The third edition of MINI Beach Weekend, an annual Sunshine MINIs event, took place on the west coast of Florida in St. Petersburg, from October 20-22, 2023. Cathy Chopping (with help from her husband) volunteered to host this year’s event. She did a great job.
Some history: I started this annual event with MINI Beach Weekend 2021 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Last year, MINI Beach Weekend 2022 was hosted by Tracey Roth (and husband Chad) in Fernandina Beach, Florida.
Cathy did all of the planning for the event. I helped again with the Registration and graphics. She created and managed the Facebook event pages. We had about 40 people attend the weekend events.
Day 1: Friday, October 20, 2023
Unfortunately, my MINI was in the shop so I drove my Porsche down to St. Petersburg instead. My first stop was to meet Cathy and Mark and others for lunch at Doc Ford’s Rum Bar at the St. Pete Pier. After lunch, I headed to the southern end of the St. Pete peninsula to a friend’s house I was using (for free!) for the weekend. I was disappointed not staying with everyone at the Crystal Bay Hotel, but I couldn’t pass up a free place to stay.
Around 3:20 pm I arrived at 3 Daughters Brewing, the site for the first official event, the MINI Car Show. I helped a little at Registration, picked up my Welcome Package and some stickers, and chatted with some friends I hadn’t seen since last year at the event.
Soon I went inside to get a cold beer and have a look around the brewery. They brew some very good beers there. I tried the Mexican Lager.
Beer in hand, I took some time to stroll through the parking lot and take a look at the varieties of MINIs. I wrote down my votes for the MINIs, grouped by generation.
I parked away from the MINIs, but still in front of the brewery with its matching blue canopies.
It was a perfect evening, and we spent about three hours hanging out as people enjoyed the beer and voted on their favorite cars.
A little after 6:00 pm we held the weekend’s first raffle for some nice MINI prizes.
The car show wrapped up around 7:00 pm and many people went to the host hotel. I followed along, since we were planning to have dinner at a restaurant near the hotel. A joined a group of former hosts and old Sunshine MINIs friends at The Wheelhouse, a small pub with the normal, but good, pub food. Then it was time to leave the group and drive back south to the house I was staying in.
Day 2: Saturday, October 21, 2023
Saturday’s event was a beach day and picnic at Fort De Soto Park. Cathy had rented Shelter #2 on North Beach for the group. The MINI dealership was holding a charity event that day, so some people chose to attend that before coming to the beach afterwards.
Unexpectedly, a couple driving a classic MINI, “Tiny”, showed up. This right-hand-drive light blue Mini with roof rack is the perfect beach day car.
I lit the grill so people could cook food they brought, but many of us lunched on Publix subs that we had pre-ordered with Registration.
Around 2:00 pm we gathered everyone in the shelter and announced the winners of the previous day’s MINI Car Show. Winners received prizes.
Then it was time to return to the house to shower and get ready for the night’s events. We all gathered again around 5:30 pm at John’s Pass Village & Boardwalk, a seaside area with shops, restaurants, and (of course) breweries. Pro tip: park in the parking garage instead of the $20 dirt lot.
We gathered up as many people as we could find and took a group photo on the boardwalk.
We all split up for dinner, with my group walking up the street to Mad Beach Craft Brewing Company. Cathy and posed for our “official” planning team photo.
After dinner, we again broke up into smaller groups for walking, shopping, listening to music, and eating ice cream.
Day 3: Sunday, October 22, 2023
Sunday’s final event was lunch at Ferg’s Sports Bar & Grill. We met up early, around 11:00 am and before opening time, so that we could fill the parking lot with MINIs. It was the third day of perfect weather.
You can see Tropicana Field, home field of the Tampa Bay Rays, in the background, it was just a few blocks away.
After lunch was served, it was time for one more raffle. Cathy and I drew numbers. Cathy had bought, made or received as donations, so many items, there were more prizes than people, so everyone took home something—from toy MINIs, to gift certificates, posters, and keychains.
Finally, we said a few last words and thanked everyone for coming. I left for home around 12:30 pm.
Cathy did a great job finding the locations and planning out the schedule and selecting a host hotel. She spent a lot of time buying and making MINI Beach Weekend 2023 prizes, souvenirs, and decals, most of which she gave away. I was disappointed not to have my MINI Cooper with me for the weekend, but I did enjoy driving around St. Pete in my convertible, enjoying the perfect weather.
I hope someone will volunteer to host MINI Beach Weekend for 2024 in yet another new beach town. Or maybe it will come back to the Daytona Beach area…