Tuesday, 28 July 2015

Visiting my Parents and a Classic Car Show

I recently had a week away visiting my mom and dad, where they live in a city called Barrie, that’s about an hour and a half drive directly north of Toronto.

When they moved there a few years ago, I have to say, I didn’t quite understand their reasons for picking it. We had no family ties there, nor any history with the city, but they had been there many times and had decided that that was where they wanted to live.

Now that I’ve gotten to know the city myself, I completely understand their love for it. It’s a very pretty place, with fantastic restaurants (including one of my favourites anywhere, Shirley’s) and a lovely lakefront with a long walking path. Add to that the fact that it seems there is always something interesting going on somewhere in Barrie, and you have a very nice place to take a little holiday. Of course, for me, it has the added benefit of the chance to spend time with my parents and their cute dog, Kiki.

Nick drove me up, stayed for lunch and a visit and then returned home to work and take care of Eddie our cat. I stayed the week and took the bus home on Friday.

On Wednesday evening I lucked onto seeing something that left me in awe. I had been seated in my parents’ kitchen, having a glass of wine when looking out the window, I saw quite a few gorgeous classic sports cars drive by. I saw so many that I mentioned it to my parents. It turns out that the cars were all heading over to a park along the waterfront for the “Barrie Thunder Classics Cruise Night“.

I just had to go have a look so my father and I went over.

What awaited me was completely unexpected and completely stunning. I can’t say how many beautiful cars were lined up on the two huge fields, but there were so many! They must have just parked as they arrived, because they weren’t sorted in any way. According to the website, they “invite owners of classics, muscle, sports cars, rats, rods and other unique rides to come down and enjoy great music, food and conversation”. I think the cars have to be pre-1985.

It was almost unbelievable that all these unique cars were just parked there for people to admire. There was no admission fee or much to purchase aside from a snack from a food truck, so I guess the whole thing was set up to give the public the simple enjoyment of seeing such special vehicles close up like that.

↑ Nick had a ’72 Scamp before I met him. He once scoured an entire junk yard to find a tail light just like this one and he eventually did. ↑

I kept a particular eye out for vintage Mustangs, and took pictures for Nick to see (they’re his favourite). He oohed-and-aahed over them and agreed that next time we go to Barrie, we’ll make sure to be there on a Wednesday because they do this every week from May to September.