Classic / Antique Car Swap Meet

Just a couple of months before leaving home, I reconnected with an old high school buddy of mine, Johnny Watkins.  He and I and a few others "back in the day" created quite a bit of havoc.  In Gr. 13, it became a practice for one of the gang to buy a case of beer at lunch time on Fridays (obviously, with fake ID).  We would then pile in one or two cars and head for our house on Finch Ave.  There, listening to Bob Dylan, the Stones, Beatles, etc., we'd polish off said case of beer and then head back to class, which is where the "havoc" inevitably occurred.  But I digress...

John, it turns out, is also a winter refugee with a place not too far away.  His passion is finding and restoring classic cars, and so it made sense for us to meet up at the Sumter County Fairgrounds for their annual Classic Car Swap Meet.  I left our place early, and stopped for a breakfast of shrimp and grits at the Florida Cracker Kitchen.

 Don't think the place has changed much in 50 years, and the shrimp were fresh, and the grits fried just right.  (with apologies to my GP).

From here, met up with John and another buddy of his, and just wandered around literally hundreds of acres of old cars, car parts, restored cars, candidates for restoration, greasy food stands, and motor homes (both vendors and visitors).

 One car in particular caught my eye; a 1965 Rambler American in Robin's Egg Blue.  I had one of these (but it may have been a '62), but this particular car was well-regarded by a lot of guys as the front seat folded back flat.  An obvious advantage at the local drive-in theater on Friday or Saturday night!

After a full morning of resisting the temptation to buy anything, headed back to our digs in Weeki Wachee and finished the day chilling by the pool with some nice cold beer.  Another awesome day in the land of all things laid back.