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By: Gil Fitzhugh
The eastern national one-and two-cylinder tour was
held in New Jersey August 20-24, 2007 to dovetail with Bob Benz’s annual
Brighton USA and One-and Two-Cylinder Tour on August 25. The good things about
the tour were small numbers (28 registered drivers) so people could get to know
each other, scenic and very lightly-traveled back roads, interesting
destinations, and great food. The bad things were the rain, and the resultant
mud in the trailer parking lot.
The parking lot was a last-minute find. A more
suitable one had been arranged, but the owner at the last minute decided that
anyone entering his premises with an old car would be arrested, so we took what
we could get. It had an intriguing feature for early arrivals; many years ago,
someone had buried the frame of a brass car, leaving the steering spider and
levers sticking out of the ground. They were uncovered by eager diggers on the
Sunday afternoon of arrival, but remain unidentified.
Monday’s tour was to the New Jersey Live
Steamers. This is a club of guys who make operating small-gauge scale models of
steam locomotives, and run them on a track layout on their property. We got
rides on steam trains and gave rides in old cars. Tourists could then choose a
long or a short return, with lunch and ice cream along the way. The long tour
went to the Raptor Trust, where injured birds of prey are rehabilitated. Those
with severe permanent injuries are kept in cages to be companions to those of
like species who will be returned to the wild after recovery, to keep them from
getting too used to humans.
Tuesday brought torrential rain. Trips to an
observatory and a sheep farm were cancelled. In the morning we all went modern
to a restoration shop specializing in large classics. After lunch at a brew
pub, Herb Singe invited everyone to his museum. One of his most popular
treasures for this group of small-car tourists was the Curved Dash Olds driven
twice across the country by the late George Green.
Wednesday’s tour to a restored farm was
well received, but got off to a late start when several cars needed assistance
to get from their trailers to solid ground due to mud from the prior day’s
rain. The tour itself was through old-money estates on very scenic roads. The
destination was a working farm, restored to its condition in the ‘20s. The
farmhouse was built by a grandson of Paul Revere. Lunch was at a fine
restaurant specializing in seafood, and ice cream was available on the way
home.
Thursday offered two tours, a short one to
the Duke estate and a long one to Princeton. The weather remained threatening,
so everyone took the short tour. The estate was begun by James Duke of Duke
Power, Duke Tobacco, and Duke University. His daughter Doris expanded the
property after his death. There were guided tours of woodland gardens, a
Japanese garden, and the mansion.
Friday everyone went to same places, a
restored water-powered grist mill and a farmstead for lunch. But there was a
choice of routes. Probably the more popular choice was on mostly dirt roads
through extensive horse farms. There was an optional extension to a town with
lots of shopping.
Although some folks went home Saturday, most stayed
and went to Bob Benz’s tour, based out of his nearby farm. The day started
out overcast and dreary, which was as good as we’d had all week. But by early
afternoon the sun was out and the temperature was over 90
.
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