The Total Performance Tour continued it's trek on Tuesday up the beautiful east coast of the United States. After Monday evening's stay on Hilton Head Island it was up early as we rolled north on Route 17 towards our lunch time stop in historic Charleston, North Carolina. Hugh Hoitt and members of the Street Rods Unlimited car club of Charleston arranged to meet us at Bessinger's Barberque for lunch and give us some ideas of what to see in their beautiful city. After lunch some of the Road Tourians took a guided walking tour of the city while others visited the new American LaFrance Museum that had just opened less than 3 weeks earlier. The museum contains over a dozen fully restored classic and vintage fire engines and fire fighting apparatus.
After lunch it was a 2 hour drive to Myrtle Beach for our Tuesday evening stay. It was bike week in Myrtle Beach when we were there so there was plenty to see and do that evening. Our hotel was directly across the street from the Broadway at the Beach entertainment complex with lots of restaurants and clubs.
Wednesday morning we were up and rolling north by 8AM. Our stop for lunch was in New Bern, North Carolina at Andy's Cheeseburger. It was a great burger and milkshake lunch then out on the highway again the trip to Kill Devil Hills on North Carolina's Outer Banks. Some members of the First Flight Cruisers car club stopped by our hotel to invite us to the weekly cruise in nearby Kitty Hawk. They usually have it on Tuesday night but actually changed it to Wednesday since they heard we were going to be in the area. It was fun to see some of the local cars and they enjoyed hearing the stories of our trip.
Thursday morning we visited the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kill Devil Hills. It is the actual sight of the first recoded flight. It was awe inspiring to be standing on the exact spot were such an important event in the history of mankind took place. The museum and facility is first class and worth a visit. From the Outer Banks area we headed north under the first cloudy skies of the last few days. One of our fellow Road Tourians Hoyt Duff had invited us to his fishing pier in Virginia Beach. I had met Hoyt and his wife Bobbie Lou on the Lokar tour to Kalamazoo last year. Bobbie Lou really rolled out the red carpet for us at their beautiful facility, the Lynnhaven Fishing Pier on Chesapeake Bay in Virginia Beach. Everyone received a goodie bag that Bobbie Lou had put together and we were we fed one of the best meals of the entire week. Shrimp, pulled pork and fried chicken was served with Momma Duffs rum cake and ice cream for dessert, all compliments of Bobbie Lou and Hoyt! Thanks folks, it was a great way to wind up a great week.
We all headed out to our final destination of Crusin' Ocean City. By Thursday evening the Total Performance Tour had arrived in Ocean City. It had been a fun week on the road. Nothing bonds a group together like some days on the road in street rods. We had very few car problems and this years Brookville bodied 3 window Deuce coupe, powered by a blown Motor City Flathead power plant covered the 1400 miles beautifully. It is going to be a fun filled weekend in Ocean City. I then travel on to Springfield, Missouri and the NSRA Mid-America Nationals where we start the Advanced Plating Tour to York, Pa and the NSRA Nationals East.
Stay turned, the summer Road Tour fun has just begun!
Jerry Dixey