I have recently returned from an extended trip throughout nine Northeastern states that started with the LCOC Eastern Meet in New Hampshire. My wife, Kerry, and I have not spent extensive time in New England since I served in the U.S. Navy in Newport, Rhode Island during the early 70’s. The meet at Attitash, with the attraction of colorful fall leaves and beautiful East Coast Lincolns that I have never seen before, was too strong to pass up. Once we decided to attend the meet, our imaginations kicked into high gear regarding all of the other things that we could do once we were in the Northeast. Simple trips to such places as the site of the first house we rented after our wedding, and our first official Navy housing unit were naturals. That really got us back in touch with where our lives have been over these last 45 years. We selected several folks from those early days who we had not seen in decades and made some fantastic reconnections that even included a boat cruise on the Potomac River near Washington D.C.. I could write extensively about the entire trip that also included visits to our favorite art gallery, an offbeat bug museum, my wife’s childhood home, and our four grandsons, but that is not the purpose of this article.
My purpose is to remind you how wonderful our club is for getting us out to enjoy the company of interesting and exciting people in addition to interesting and exciting cars. I found this to be especially true when stepping outside the boundaries of our own Western meet cycles and heading East to make new friends at the same time we reconnected with many of our great long term friends.
Going to a meet without a car may feel less exciting than the full meet experience we typically find, but it can provide a change of pace that is very comfortable, especially when the meet activities are unique and well planned, and allow plenty of interaction with the folks in attendance. Yes, I missed not having my car with me, but I certainly didn’t miss the Saturday morning crunch trying get the car cleaned up and ready to go after a day of touring and mechanical judging.
This year’s Eastern National Meet was fantastic, not only because of all of the varied activities and interactions, but also because it was a natural spring board to a fantastic 3 week vacation to rediscover my youth!
Try making your next National Meet an extended vacation to capture all that the region offers. You won’t regret it!!
Until Next Time, Stacy
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