Hundreds of Corvettes cruise into Cape

People watched a sleek parade of hundreds of Chevrolet Corvettes that cruised into Cape Girardeau on Tuesday night.

But to caravan rider Dave Garber, he had as much fun checking out the license plates.

"Yeah, it's been a great time, great camaraderie. You meet a lot of neat people," Garber said. He motioned to his license plate, saying "he earned it."

On the back of Garber's 2008 crystal red tintcoat 427 Limited Edition Corvette, the frame around his license plate read: "traffic school honor student." Garber motioned to it and couldn't help but laugh.

The longtime Corvette owner said he's been known for driving a little too fast and that he could even teach a driving class if he needed to, "but they haven't handcuffed me yet," he said with a grin.

This was Garber's first time with the Corvette Caravan, its fifth annual trip to the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He's from Northern California and came with a buddy on the four-day trek. But Garber has no plans for his road trip to end in Kentucky.

"[We're] staying in Kentucky for about four days. Afterward my wife is flying in and he's [Garber's friend] is going to fly back to California. We're going to go up to Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee, from South Dakota to the national parks, Mount Rushmore, spend some time there, then Yellowstone and come back home to California," Garber said.

The whole trip is set to take five to six weeks.

"It's just a lot of fun, it's something I've always wanted to do," Garber said.

City officials, members of car clubs, volunteers, visitors bureau employees and many more were seen entertaining guests and assisting Corvette owners in finding hotels throughout the night. One of the main organizers of the event, Dave Jackson, directed cars at the corner of Broadway and Main Street to help clear the congestion.

Kiara Ramsey, left, Kaleigh Hamblin and Sebastian Ramsey watch the Corvette Caravan roll down Broadway in Cape Girardeau on Tuesday night. (GLENN LANDBERG)

Jackson said he'd been working with other volunteers since last night, cleaning the streets and putting up no-parking signs, just to make sure everything went as smoothly as possible.

"It turned out great, it really did. It turned out as we expected. With the weather conditions, even with the hot weather, as long as it wasn't rain, we were going to do OK with the numbers," Jackson said.

There were about 450 cars, Jackson estimated. With two people per car and the number of locals who came to see them, he estimated close to 1,500 people in attendance enjoyed the night's festivities.

Kyle Williams, a manager at HotShots Sports Bar and Grill, agreed Tuesday night had a great turnout.

"We're doing a Friday on a Tuesday," Williams said about its sales for the night. It was about 8:30 p.m., and tables were still crowded with customers. Williams said it'd been that way since about 4 p.m.

Corvettes line the streets of downtown Cape Girardeau Tuesday night as part of the Corvette Caravan. (GLENN LANDBERG)

"I definitely think we should do more events like this. We have the space; why not use it?" Williams said.

Many locals came out for the night, even in with temperatures in the upper 80s.

"We come down every year ... we enjoy seeing people from all over the country coming to Cape Girardeau and having a good time," Cape Girardeau resident Paul Lloyd said.

Lindsey Reed was near the NASCAR simulator with her three youngsters. Although the sun was beginning to set, her son couldn't wait to check out the race car. Reed said she heard about the caravan through a friend, and she was happy she came and that the children enjoyed it as well.

"My husband is [a big Corvette fan] and he's actually a truck driver, so I'm taking pictures and stuff for him, too, and my son is as well." Reed said.

Corvette drivers from hundreds of miles away were impressed with Cape Girardeau, and many seemed to be fascinated by the Mississippi River.

Ray and Debbie Gastelum of Pasadena, California, said this stop had been their favorite so far. After dinner at Port Cape Girardeau, they were exploring more downtown before heading to their hotel for the

night.

"We've never been farther than Las Vegas, so this has been very cool, seeing the Mississippi and everything," Ray Gastelum said. "I mean it's the trip of our lifetime. We grew up wanting to do this ... and for the town to put on what they did tonight, on a Tuesday night, it was very impressive."

smaue@semissourian.com

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