A hidden gem

No I didn't find a diamond here at the house hidden behind some wall and be rich forever, but found a great place in Boyertown that holds an activity every year called Duryea Day. It is a car show sponsored by the Boyertown Historical Vehicle Museum and they have it every year on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. It is surely a hidden gem once you discover it. Elliot and went on Saturday and was a lot of fun for both of us. Cars of all kinds, as most car shows go and the fun was interacting with the owners. They eat it up the attention when you compliment their cars and the stories they begin to tell are enjoyable and they don't seem to want to let you go so you can move on.

While we were looking at this one car, the owner came up and offered to let Elliot sit in it so I could take a picture. He actually lifted Elliot in the car, so he would not get his feet on the white carpeted running board. I complimented the owner, telling him he did a good job on the car. He then told me he didn't do anything, as this was the "only car" he had that he bought already finished and is so much easier than fixing a car up by yourself. So he must have others. Made me wonder where people like him get all the money for this, but I got a good picture of Elliot sitting inside.

Soon Elliot and I were getting thirsty and after we depleted our own supply we took along, we found a stand for food and drinks. The prices were normal and not like buying things at a typical event. You know, $5 for a bottle of water or a soda and so on. As we found the place to rehydrate, things were winding down at the show. Since the show was in the community park in Boyertown, we passed by a huge playground and the stand to buy the drinks was only a few feet away. There was no long line and just one guy was in front of us. He ordered a cheeseburger and a Coke. As watched him being served it was like a flashback to the days when I was a kid and the place to go was Schell's in Muhlenberg.

Schell's in the 60's was a place where you had to get out of your car an order at a window. There was no indoor seating there back then and you had to eat in the car. This was typical for back in those days and something I will never forget. The problem with Schell's, they didn't have hamburgers. Their big thing was hamburger barbeque's and fries. I longed in those day for them to put hamburgers on the menu and they soon did. What sent me back on my little flashback, the guy who ordered the cheeseburger on Saturday, I watched the server walk back with a pair of tongs and dig a burger from an aluminum pan with pre cooked burgers soaking in their own juice and throw it on a roll. So retro, just like I remember Schell's doing once they upgrade to hamburgers in the 60's. Throw it on a roll, add a slice of cheese and you have your cheeseburger. So simple and tasted so good.

Elliot got his first look at a Chevy Corvair. It was a small family car in the early to mid 60's. The hood and trunk were opened and as he looked in the front, he looked at me and asked, "Where is the engine?" I said it was in the back. He was a bit puzzled and as we looked back at what we all know as the trunk, there was this little flat looking engine with a fan and a belt on top. I told him how this was something that Chevy came up with, no radiator with what we have now as a water cooling system and the engine was cooled just by a fan. That was why corvairs, had vents on the "trunk, cover for ventilation. I also old him how many of the classic vehicles he saw on Saturday, were typical family cars in their time period and nobody ever knew how these cars would be classics someday.

So it was a good day and Elliot learned some interesting things about cars from the past. He liked comparing engines, whether they were four, six or eight cylinder. He liked what was know as the slant six, made by Chysler and we had one with that old beige wagon we had when we bought our house here on Perkiomen. Had to explain the difference to him about a V engine (V 6 and V 8) and the straight models. Elliot now wants to go back to the Museum in Hershey and take a good look away from the crowds and hot sun.

Got lots of pictures and hope to share soon.