Wow! Monday, August 7, 2017 we took off from the Mount Airy, MD area for our big cruise to Bowling Green, Kentucky, approximately 700 miles each way. Frank & Bev in their 57 BelAir, Richard & Julie in their 56, Joe and his daughter Julie in their 55, Jim & Linda & Marc in their 57, John & Janet in their 57 BelAir, Butch & Sissy in Reddawg 57, Jack & Linda in their 56, Todd & Belinda trailering their 57, Ed & Marsha trailering their 55, and Frank & Alice in new steel met up on Monday and cruised down to Bristol, VA and Bristol, TN where we toured the Bristol Caverns, went to Holston Dam and went to Bristol Motor Speedway. We also enjoyed a tour of Saltville, VA The Salt Capital of the Confederacy thanks to Butch & Sissy.

Belinda won the Captain Prepared Award for bringing a chilled watermelon and knife so we could enjoy fresh watermelon atop Holston Dam and bringing a buffet table for us to lay out a great spread at Beech Bend. Plus she brought bungees and water filled gallon jugs to secure the tents.

Monday, August 7 - driving in the rain. It poured! Jim & Linda thought they had a massive trunk leak but it turned out to be a leaking cooler which got tossed in a dumpster in Bowling Green!

Tuesday, August 8 - enjoyed Bristol, VA/TN area - Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol Caverns, Saltville, VA.

Wednesday, August 9 - travel to Knoxville, TN and enjoyed a wonderful cruise and lunch aboard the Star of Knoxville paddleboat on the Tennessee River. Rick Parrish & Sue Dudley met up with us to enjoy the cruise and Bowling Green. We also went to World's Fair Park and went up in the Sun Sphere for a fantastic view of the city.

Thursday, August 10 - travel to Bowling Green, KY and enjoy the Corvette Museum and other Bowling Green attractions. We also visited the Sloan Convention Center where we got a look at the '57 give-away gasser and got to see lots of cars!

Friday and Saturday - we spent both days at Beech Bend and had a great time admiring the 2,717 cars and trucks at the event. There was a huge manufacturers row, lots of flea market vendors, and more 1955-1956-1957 Chevys gathered in one area than has ever been seen! Jeff Lutz of Street Outlaws TV show debuted his new race car - a vibrant yellow/orange '57 Chevy. It was very fast!

The 50/50 on Friday was $6,427 to the winner and the 50/50 on Saturday was over $13,000 to the winner! The 50/50 was run by a local club and the other half of the 50/50 was donated to several charities, including the Alzheimer's Association.

Sunday and Monday - more driving! We departed Sunday morning and spent Sunday night in Sutton, WV and left Monday morning for home. On the trip, Jack & Linda lost the a/c in the '56 and then had some starter issues. Joe's '55 had some headlight problems. But that was the worst of the vehicle problems and everyone made it home safe and sound.