San Diego is one of my favorite cities and in the autumn of 2005 I had another opportunity to visit, courtesy of Volkswagen. The setting was a media presentation of the new Jetta. Test drive colleague Colin Hefferon and I drove across the San Diego Bay bridge to Coronado, drawn by curiosity to see the historic Hotel del Coronado and impressed with a constant parade of aircraft on final for the nearby US Naval Air Station, naval aviation's birthplace. There we learned that if we'd come a little later we could have watched vintage racing at the Coronado Speed Festival, held on a course using the station's runways and taxiways. Fortunately it's an annual event, this year taking place Saturday and Sunday, October 6th and 7th. There was a period during the early post-war era when military air bases were temporarily turned into weekend race tracks, so the Coronado Speed Festival is vintage in more ways than one.

It will feature 225 of the world's most unique and pedigreed race cars on a spectator-friendly 1.6 mile course. As at all vintage races, spectators are invited to tour the pits and speak with the drivers of these unique machines. And as at all such competitions, it's real racing, not a parade. The Coronado Speed Festival is actually part of Fleet Week, which includes a sea and air parade (aircraft carrier, cruiser, guided missile destroyer, frigate, nuclear submarine, amphibious assault ship, amphibious dock and platform landing ships, SEAL support boat, and more). The weekend of October 12-14 features a military and civilian air show, with everything from old biplanes to the newest technology of stealth fighter jets, along with the Marine Air and Ground Task Force (MAGTF) simulated combat demonstration.

So let's see... that's beautiful San Diego, captivating Coronado, vintage auto racing, a fascinating fleet display, an exciting air show, and the hospitality of a US Naval Air Station. What a fabulous two-week vacation that would be!

[source: Hemmings]