then how would I go about getting this in front of you? Is there a site you guys go to like the site that was given
out in the Venice thread?
As I said, this is exploratory and I would have some work to do to get portions of the house ready for visitors, but it wouldn't take long to
do. Am I daft or am I on to something?
Moderators please delete this thread if it is inappropriate.
I drive therefore I am.
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liam.mccaffrey
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| posted on 21/9/12 at 06:23 AM |
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that is a great idea and it couldnt be in a better part of the world.
I for one would be twisting my wifes arm to go. we lived just outside stillwater (where OSU is) during 2008 and had a fee lovely days at Hallet
track. My wife was lucky enough to get a passenger ap in chrisf 7 there. He lives in frisco but doesn't come on her these days
I do think 3 hours from DFW to Hallet is a little optimistic though  I spent 6 weeks in Dallas and drove up and down I35 more times than I.care to
remember.
Best of luck
Build Blog
Build Photo Album
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jeffw
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| posted on 21/9/12 at 06:56 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by liam.mccaffrey
My wife was lucky enough to get a passenger ap in chrisf 7 there. He lives in frisco but doesn't come on her these days
Maybe a slight edit required?
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scootz
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| posted on 21/9/12 at 06:58 AM |
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It's Evolution Baby!
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snapper
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| posted on 21/9/12 at 07:00 AM |
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It has the makings of a niche holiday opportunity
There are some very expensive versions in Europe such as the private race track with exotic cars to play with
Price pitch will be important you'll have to research that
As for advertising I would also look at Piston Heads and some British car magazines
Nice idea
I eat to survive
I drink to forget
I breath to pi55 my ex wife off (and now my ex partner)
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Daddylonglegs
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| posted on 21/9/12 at 07:10 AM |
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I travel to DFW with work and I think the idea is a good one and with the right pricing etc. you could be on to a winner 
JB
[Edited on 21/9/12 by Daddylonglegs]
It looks like the Midget is winning at the moment......
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Texan
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| posted on 21/9/12 at 02:31 PM |
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I haven't been to Hallett, but several of my buddies have and their pitch to me is that it's only about 3 hours away so that's what
I based the time on. Fort Worth doesn't have the traffic that Dallas does so maybe that's the difference.
I built where I built because it put me much closer to the motorsports action. My partner in crime in all things car recently died, but prior to that
we were all over Motorsports Ranch down in Cresson and hit just about every Autocross there was as well as the HPDEs (High Performance Driving Event)
at Texas Motor Speedway.
It's a different sort of experience to hit the high banking on a Nascar track. At TMS they start you on the Nascar track and then run you off
into the road course in the infield and then stick you back on the Nascar track to finish. It's a bit like Daytona if you've watched the
24 hour event there.
I can't wait for the new F1 action down in Austin!!! I've never been to an F1 race.
Pricing is up in the air at the moment, this was just a reality check, but since this wouldn't be our main business it would be reasonable. We
were actually thinking it would be a lot of fun more so than just work.
I was really hoping there was some sort of website that I missed that we could use to let you guys know about it rather than print ads as they are so
expensive plus seem to be hit or miss with effectiveness. And then there's the fact that the cost of print ads would drive the costs way up or
require we pursue it like our main business. Unless I upgrade the bedroom & bath in the shop out back we only have 3 spaces which limits profit
potential if advertising costs get too high. (in other words it might make it too expensive)
As i said I designed our house to be a Bed & Breakfast so all 3 areas have outside entrances as well as inside & parking at their door. The
"rooms" range from the smallest which is a 14' x 15' bedroom with a full to 2 different about 1400 square foot areas. 1 is a 2
story condo type loft with living room and full bath that would sleep 6 in beds and 1 more on the sofa. And the other is a bedroom, bath & large
media/game room area that probably would sleep 8. So one would be for shorter stays and the other 2 for longer stays or larger groups.
Google it and do a satellite view to see how we're situated and proximities.
718 Boling Ranch Road
Azle, Texas 76020
And for those of you who know the area, we aren't really in Azle or even near Azle. Our mailing address just happens to be Azle.
The biggest selling feature is that in 3 different directions we are 7 minutes away from Walmarts. (http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/photos/)
You've got nothing like it over there!! What that really means is that while we are out in the country, you can get to civilization quickly.
This is a pic of our front yard from last winter. It's all still green with temps in the 80's here right now. And yes, that's a
real plastic pink flamingo, not one of those fake plastic flamingos you see elsewhere.
[Edited on 21/9/12 by Texan]
[Edited on 21/9/12 by Texan]
[Edited on 21/9/12 by Texan]
I drive therefore I am.
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loggyboy
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| posted on 21/9/12 at 02:43 PM |
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My parents are off to Texas for the first time in November, they usualy stick to florida/cali but have decided to see what the Lone star state has to
offer. The lucky buggers are also combining it with going to watch the Austen F1GP.
quote:
Originally posted by Texan
I know you don't have autocrosses in England, but here at the TMS parking lot and multiple other locations around the metroplex we have a least
one autocross available about 50 weekends out of the year, and I have an S2000 we could go play in.
http://dfwautocross.com/
We do have autosolo which is slightly more basic version of US autocross.
Mistral Motorsport
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