Stella Arbelaez suggested we go to sketch a Porsche Road Rats Rally going at Bountiful Farms (27314 County Road 33, Okahumpka, FL). The event was almost over, so we had to rush to get there. I reasoned that men would still be talking about their fancy engines, and chrome with hoods open long after the closing time for the event.
In part, I was right. There is a small outdoor cafe called Bountiful’s Bestro, under a giant 300 year old live oak on the property. The outdoor seating was crowded, presumably full of Porsche owners bragging about their cars speed and many modifications. My ex wife used to drive a Porsche so I know that speed is everything. Stella set up near her car to sketch the cafe and huge tree, and I wandered over to sketch the Porches parked on the grass parking lot.
As I sketched, car owner after car owner walked to their car and drove off. A distant Porsche had the car owner come out and open the hood. He showed his engine to a friend. I had to stop sketching when it started to rain. At that point every car owner rushed over and drove off. I went back to find Stella and she was still sketching. We decided to head over to a small fresh market where we brought some produce. I wanted to get some cucumbers since I had recently picked some in a field nearby. The woman behind the counter explained that cucumbers were out of season, which I suppose was true since the crop was now in supermarkets rather than in the fields. There is a weekend farmers market that happens on Bountiful Farms and Stella discussed the possibility of having art for sale at the market. I will have to return to sketch that farmers market some weekend.
By the time we left the fresh market it had stopped raining. We then had a fantastic soup and grilled cheese sandwich lunch under the gorgeous live oak. We had the place to ourselves. The waitress kept offering us free Cokes since we were creating art, but in the end we paid. Despite the brief rain, it was a great outing. We both wished we had spent more time sketching, but it is the experience that counts not how polished the sketch looks. Stella’s sketch of the Bistro and live oak is really good and could easily be finished some weekend. My sketch, as usual is a panicked mess.