Hillmans On Holiday Series II - Page 2
1960 Series IIIA Minx and 1959 Series II Rapier
1962 Minx Convertible and 1961 Minx Estate
Thursday morning brought an early bird rally. The three cars that had arrived the night before took a scenic tour of the surrounding region. My wife, Mary Lou, and I were both unfamiliar with this part of the U.S. and were very impressed with the lovely countryside and small towns we passed through. Plus I spent part of the time riding in a Tiger and the rest of the time riding in an Easidrive Minx so what could be better than that! We stopped for lunch and a cold one and then headed back to the hotel as the rest of the afternoon had no planned activities.
When we got back to the hotel we saw that quite a few new cars had arrived. Since we had some free time Mary Lou and I decided to jump in the rental car and cruise up to Cleveland, about a 45 minute drive on the freeway, to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Unfortunately it closed at 5:30 so we only got a few hours there.Not really enough time to see it all.
Thursday night brought another parking lot party after dinner at a local eatery. When I say parking lot party, bear in mind that we are all middle aged or older so nothing too wild was going on! Just a few beers and a lot of Hillman talk I'm afraid. I can't understand why most of the women went to bed early, they missed some really informative and riveting conversations. Oh well, their loss.
When we got back to the hotel we saw that quite a few new cars had arrived. Since we had some free time Mary Lou and I decided to jump in the rental car and cruise up to Cleveland, about a 45 minute drive on the freeway, to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Unfortunately it closed at 5:30 so we only got a few hours there.Not really enough time to see it all.
Thursday night brought another parking lot party after dinner at a local eatery. When I say parking lot party, bear in mind that we are all middle aged or older so nothing too wild was going on! Just a few beers and a lot of Hillman talk I'm afraid. I can't understand why most of the women went to bed early, they missed some really informative and riveting conversations. Oh well, their loss.
Series III Minx Convertible, Series IIIB Saloon, Series III Husky
Friday was an event filled day to say the least. First we visited the Macedonia Preservation Facility. This is where the Crawford Automobile - Aviation Museum of Cleveland stores vehicles that will not fit in the main museum and also where volunteers work on restoring some of the cars and planes. We were given a very informative and entertaining tour by the museum's curator, a man who obviously enjoys his job very much. There was only one British car there that I remember, a very nice black MGA. The Crawford Museum itself is home to almost 200 antique, vintage, and classic automobiles and aircraft with a focus on early automobiles created in Cleveland. We all decided that we would have to drive up to Cleveland at the next Hillmans On Holidays event and see the actual museum itself.
Next stop was lunch at a car themed restaurant called Quaker Steak and Lube where they have actual vintage cars and memorabilia hanging from the walls and ceilings (we sat under a Corvette if memory serves me correct) followed by a lovely drive through Cuyahoga National Park. Dinner was at a local landmark named Swenson's Drive-In followed by dessert at another local landmark, Stoddard's Custard Stand. I didn't realize there were so many flavours of custard! Finally evening found us again in the old parking lot knocking back a few cold ones and attending a very informative tech session on making margaritas out of the back of a Hillman Husky.
Next stop was lunch at a car themed restaurant called Quaker Steak and Lube where they have actual vintage cars and memorabilia hanging from the walls and ceilings (we sat under a Corvette if memory serves me correct) followed by a lovely drive through Cuyahoga National Park. Dinner was at a local landmark named Swenson's Drive-In followed by dessert at another local landmark, Stoddard's Custard Stand. I didn't realize there were so many flavours of custard! Finally evening found us again in the old parking lot knocking back a few cold ones and attending a very informative tech session on making margaritas out of the back of a Hillman Husky.
Outside the Macedonia Preservation Facility
