While enjoying, and surviving, the 50th Bentley Drivers Club's "Scottish Whit Weekend" 2008, my colonial accent gave me away and I was asked by one of the organizers if I could help a bit with routing, etc. for the "North East U.S.A. Tour" being planned for September 2009. By way of background, I've been a BDC member since 1969, although I haven't owned a Bentley for some years. I gladly agreed and, as the starting date approached, a series of e-mails shot back and forth across the Atlantic. Several of the organizers had made a "dummy run" this past April, checking routing, accommodation arrangements, etc., so as things evolved, there was very little work involved on my part.

BDC's USA Fall Tour - The start Click here to view videos by Pete Huey

It did, however, occur to me that some sort of "official start" might be appropriate, with the individual cars being flagged off from a suitable location. The decision had already been made to ship the Bentleys (from England, Scotland, Belgium, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand) to the Port of Baltimore, Maryland. Since I happen to be the only BDC member living in Ellicott City, a quaint little 18th century former mill village about ten miles from the Port, the decision was made. The local tourist bureau was asked to make arrangements for "Bentley Parking Only" the morning of September 4th in the town square, all around the historic Ellicott City Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum, housed in the oldest railroad station in America, the local media were alerted, flyers were printed and placed in the local shop windows and all awaited an event the likes of which this sleepy little village had never experienced.

The Tour was scheduled to begin on Friday, September 4th 2009. On the Monday prior, several of the participants, having flown over earlier, a few local BDC members and I headed for the warehouse to unload the cars from their containers, their having cleared the Customs brouhaha. Eight or ten of them were then driven the ten or twelve miles to the hotel where the participants were staying, an interesting drive indeed led, at least until I took a wrong turn, by what must be the only Subaru Forester on the planet with a Bentley Drivers Club badge, dusted off and affixed for the occasion. The rest of the run was taken over by a vintage Bentley owner with a "sat-nav" device.

The evening before the big day, a "get-acquainted" dinner was held during which American "rules of the road" were discussed and ridiculed a bit, one local participant pointing out there is no such thing here as "lane discipline", while I made note of the supposition on the part of quite a few local "drivers" that there is some sort of connection between their turn signal and the brake pedal of the car they are about to swerve in front of...

Historic Ellicott City - official staring point

The Bentleys, one Lagonda and a Jaguar, (the owner's two Bentleys both took sick at the last moment) all arrived in Ellicott City to much fanfare the next morning, several having driven across the U.S. after completing the 5000 mile Alaska tour(!). After an hour or so of gawking, TV interviews etc., they were flagged off to the skirling of the Gael Mor Pipe Band, headed for Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Niagara Falls and points north, to return south to Maryland's Eastern Shore, where they will participate in part of the "St Michaels Concours d'Elegance", then to Williamsburg, Virginia, back to Baltimore and home.

I hope some of the folks who were fortunate enough to enjoy the entire tour will submit accounts of their adventures along the way, as well as lots of photos. In the meantime, I can only say that never in my wildest dreams did I think I would see over thirty vintage Bentleys, as well as a few "moderns" gathered less than one hundred yards from my front door!