Rock 'n' Rods

We are desperately behind in the blog - we're having too much fun this summer.  That's okay.  We'll catch up this winter when the wind is howling, the snow is flying, and the temperatures are freezing . . .

The weekend before the Dream Cruise, Dad, Peter, and I headed to Downtown Rochester for Rock 'n' Rods, a nice little car show that has been growing in recent years.  The fun thing about Rock 'n' Rods is the selection - you get to see a little bit of everything . . .

Hot rodded Studebaker.

Great-lookin' screamin' chicken on this Trans Am.

Taillights on pods.

Extremely rare and fast Ford Thunderbolt.

Detail on a 60's Dodge.  Classic muscle car style.

These are classics now?

Neat lookin' Rat Rod.

Great lookin' Coke-bottle Vette tucked in behind an Oldsmobile Toronado.

Poor little Peter fell asleep as we arrived at the car show.  I pulled him around in my wagon as he slept through the entire thing.  He woke up as we dropped Dad off on Cobb Creek and asked when we were going to be at the car show.

Willys Station Wagon in ROUGH shape.

I like the somber dignity of the nose of this Pontiac.

Old stripper Plymouth.

Great dashboard in this Thunderbird.

I've always liked this mid-sixties Chevrolet taillight design.

Dad and a Chrysler 300.

Ahhh  - the wretched, gaudy excess of the 70's.

The Jaguar E-Types are timelessly elegant.

Detail on a good lookin' 409.

Detail on a Ford Fairlane Skyliner.

Dad and a classic Deuce Coupe.

Dad found a '62 Vette.

Interesting subtle flame job on this Firebird.

Nice looking Mustang.

There were a number of nice MG TDs.

Great old Chevy.

 

Love the detail on the wheels!

A teal Vega drag-racer.  Oh my.

Detail on another Hot Rod, showing some Detroit pride.

Sunday Adventure Part II

After lunch, we drove out to the Pine Grove Park, where the old Huron lightship is permanently moored.  The Coast Guard and the old U.S. Lightsaving Service kept a number of floating lighthouses around the country, including in the Great Lakes.  The Huron lightship was stationed six miles north of the mouth of the St. Clair River and three miles west of the US shore, and was decommissioned in the 1970's.

Before boarding the lightship, we watched a freighter head north into Lake Huron.  Will she fit under the Bluewater Bridge?

Yup.   Looks like she'll fit!

Charlotte found the Huron's bell.

This is what happens when I ask the Stringers to pose.

There's the light.

On deck.

We were instructed to go down the ship's very steep stairs backwards.  Peter dutifully complied.

Down stairs, Charlotte VERY BRAVELY stood on a grate over the engine room.

The Huron was crewed by 8-9 men, but each crewmember had 1 week off a month, so there were typically only 7-6 men on board on any given time.

Here is an officer's stateroom. 

Before we left, our intrepid DG gave the DG salute with the Huron's anchor.

Sunday Adventure Part I

This morning, even though the temperature was 50 some degrees when we woke up, and even though the weather called for storms, we hopped in Big Red Van and headed off to Port Huron to have an adventure.

Our first stop was the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse, just northwest of the mouth of the St. Clair River.

The lighthouse is one of the oldest on the Great Lakes.

The lighthouse is right on the beach, and when my back was turned taking a picture of the lighthouse, Peter waded into Lake Huron . . .  of course.  That strip of land behind Peter?  That's Ontario.

After visiting the lighthouse, we drove into Port Huron in search of lunch.  We hung a left on Quay Street, and found this little park next to the boat slips on the Black River.  There was a checker/chess set . . .

 . . .  and a roaring fire.  I mentioned that it was cold, right?

We had lunch at the Quay Street Brewery, another one of Michigan's brewpubs.  Niki and I ordered a sampler of their beers.  Samplers are normally 4 or 5 beers.  It seemed like our waitress brought out about 15.  (And no - we did not finish them.)

Our dates for lunch . . .

Dinner in Detroit

On Saturday, Niki and I met up with our friends Joel & Natalie at Niki's Pizza in Greektown (Detroit).  We followed dinner up with drinks at the Detroiter Bar.  The feta cheese pizza was awesome, and the company was even better!