Kenosha Homecoming Car Show (day 2)

Saturday

We wanted to get to Kennedy Park early as possible to beat the lines and to secure a spot with the other Marlins for the Saturday show. We got in line, got our paperwork and lined up on the grass with the other cars. My car looked a little out of place. Most of the other Marlins had been restored or fixed up to as good as new. I did find another rough looking “survivor” that had made the trip from the east coast. So I didn’t feel too bad.

I planned to go through the swap meet tables and vendors to look for a few missing parts or some replacement parts. In the mean time, Mary headed out on a bike tour of the shoreline.

Mary decided to ride the paved Pike Bike Trail. The trail runs along the shoreline of Lake Michigan. The view was beautiful.

Along the way, she passed Alford park / beach, pedaled over Pike River and ended at Carthage College. When she needed a break she stopped near the College’s baseball diamond and watched part of a game.

After a rest, she rode through the campus and found some Adirondack chairs sitting at an overlook. This would be a great place to watch a sunrise or to just meditate. She finished up back at Kennedy Park.

Back at the show, the number of vendors and the items for sale was amazing. I started by going through and making a list but I soon found that many things on my list were gone when I returned. At that point I started buying things right away. I’m probably a little too careful when I go to swap meets. But now was no time to waiver. Besides most of the prices seemed reasonable.

One of the first things I bought was a mirror for the passenger door for $15.00. I found a really nice one but it had a small red “r” on it but it was pretty close to the one I had and I reasoned that unless compared side by side, no one would ever know. I also found a couple of old kick-panels to replace my broken panels. Then amazingly, I found an exact duplicate of my mirror. I couldn’t pass it up. He was asking 20.00 so as a long shot I offered to trade him the mirror I just bought plus $10.00 for his mirror. Done deal. Truly a swap meet! All told with multiple trips through the vendors throughout the day I spent about $150.00 but totally worth it.

I did manage to walk down through the other rows of cars several times. Lot’s of Javelin, AMX, and Gremlins. The biggest surprise were the numbers of Rebel Machines-the ram air, the big block, power, and paint scheme. Really cool cars. There were some Nash there as well like this one.

The weather was perfect. Warm, sunny and a nice breeze off Lake Michigan. Because tents and canopy were not allowed near the cars, we set our canopy further west under a tree line. Others set up there as well, making a nice, cool place to relax and visit with other car owners. We met many new friends and had a great time.

Around 3:00, cars started leaving the park. We waited until quite a few had left and packed up, said goodbye and headed back to Milwaukee for the evening-but not before we made one more stop.

We both abide by the rule that when you’re in Wisconsin, you should get cheese. The store was a madhouse – huge and very busy. We picked up some sliced cheese and crackers and were on our way.