Welcome to WINTER Carlisle! Snowing, windy, and cold - but still having a blast! Just a wintry one - lol!
I was at Carlisle this morning and I did wear my longjohns. I could not believe how cold and how snowy it was. Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.
Tom, we were there in '93 when they had 4" of snow one morning! Cold as a well-diggers butt! Not a whole lot going on that day as I remember.
After two days of wind, rain, snow, and frigid temperatures, I am thoroughly beat up. With the mess today it was the busiest day but that’s not saying much in comparison to Tues/Wed. Tomorrow is supposed to be a lot better temp wise .....
Sought refuge in a food pavilion in the snow around 10 am. Gotta eat, right?! The vendors were not staying away this time. Hope you guys thaw out tomorrow.
The truth is that the weather really isn't too bad here in central PA. If it's cold, it's not too cold and not for too long. If it's hot, it often isn't too muggy and not for too long. We don't get tons of hurricanes, floods, tornados, wildfires or droughts. The weather changes, but it is pretty livable.
Thrush side pipe grab bag came home with me yesterday. Couldn't resist low balling the guy. Damn if he didn't call me on it!
Perfect weather today. I have not seen it so busy for a long time. Traffic backed up for parking for a couple of miles, 30 people lined up in front of me for tickets, lines for food, lines for the bathrooms. Lost of vendors, although several I talked to were short on inventory. Parts stuff seemed reasonable, vehicle prices seemed 30-50% inflated in many cases. No much social distancing, very few masks and not much protection at food vendors. Still, it was outside, I masked up, took my own food and stayed apart as I could (scaredy cat old man). Have a good time if you go. Tickets online are $1 less and you can avoid the line. Please don't forget to tip the bathroom attendants.
It was a good day traffic wise - just got home at 2:30 am, tired, but still had a great time with the boys. It was wild weather wise but I did ok selling (did not have much to sell) and Gabby and JohnnyC did great so that was happy for them. Saw Andy - thunderbirdesque - and we talked a bit. Always a treat to see him and find out about some of the new projects he has going on. He is always knocking it outa the park imho. So, we are set for Fall Carlisle and, fingers crossed, Hershey see y’all down the road .....
About the Food court .... We always go to Marcello’s in the middle of the food pavilion for their huge bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich/wrap. I had it every morning this past week. I will be in withdrawals tomorrow ...
Friday was amazing! More traffic getting there (an hour and a half, with traffic backed up on the PA Turnpike!) More people than I've seen in many years, and a good selection of vendors! Even found a couple parts I needed!
I'm sure I don't have this all correct, but Hershey may be iffy. A friend, who is a big time vendor says the AACA club has to come up with $500 K as a prepayment, but they also want to be able to cancel up to 5 days from the start. That's a problem for vendors and others who have to commit, and make reservations and plans, well ahead of time. It looks like the Charlotte Auto Fair at the Speedway is already dead-they cancelled, but kept the vendor fees then declared bankruptcy. Can you say Class Action Lawsuit?
I’d like to think Hershey 2021 is a near certainty; but if something strange happens the AACA should call upon their good friend Bill Miller, Jr. for help. The Hershey swap meet could easily roll in as the Fall Carlisle vendors roll out. Heck, a fair number of them would just stay put. There is ample room for the car corral and the car show could happen at Gettysburg like 2020. But that’s just somebody’s bad dream, right?
We ran through snow from southern Ohio all the way past Cumberland, Maryland Wed. morning. Got to Carlisle about noon Wed. & went all day Thursday. The cold, wind and snow sucked but it was still Carlisle and we would not have missed it for anything!
Didn’t we have a short conversation that day? You had said it had snowed all the way to Carlisle from Ohio? I was in II26-29 with my good friends .....
The Jalopy Journal
