Cruising the Back Roads in Your Classic Car
In the past we have talked a lot about trips to races, car museum and car shows around the Country. All kinds of car activities are fun but what we like even more is Hitting the Road. Katrina and I belong to a local AACA club that has no meetings and no dues and no officers. It is made up of members of other, more formal AACA clubs for the purpose of driving our cars.
On a recent weekend we played host to approximately 40 individuals driving 32 cars most of which would be considered collector cars. The group gathered at a member’s location here in Murfreesboro and caravaned over to our farm for a tour and snacks. The weather was a little humid but the temperature was terrific and the sun was out. We began with a tour of our small collection while attempting to explain why a guy who drove Corvettes all his life has so many Ford products. It was also interesting to see the surprise and shock on peoples faces when they learned about the Ford Aero Cars (Ford Talladega and Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II) for the first time. They had some interesting questions. After my tour of our garage Katrina took them to the barn and pasture to learn about miniature donkeys.
Some of the men stayed in the garage to talk cars a little longer but all the women and many of the men headed out to the animals. I hate to say it but I think almost everyone was more impressed and interested in the miniature donkeys than the Aero Cars. One couple driving a fully restored Nash Metropolitan said they would have liked to take one home but didn’t think it would fit in their little car which is much smaller than a VW Bug!
After a couple of hours at our farm the we all caravaned on a 75 mile excursion to the small historical town of Granville in the hills along a river in northern TN. It was a very picturesque drive. Our Cale Yarborough Spoiler with its 428 CJ Ram Air engine cruised up and down the hills and around the corners like it was happy to be released from the garage. It was the car’s first time on the road in over 18 months. We recently liberated it from its position in the Floyd Garrett Muscle Car Museum in Pigeon Forge TN. We were a little worried that having sat for that long it might develop some issues but all went well and we enjoyed the slow caravan up to Granville and the more speedy return trip immensely.
While in the town we all gathered for a family style home cooked lunch at a local old time General Store and Restaurant. The food was out of this world and had us all asking for the recipe for the creamed corn. After eating we all waddled out of the General Store and individually made our way around town to visit the museum, pioneer village and car museum as well as some gift shops.
Our Club does this every other month year round and I can hardly wait for the August trip. If you are not in the habit of driving your car out on the highway with some friends, make plans to do so. We stayed to back roads and low speeds. The number of thumbs up and friendly waves we got along the way was spirit lifting.
Cruise On!
