The first Honk Rattle & Roll Tour of 2021 is in the books! We had 29 folks on the tour and what an age range in attendance; from the youngest at (nearly) 15 months to Tom’s mom who is (older than Tom)!
It was a beautiful drive to Woodbury under a clear sky with the snow-covered hills glistening in the bright sunshine. The roads were clear with no troubles from earlier in the week’s snow and ice. Tour guru Russ made a ‘Plan B’ to avoid some of the less-traveled back roads and had already road-tested this new route to be sure all would be in the clear!
After a quick rest stop in Woodbury, we arrived at ‘The Wooden Boatman’s’ place. He designs, builds, and restores fine wooden boats and counts singer Alan Jackson as one of his customers. Refurbishing one of these classics includes rebuilding the hull, making any needed structural repairs, engine rebuilding or replacements, upholstery repair/replacement plus any other needed work. It’s all done right there by one man in his shop.
We viewed boats that were in process of restoration and an as yet untouched boat ready to be started on. Travis had pictures of boats he has designed and built and explained the processes he uses to bring these boats back into prime condition.
Leaving his shop we headed to lunch at DJ’s Pizza and Steakhouse in Woodbury. They were very accommodating in keeping us ‘together, but separate’ in their outside enclosed and heated patio space. Although they specialize in pizza and Italian meals, they have a varied menu, including excellent burgers and sandwiches, and great service.
Once all were finished with lunch, we hit the trail again heading toward McMinnville and ‘Third Gen Automotive’. This family-owned and operated shop stocks, sells, refurbishes, rebuilds, and repairs all manner of ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s Ford autos and parts. They have quite a collection of spare parts of all kinds, from fenders, wheels, engine parts, etc.: bumper to bumper (including the bumpers)! Many parts are refurbished originals but he also has NOS and new parts. Anything you need down to the correct nuts and bolts that hold things together!
They also had several cars in the shop that he was in the process of working on. One of his next jobs involves going to Michigan to pick up a few cars from a collection that need to be refurbished for sale.
Selling parts mostly by the website they are kept busy packaging and shipping parts all across the US and the globe and doing restoration work on customer (and his own) antique Fords. In his “spare time”, Michael is searching out old cars, parts, collections, and anything else he can find and procure for the old cars.
They hope to be holding an “open house” and antique car meet later this year and he has promised to invite us back for that. This would be a great opportunity for one of our “off-schedule” extra added attraction tours!
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