On a cool Sunday morning in October seven intrepid devotees of vintage tin gathered in Hope Valley to prepare for a week of automotive excitement. They would eventually be joined by three additional gentlemen on their annual trek to the giant antique car magnet known as Hershey. The only immediate chore for Sunday was to load up Jim Varas’s trailer with Bob Burdick’s brass era treasures. This was no minor undertaking since Bob has one of the most complete assortments of lamps, tube stems, bud vases, and mechanical parts around. This year he even brought out a few highly prized petrol-related signs that were in stunning condition. Once everything was properly packed and the trailer attached Jim supervised covering the load with tarps that would repel all water and prevent any treasures from escaping. We were officially ready to depart on the following morning.
Everyone arrived at Bob’s place at 9:30 am on Monday. We were now eight strong with the addition of Bart who was at a family function on the previous day. The four heavily loaded pickup trucks left on time and began the 6-hour trip to the AACA Fall Car Meet at Hershey, PA. As usual we stopped at a roadside rest along route 78 after some 4 hours of travel and ate our lunch on shaded picnic tables. There were plenty of sandwiches and coolers around and one person feasted on oyster crackers, something he holds in higher regard than others do lobster.
The best part of the ride was our next stop, Cigars International in Hamburg, PA. While most of the crew went off in search of smoking treasures Bart and I visited the bar. They have Yuengling beer, lager and Oktoberfest, on tap. It is ice cold and the manager insists that every beer, including refills, be served in new chilled glasses. In a very short time the cigar connoisseurs found their way to the bar where Bart bought rounds for everyone. Anyone who wasn’t drinking beer was given a free round of whatever they wanted. That a way, Bart! It was real difficult leaving that place, but we eventually hit the road again for the last stretch of our ride.
After a little over six hours on the road we arrived at our motel, the Days Inn in Lebanon, PA. The pleasant young lady at the reservation desk was just about as sweet and patient as anyone could possibly be when confronted with 8 weary senior citizens who expect pools to be heated, showers to be warm, and continental breakfasts to include everything other than extra bacon. The showers were warm. One out of three isn’t bad. In truth this place was of Waldorf Astoria quality, relatively speaking, when compared to our former digs, the Scottish Inn. Some of our rooms had refrigerators. Others relied upon ice machines in the corridor. Some had flat screen TV’s that worked. Others had snowy reception and no remote. Most of the bathrooms had working lights in the ceiling (ours worked for a day or so).
Breakfast was a real trip. We expected cheese Danish, doughnuts, bagels with cream cheese, juice, muffins, and coffee. It seems they do things a bit differently in Pennsylvania. What did they have? A short list will illustrate our choices:
- PanWaffle – Fill a 4 oz cup from the spout (I expected a waffle to pop out) with liquid mix, pour it into the open PanWaffle machine, flip the handle, flip back when the buzzer rings. Pour on lots of syrup. Not bad.
- Omelet – open the refrigerator and remove what looks like a flat yellow semicircular egg sandwich; no bread, just egg-like stuff. Put it in the microwave and heat. It comes out with some gooey orange stuff leaking out from between the two layers. Aerosol cheese. Enough said.
- Toast – white or raisin. Put it in the toaster. When it begins to burn remove it. I kept trying to lift the lever. It wouldn’t move. Then someone showed me the ‘Cancel’ button. Press that and up comes the toast. Who figured? Not me.
- Yogurt – Wal-Mart brand. Strawberry. It tasted like strawberry yogurt. No surprises there.
- Cereal – I didn’t try it. Who would with all those flat eggs hovering about?
- Coffee, orange juice, apple juice, and fresh oranges.
We survived. It wasn't bad at all especially since the grub was included in the price of the room.
Tuesday was setup day. Since we are all experienced at this drill the tents and tables were quickly raised. One customer appeared before Jim and Bob got even one tent up. He saw a Gargoyle Oil metal sign in one of the boxes. Let’s just say the price he paid would have more than covered my expenses for the entire trip. I spent most days shopping, taking photographs of the awesome cars, and hanging out at our site.
I would have to say that the most memorable event during the swap meet was when our flea market space was visited by a peppy lady in a long colorful dress. All of our club members (it might have been all 10, I don’t remember) were lounging in camp chairs behind the tables that held all our items for sale. We were an impressive semicircle of elderly gents with little else to do other than drink water or beer and doze off on occasion. Then she popped up and offered to do a dance for us. Who were we to refuse? We were entertained like we never expected to be at Hershey. This gal was full of pep for someone who, like us, had seen her last prom a couple of decades ago. Unaccountably her husband hid some 50 feet away. I guess he was shy or something. You might want to check out the video of this event. It’s in our video section and posted below. Enjoy the lady from Lowe’s of Utica.
At night we frequented local restaurants. There is an interesting Italian place, A & M Pizza, across from the motel. A small salad comes in a 10 inch bowl and bread on the side looks like a flat loaf. Prices were reasonable and quality depended on what you ordered. Some of us needed more variety so we went to a new venue on Wednesday. The guys settled on the Gin Mill restaurant. The food was great (my opinion) and the prices while not cheap were reasonable. Our waitress, Amber, was a nice kid but she did need to improve her memory a bit. The walls were plastered with photos of President Kennedy and other notables who we suspect visited the place at one time. We liked the place so much that some of us returned the next night. Our last night out was probably our best, although it took a little doing to find the place. We went to the Quentin Tavern. It was crowded. The maître d' balked just a bit when we let her know we were a group of ten. I think it was Don who said we would “sit anywhere, including at the bar” (we were hungry and tired). She suggested we eat ‘ on the deck’. We quickly agreed. No problem if they want to put the old guys out back where nobody can see them. Fortunately for us the deck was the nicest part of the restaurant. We had our own long table in one corner. All the woodworks was rustic and fresh and we were ventilated by a massive 10–foot diameter ceiling fan. The windows were on three sides and revealed trees that reached in to nearly touch us. And yes, it was heated. The food was great and the beer was cold (although I did not have a beer; still a bit tired from all the ones I had for lunch).
So, was it a good week? You bet it was. There are over 250 photographs in our event section. These will give you a bit more of the flavor of Hershey. Many of the people I spoke to express the same reason for attending: it’s a week of vacationing with the guys. The sales that we make or don’t make (not one of my items sold) are secondary. A good time was had by all. Check out the video below to see the guys enjoying the dance presentation.