[PICS] Surf, Sand and Corvettes – Life is Good in Ocean City, NJ

Sep 26, 2013

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[PICS] Surf, Sand and Corvettes - Life is Good in Ocean City, NJ

Article contributed by Lance Miller / Corvettes at Carlisle

Nothing like coming back to the area you call home especially when the Boardwalk Corvette Club of Atlantic City is hosting their annual Corvette event right on the Boardwalk of Ocean City, NJ. Yes, that day, you can actually drive your Corvette on to the Boardwalk, park, and enjoy the magnificent scenery, the most delicious food, the people and of course the Corvettes.

I was honored to lead this parade of more than 400 Corvettes, in the iconic 1960 Cunningham LeMans #3 Corvette. I love driving this Corvette and my ear to ear smile always shows it. What made me even happier was the smile I saw from my 12 year old co-driver who paraded with me from the airport to the boardwalk. The event is much more relaxed than most events you attend throughout the year. Corvettes of all colors and years line up at the Ocean City airport prior to departing at 11am towards the boardwalk. Promptly after the drivers meeting, the police escort the long chain of Corvettes through the beautiful city and bring the cars up along the famous boardwalk at 14th Street where you’re greeted with hundreds of smiling faces.

I was parked in a designated space in front of the Music Pier near 8th Street along with Eric Reich’s ’63 Corvette that was owned by his Aunt since new and has over 400,000 miles on the odometer. Of course the event wouldn’t be complete without a freshly delivered Stingray Corvette. Kerbeck Chevrolet was kind enough to bring the all new Stingray for the day of festivities. And it drew quite a crowd.

This event is one of my favorite shows with some of the most wonderful people. But then again I may be just a bit biased since this is the place I’ve called home since I moved here in seventh grade and spent just about as many days surfing as in the classroom. My wife still doesn’t understand how I was able to graduate.

Special this year was the showing of the Quest documentary following the boardwalk show to benefit the Chip Miller Charitable Foundation and a sand sculpting of the new C7 Stingray and the #3 LeMans Corvette. Corey Korpita, an amazing artist and car enthusiast worked diligently on the sculptures for 4 days (and sometimes nights). My wife, Michele, used to work with Corey and they kept in touch over the years. After seeing a photo of Corey’s sculpture of the new C7 he created and posted on Facebook, I reposted to Corvettes at Carlisle and the photograph spread throughout the Corvette community quickly. Michele reached out to Corey to see if he’d be willing to sculpt another one, plus the LeMans Corvette during the Boardwalk event. Corey jumped on board immediately, lucky for us!

There was a continuous line of people taking pictures and asking questions, yet he and his family would constantly work hard to complete the project at hand. The final result blew me away! Besides from being a great person with a wonderful family, he made a lasting impact during the event – everyone including myself was raving about the sculptures throughout the weekend.

Announcements were made throughout the day by Kathy Nolan and Michael Brown informing everyone that the Quest documentary would be playing at the Music Pier following the Corvette show. Legendary board shaper, Brian Wynn, shaped a marvelous longboard that resembled the ’60 Cunningham Corvette; the longboard was used to help generate more proceeds for the CMCF and did just that!

The Quest documentary started at 6pm and promptly after was a meet and greet with Michael Brown, Kevin Mackay, Bill Miller and myself. This evening event proved to be quite intimate and just as magical as the day festivities, from the beautiful sunset hovering over the sand sculptures to the friendships that were formed throughout the day. If you haven’t watched the Quest, I’d highly recommend you consider purchasing yourself a copy of the film, you can buy it directly from this website: http://www.questdocumentary.com.

On a final note, Ocean City, NJ truly is “America’s Greatest Family Resort”. The Corvette community is truly one big family, from the families sitting on the sideline looking at all the Corvettes to the family and friends that just happened to be visiting this awesome community and were able to see some amazing rides – everyone had an enjoyable day and evening! This is one event you won’t want to miss, be sure to put it on your calendars for next year!

Special thanks to the following:

City of Ocean City, NJ going above and beyond in every capacity
Boardwalk Corvette Club of Atlantic City for hosting such a fun filled event
Michael Brown – director and producer of The Quest documentary
Corvette Repair, Kevin Mackay and team – special thanks for bringing down the Cunningham Corvette and attending the event
Corey Korpita and family – making dreams happen in the sand
Bryan Wynn – great longboard
Nick Bricker and family – thanks for brainstorming and implementing the logistics of the event
Dunleavy Matching Missions team – thanks for continually helping the CMCF
All the participants – you made one memorable event!

I hope to see everyone next weekend on Sunday September 29th during the 7th Annual Corvettes for Chip event! This event will be held at an all new location in Media, PA at Thomas Chevrolet. You can expect to see some amazing Corvettes along with plenty of incredible auction items on display throughout the day. All net proceeds to this event benefit the Chip Miller Charitable Foundation. I’m incredibly thankful for the Corvette hobby continually coming together to help us make a difference. The mission of the CMCF is to empower people with the knowledge and understanding of amyloidosis for earlier detection, ensuring a better quality of life for those afflicted with the disease and to help science find the cures.

Check out these photos from the event: