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Festiva Parking Only
This is the second year we've participated in the Easyriders bike show in Charlotte and last year was definitely a learning experience. Last year we did Saturday setup so we had to get the truck and trailer out of the venue as soon as the bikes were unloaded. Then came the challenge of finding parking for my long bed F-150 and enclosed trailer...in downtown CLT. It was a total pain and the space I found was barely big enough so I had to wait for the lot to clear out before I could get the truck back out again.
This year I told my buddy that we were doing it different
This time we opted for Friday set-up. It's a vendor/participant only day so you can leave your vehicle inside until you're stuff is set up. This worked out WAY better since I didn't have to find and pay for parking. Now for the second (and best) part of the plan. When we drove down for the show today we took the Festiva! It was me, my girlfriend, my friend, and his wife, all packed into my 93. The ladies weren't exactly thrilled but my friend thought it was hilarious because he loves my car almost as much as I do. He had fun with everybody he saw on the trip there. Then when we got there the girls saw just what a mess it was to find parking I pulled up to the most primo lot that is right across the street from the convention center because I saw an open spot, but they were turning cars away. I pull up in the 93 and the guy says "I have one spot left and it's really small.......but I think you might fit". I look at the guy, smile, and say "not a problem". I pulled right into the spot and had room to spare for everyone to get out of the car. That's when I told the ladies "Now you see why we drove THIS car", to which they agreed since they only had to walk across the street instead of 3+ blocks. There were a few guys from the Outlaws MC in the parking lot too. When we got out of the car they all smiled really big, congratulated us on our ingenuity, and told us that we came well equipped for downtown parking.
This is just another fine example of why I tell everyone that the Festiva is the ultimate urban assault vehicle :mrgreen:
This year I told my buddy that we were doing it different
This time we opted for Friday set-up. It's a vendor/participant only day so you can leave your vehicle inside until you're stuff is set up. This worked out WAY better since I didn't have to find and pay for parking. Now for the second (and best) part of the plan. When we drove down for the show today we took the Festiva! It was me, my girlfriend, my friend, and his wife, all packed into my 93. The ladies weren't exactly thrilled but my friend thought it was hilarious because he loves my car almost as much as I do. He had fun with everybody he saw on the trip there. Then when we got there the girls saw just what a mess it was to find parking
I pulled up to the most primo lot that is right across the street from the convention center because I saw an open spot, but they were turning cars away. I pull up in the 93 and the guy says "I have one spot left and it's really small.......but I think you might fit". I look at the guy, smile, and say "not a problem". I pulled right into the spot and had room to spare for everyone to get out of the car. That's when I told the ladies "Now you see why we drove THIS car", to which they agreed since they only had to walk across the street instead of 3+ blocks. There were a few guys from the Outlaws MC in the parking lot too. When we got out of the car they all smiled really big, congratulated us on our ingenuity, and told us that we came well equipped for downtown parking.This is just another fine example of why I tell everyone that the Festiva is the ultimate urban assault vehicle :mrgreen:
All I knew was that we've been busting our tail all week to get ready for the show so I had decided that I was going to park as close as possible to the venue. I'm too lazy/tired to hike it around downtown. The bad part is that I have to take the truck and trailer back tomorrow to pick the bikes up (after a little detour to Pull A Part *wink*). Luckily we found a nice open church parking lot last year that makes it easier to load up and we can ride the bikes out after we remove them from the show floor. When we set up we had to push them in up a long ramp which really sucked.
2009 Festiva Madness link with pictures. 51 Festivas & 4 Aspires from eight states attended. 
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