Every year, the world's auto enthusiasts travel to the Monterey Peninsula to participate in the Car Week that culminates with the luxurious Concours d'Elegance classic car competition.
But the real enthusiasts, the hardcore vintage car nuts, can be found on the 18th green at Pebble Beach -- in the dark, clutching paper cups of coffee, observing the annual ritual that has come to be known as "Dawn Patrol."
Like migratory birds instinctively drawn back to the water's edge, several hundred found their way through the darkness to the final green of arguably the nation's best-loved links.
Some had been on the lawn for a full hour before the clock ticked past 6 a.