One HOT Sunday afternoon in June, 1993, I was bored (and single…), and decided that I would go ahead and drive up to the local air show at the New Garden airport in Toughkenamon, PA – which was about 8 miles or so from my parents house. Naturally, I drove the Jag (my ’63 OTS), since that was my car, and if I went anywhere, it was in it!
There was a long line of cars to get into the parking field, and the Jag overheated, spewing antifreeze (but mostly water) all over the road, as the traffic people there INSISTED that I park it with the other antique cars. I did, and just walked away as it spewed its entire cooling system out onto the show field…
The air show was INCREDIBLE! It was small, but just PERFECT! There were acrobatic displays, the “Flying Farmer” in a J-3 Cub, which they landed on a moving pickup truck – the “Teenie Weenie Airport”…, antique cars, British cars, and… WARBIRDS! Which I had never actually seen in person up to that point! They had an FM-2 Grumman Wildcat, a TBM Avenger, and all kinds of other planes! I spent the whole day there having a ball, but I will admit, it was kind of lonely to be there myself…
A funny thing happened at the end of the day that day. I filled the Jag back up with water from a hose after the whole thing was winding down and the Jag was just sitting there alone at the end of the day. And for some reason I ended up at the Supermarket – I guess my parents were at the beach for the weekend and I needed food – who knows. But I ran into the guy who owned the local hardware store just closing up at 5:00, and I mentioned that I had just been to the Airshow. He was SUPER disappointed! “Oh Man, was that today!?! I’ll tell you, sometimes having to work every weekend gets really old – I never get to do anything fun like that because I always have to be here on the weekends.” – and let me tell you, his disappointment was palpable – I never forgot it…
Fast forward 21 years and Janie mentioned that the Air Show was today last night, and I thought, “You know what – I’m not working tomorrow – I’m going to that. And I’m taking the Jag (the NEW Jag – the ’67 2+2) – AND the kids.” And so they all loaded up into the Jag this morning and we headed out to the Air Show while Mom got some much needed alone time. It was EXACTLY THE SAME – that small town feel, antique cars and planes – same acts, same pilots, even some of the same planes – it has to be one of the most perfect little air shows out there. It’s pricey to get in – about $20 per person – but we got the red carpet treatment again just like 21 years ago – parking right on the show field, and the special price of $10 per carload if you are in an antique car!
Having antique cars around is weird – alot of times they just take up valuable garage space and are just one more thing that you have to maintain, fix, insure, and then feel obligated to use. But SOMETIMES, the car itself will drag you and the family away from your chores for a while for a PERFECT afternoon spent together – and today was one of those…
Enjoy!
