#Holiday Inn Express Norwich

[i-traveller]

Re-visiting Norfolk

Thursday 13 July It is at least 10 years since we visited the North Norfolk coast having been there regularly from 1985 to 2008 whilst Sally’s parents were still alive. Early ferry from home, calm crossing and no trouble getting out of Liverpool. Boudecia cruise ship Fred Olsen’s cruise ship, Boudecia, in the cruise terminal. Stop at IKEA Leeds for lunch and of course you have to buy things –…

[itsworn]

The Dynamat Road Tour to NSRA Northeast Nationals

Every summer for the past 21 years we have traveled about 20,000 miles crisscrossing the United States on the ARP/STREET RODDER Road Tours. Our routes take us across a wide variety of highway surfaces and things can get pretty noisy inside the Road Tour “office.” We learned a long time ago that installing Dynamat sound dampening material in all of our tour cars will make life in the fast lane much easier on body and soul.

Dynamat was once again the sponsor of the Road Tour that traveled from the Shades of the Past event in Pigeon Forge to the NSRA Northeast Nationals in Burlington, Vermont.

It was an early morning kickoff in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, on Sunday. We had a full day as we traveled north through Kentucky and spent the afternoon in Cincinnati. We visited Zakira’s Garage, where they restore vintage Indycars and stopped by the American Sign Museum where we saw some fantastic old signs. We spent the evening just north of Columbus, Ohio.

Monday was another long day as we visited a fantastic private car collection near Youngstown, Ohio. We also stopped at Synder’s Antique Auto in New Springfield, toured their store and warehouse, and then got to see the amazing car collection of Don Synder Jr. We wrapped up the day with a backyard get-together at the home of the author and his wife, Mary Ann.

Tuesday started with a visit to the car collection of Patti and Fred Warren in nearby Warren, Ohio. It was then a short drive to Bonnell’s Rod Shop in Erie, Pennsylvania, where we enjoyed lunch and a tour of the shop. From Bonnell’s it was a two-hour drive to Niagara Falls where we spent Tuesday evening doing all those things that tourists do at the Falls.

Wednesday morning we made a rather long but beautiful drive from Niagara Falls to Norwich, New York, the home of the Northeast Classic Car Museum. The museum is filled with a wide array of classics with emphasis on the Franklin autos, which were manufactured in nearby Syracuse. From Norwich it was a one-hour drive to Tucci’s Hot Rods in Utica, New York, where owner Dave Tucci and his family greeted us. We were treated to some great appetizers and Dave’s dad had the expresso machine fired up. We also got a tour of the facility and got to see a number of their recent projects. We spent the evening in Utica.

Thursday it was time to head to Burlington, Vermont, and the NSRA Northeast Nationals. It was a beautiful three-hour drive through the Adirondack Mountains to the town of Essex on the New York-Vermont border. In Essex we drove our cars onto a ferry for a short ride across the bottom portion of Lake Champlain. It was then a 30-minute drive north to our hotel in Burlington.

The city of Burlington sits on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain. The view over the lake is fantastic and the city is filled with quaint shops and restaurants. The NSRA Southeast Nationals take place at the Champlain Valley Fairgrounds in the small town of Essex Junction, Vermont. It was a great turnout for the event with plenty of activities for both participants and spectators. The swap meet at Burlington gets bigger every year; the Streets of Rods featured a variety of different types of vehicles and many Canadian rodders made the short trip south to join in the fun. The weather cooperated all weekend and it was apparent that fall was just around the corner. Event Director Tom Wilkerson wrapped up the weekend festivities at the awards program on Sunday afternoon.

It was a great week on the Dynamat Road Tour and a fun weekend in Vermont. Check out our expanded coverage at our website streetrodder.com. We liked it so much that we will be back for the 2017 edition in September as we travel from the Shades of the Past Hot Rod Roundup to the NSRA Northeast Street Rod Nationals in Burlington. Check out our entire 2017 ARP Road Tour schedule and join us on a tour or two this summer.

In Cincinnati we visited Zikira’s Garage. Head restorer Joshua Shaw gave us a tour of the facility that specializes in ground-up reconstructions of vintage Indy race cars from the ’20s, ’30s, and ’40s.

Also in Cincinnati we made a stop at the American Sign Museum. This fantastic facility houses an amazing collection of vintage signs of all types, but the neons from the ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s seemed to be everyone’s favorites.

Sunday evening we overnighted just north of Columbus. We were treated to a surprise cookout by Sales Manager Chad Schirtzinger and his son, Mathew, of the Holiday Inn Express in Polaris Park. It was a relaxing evening after a long day’s drive.

On Monday we stopped in Columbiana, Ohio, near Youngstown. We dropped by #1 Performance Center and then got a real treat as we got to see the fantastic private auto collection of owner Dave Flynn.

From Columbiana we made the short drive to New Springfield, Ohio, where we visited Synder’s Antique Auto Parts, which specializes in Model T and Model A items. We then saw Don Snyder Jr.’s amazing collection of factory muscle and race cars from the golden age of drag racing.

Monday evening I invited everyone to a picnic in my backyard in Austintown. Mary Ann and our friend, Dawn Damron, again put together a great meal that was enjoyed by all. Mom Dixey and my brother, Jack, even dropped by to say hello.

Patti and Fred Warren’s hot rod collection shows that it is not the quantity that matters as much as the quality. To see the Smoothster, which won the AMBR in 1995, the Aerocoupe, which won the Ridler in 1994, and Shockwave, which won the 50th AMBR in 1999, together in one room is breathtaking, to say the least.

It was about a one-hour drive to Bonnell’s Rod Shop near Erie, PA. When we arrived there was a local contingent of rodders on hand to meet us. It is always fun to meet fellow rodders as we travel around the country on the tours.

Owner Scott Bonnell (center) and his crew went out of their way to make us feel welcome and give us a look at their current projects. The lunch that we all enjoyed was also appreciated.

It is not just car-related stops that we make as we travel on the tours. We like to tie in tourist attractions and historical landmarks. I think this combines the two as we spent the evening in Niagara Falls and saw this spectacular sight.

From Niagara Falls it was about three hours to Norwich, NY. The Northeast Classic Car Museum is one of the best kept secrets in the east. The collection of classics is huge, they specialize in Franklin vehicles and the vintage clothing on display next to the vehicles is a nice touch.

We were invited by Dave Tucci and his family to stop by their rod shop in Utica, NY. Dave and his crew have been building award-winning vehicles for many years and we got a chance to see and hear the 1932 roadster that they built to compete in America’s Most Beautiful Roadster class at the GNRS in Pomona.

From Utica it was a beautiful morning drive through the Adirondack Mountains. We arrived in the small town of Essex and boarded a ferry for the short ride across the lower part of Lake Champlain to Vermont.

The town of Essex Junction is just north of Burlington, VT. The National Street Rod Association has put on their Northeast Street Rod Nationals at the Champlain Valley Exposition Center for many years.

The grounds are well suited for the 1,600-car event. There is always a large turnout of both spectators and participants from across New England. The grandstands were the site of the award ceremonies on Sunday, which was conducted by event director, Tom Wilkerson.

It was a fun week on the ARP/STREET RODDER Dynamat Road Tour. To be able to start at the Shades of the Past event in Pigeon Forge, TN, and spend the week traveling to the NSRA Northeast Nationals in Vermont makes for a great week on the road.

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from Hot Rod Network http://www.hotrod.com/articles/dynamat-road-tour-nsra-northeast-nationals/ via IFTTT