Despite Corona virus, we just wanted to dine out! Join us!!!

[BulliBill]

...So it all started out as a joke with my wife. And then it came to pass this evening. To give my wife a break from the cooking around our home (I do the clean-up!), I wanted to take her out to dinner , you know, give her a well deserved break. But with all that is going on lately, lock-downs of entire cities, States and even countries, that can be hard to do. So I decided that with a garage full of old VWs including two Westfalia Campers, I had the solution to our dinner out parked right downstairs.

I proposed that we call and place an order for curbside delivery of a bunch of salad, pasta and those famous bread sticks at our local Olive Garden. Then 20 minutes later we would pull into their parking lot in my 1967 Westfalia Campmobile (to which we recently added a pop-top and new Baltic Birch wall and ceiling panels to) to snag our dinner. But like most, we wouldn't drive away and leave! My plan during our little escape from our home was to park our home-away-from-home there in the parking lot, pop the pop-top, set up our own dining table made by those crafty Germans at Westfalia and set up our plates, two candles, and beverages.

The bag full of dinner was delivered hot and ready to devour. Kathryn put on some gloves and wiped down all the containers, we set the table and within minutes we were enjoying salad and pasta in our own private dining room out and away from home for a little while...

Many drive-by patrons slowed to express their approval as we dined. The general manager/chef even came out, keeping his distance of course to check us out and take some photos to post for his staff and for Olive Garden. We simply lingered by candlelight amid all the Baltic Birch and enjoyed our evening out with one of our old Transporters.

Eventually we dropped the top, packed up and puttered our way (the long way) back hope to tuck the Campmobile away for a well deserved rest in the garage. We'll be doing this again and again very soon, and we hope you take the idea and run with it too. Please feel free to post your photos and stories about your VW dinner out, VW picnics, etc right here. We hope that you are all warm, healthy and happy and let's do what is necessary to get to the other side of this!

Bill & Kathryn Bowman
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I'm looking for these license plate frames for my fleet:
Coeur D'Alene - Lake Shore Volkswagen
Mission VW - San Fernando
Thornton VW - Stockton

Thanks for any help!

[AS350driver]

I enjoyed my Wendy’s chili and Dave’s single burger from under the shade of the rear hatch of my 13 window earlier today. After drive through, parked in the abandoned lot next door, shut down and chowed down. There were lots of honks and thumbs up for the bus from passing traffic.

Btw Bill: if some of your FA coworkers mentioned a VW bus fanatic on a recent flight, that was me lol. I was on my iPhone looking at some pics of my buses and the FA noticed and mentioned she had a coworker that collected them too. I’m like, yeah Bill Bowman...he’s famous! She was incredulous and like , how’d you know his name? !! I mentioned you were a writer for Hot VWs at times and well known in the community. She knew you organized shows in St Louis but not the full extent.

So she called back the other two FA’s and was like, tell them what you just told me. They were excited that one of their own was so famous. So now they’re all looking for buses for you to fix up for them.

[EverettB]

Great idea!

I rarely do take out but if I did, I would want to eat it right away too.
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[BulliBill]

Yeah Everrett, we have never before last night ordered take out from a restaurant, we've always dined-in, but these are new and challenging times. We just innovated a little! The Olive Garden did a great job changing their parking lot into a staging area, you were greeted and assigned a parking spot and since you knew about when your order would be ready for pick-up, your dinner was delivered almost immediately. We just pleasantly surprised them when we asked to stay and set up our travelling house and dining table (the pop-top and table set-up took all of a minute and a half) to enjoy the meal right there in a novel way. Everyone seemed to enjoy our little dinner adventure.

Hey "AS350driver", what a "crack-up" that they saw your Transporter photos and connected me to you! It must have been a St. Louis-based flight attendant crew (where I have been based for 43 years, first for TWA and now for AA). But after all that, my question is: did they comp you any adult beverages? I sure as hell would have!!!

Keep posting up your COVID19 dining /picnic adventures folks! Plan and execute!

Bill
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I'm looking for these license plate frames for my fleet:
Coeur D'Alene - Lake Shore Volkswagen
Mission VW - San Fernando
Thornton VW - Stockton

Thanks for any help!

[vwuberalles]

What a fantastic idea! Great way to get out of the house, and to support local businesses too. I may have to copy the idea with my Previa, since the Bus is at my parent's place the next state over.
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1973 Superbeetle: 1st car, owned since age 12. Update thread --> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9919140#9919140
1967 Kombi: Owned since age 17, Dad's retirement project.
1966 Beetle: My new project. (SOLD) Build thread--> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=678040

[bob1]

He Bill

Terrific idea, will take Linda out later this week in her own 59 westy, but will not spoil the fun to tell her before!! …

Thanks for the tip!

Linda and Bob, your belgian connection…

[AS350driver]

Bill, it was an AA flight from El Paso to DFW, on my way to OKC. Not sure where they were out of but they all knew you!
No, they didn’t comp me any adult beverages haha. That would have got everyone in trouble, as it was work travel (leo) and I can’t imbibe. That’s probably a good rule to observe stringently.

[srfndoc]

Side note: Bill, the poptop upgrade turned out great. We use our Westy in a similar manner although we generally take the food to our local beach and park/eat there.
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RPM=(MPH*336* (R&P*4th*1.26))/Tire Diameter in inches

[BulliBill]

[BulliBill]

[AS350driver]

[zozo]

Went through the drive-thru with my dog and got us both some burgers (He likes the double cheeseburgers with no trimmings) and we parked in the shade and sat with the side doors open, and dined. No pics. It never crossed my mind. I'll confess that this is something that he and I do frequently, 'cuz he's a bus dog and such a good boy, yes he is (wag wag wag).

[EmpiGT]

Hey Bill. Every time I see your westy. It reminds me of a westy that was sat at revolks vw shop in Siloam Springs Arkansas. Is this the same bus? Can't be too many westy's painted in that color pattern.

[AS350driver]

[BulliBill]

[Carlp336]

great story and pics.

[zozo]

[Manfred58sc]

A cute idea, however if you had ever worked in corporate kitchen conditions you would never, I mean never dine there during this type of outbreak. The rule is always the same ( I've worked at many such places ) " show up or get replaced ". There is no safety net for those workers, only the grim realities of paycheck to paycheck living.
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Fat chick owner/operator

[BulliBill]

[Huetti_1989]

we had low temperature the last days here, so still many salt on the roads, and its impossible to get the licence plates for two of my cars because the registration office are closed, so still waiting for carspring this year..

-Christian
_________________
My 1957 semaphore Single Cab:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=605363&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
MY 1967 Sparsamba:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=757182
My 1954 Deutsche Bundespost Barndoor:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=621802
My 1961 SO34 Flipseat Westfalia:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=716285
My 1991 Westfalia California:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=650751