The private collection of the Amelia concours founder and a visit to a “Fountain of Youth” | 2023 Orange Blossom Tour day 2

Where can you explore Florida’s finest backroads and hidden gems from the comfort of your favorite car? None other than our annual Classic Motorsports Orange Blossom Tour.

For the second day of our tour, participants headed out from our new hub hotel–the Hilton University of Florida Hotel and Conference Center in Gainesville, Florida–up to the private collection of Bill Warner, founder of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.

Following a barbecue lunch and a helping of Bill’s stories, tour guests headed into Green Cove Springs, located along the St. Johns River (one of the few rivers in the U.S. that flow north). Like many other first-magnitude springs located in the state, the one at Green Cove also boasts to be the “original Fountain of Youth.”

Photography Credits: Nicole Suddard

After that, it was back to the hotel, but not before taking in a number of sights you won’t see in Orlando’s theme parks or Miami’s urban jungle: Sights like Camp Blanding, the 73,000-acre WWII-era base that still serves as a primary training base for the Florida National Guard, or the International Center for Lightning Research and Testing, which takes advantage of Central Florida’s status as the lightning strike capital of the U.S.

The 2023 Classic Motorsports Orange Blossom Tour, part of the Hagerty Touring Series, runs this week, February 26-March 2.

Don’t want to miss out on another tour? Visit classicmotorsportsroadtours.com for more information about upcoming events.

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Comments

Warlock New Reader
3/1/23 12:04 p.m.

But you missed the really important quirkyness that's eastern SR16 

• The only surviving Space Shuttle fuel tank, lying on the shore of the St Johns River next to the Green Cove Springs Marina

• Penney Farms, and the statue of town founder and department store magnate James Cash Penney
• Somewhere on the north side of the road near Camp Blanding, a 300-ft or so stretch of wire fence festooned with abandoned toys and household appliances (pictures just do not do this justice....)!

Colin Wood Associate Editor
3/1/23 2:09 p.m.

In reply to Warlock :

Thanks for sharing! We'll have to put those on a to-do list the next time we're in the area.

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