Left St Petersburg around noon on Friday and had rain and threatening rain all the way to Daytona. Didn't see too many cars on the way in so we went straight to the motel. It poured down Friday night, after we had turned in, and Saturday morning looked like it was going to be a wet day but thankfully the sun broke through and the weather was beautiful the rest of the weekend. I had gone down to the Pub 44, as had everyone else who was there, for the Elvis show. I was lucky enough to find an empty bar stool where I sat for a couple of beers and fish & chips. We listened to Elvis contestants, some of which were very good, and cheered with the crowd. Afterwards I gave my seat up to a lady standing behind me and went outside where Dixie and his group was just pulling in. Remember Dixie's friend who's 48 coupe burned to the ground... well check out the black roadster pickup that he replaced it with.
Saturday morning we arrived at the Volusia mall around 9:00 after having a great breakfast. The line was wrapped around the parking lot as far as we could see so I went to top off with gas ($2.58) and to look for a car wash. Sandra decided she didn't want to hang out at the mall lot so I took her back to the hotel. When I returned the line had gone down a bit.... there was still a wait to have your picture taken and I decided I had enough pictures and went to find a shady parking spot. The rest of the day was walking the lot, taking pictures and talking to rodders. Saturday night we decided to go to "Down The Hatch" for dinner then back to the mall lot to catch the end of the movies being shown (old Daytona Beach racing movies from the 50's). Chatted with Dixie and his friends and some others standing around. Finally called it a night and decided to leave when we woke up Sunday morning.
Except for a noise in the drivetrain (I think it's in the rearend) it was a pretty uneventful trip. Like Fordfordor said we expected to see actual cruising and that wasn't happening so maybe next year it will get better organized. By the way those that went got "Charter Cruiser" decals and dash plaques.... Hope to see more of you there next year!!!
