Tin Can Tourists’ 2014 Chautauqua Rally
January 25th 2014
DeFuniak Springs, FL
Slept very well last night and stayed quite warm as last night was not as cold as the last few nights. In fact there were a few times I almost got hot last night, of course the heater was on full blast! As much as I did not want to get out of bed but finally, after hitting the snooze alarm a few times, I got up and started the large coffee pot for everyone and put out all the breakfast treats on the table out under my awning. It still felt quite cold this morning but there was the promise by the national weather service that we would reach in lower 60’s today, however with it at 38 degrees we had a ways to go.
Around 9:30 am there were a few people starting to walk around and wanting to look at the vintage trailers. Everyone that came through seemed quite interested in the vintage trailers and the TCT. It was still quite cold and the crowds were rather small and came in quick shifts, likely just small groups walking from the parking areas to the main event areas. Since it was rather slow I decided to walk down to the Vintage Car show to check out a few cars that were arriving, I was surprised to see fellow TCTers and good friends of mine Herb and Sidra Spies who had brought their 1925 Ford Truck with a 1916 Expanding Apartment on the back of it. If you have never seen their rig you should look it up, an awesome rig similar to what the early TCTers would have used in the very early days of our existence.
By lunch time the weather was looking a bit better and I was even able to take my heavy coat off and just have on a sweater. As the weather warmed up the crowds started to get larger and for a while we had a steady stream of people moving through the vintage trailer area. Many people were thrilled to see a new aspect of the Chautauqua Fair by having the TCT at their event. In fact may of the spectators asked if we would be back for next year and if we would bring even more trailers, which was a surprise coming from the general public as it seemed they really enjoyed the vintage trailers and the history of tourism in Florida.
At 3:30 pm the crowds slowed down a bit again, but all the sudden by 4:30 pm there was another rush of people, probably on their way back to the parking areas as many of the other events were closing down. We were happy to show our trailers to anyone that showed interest in the trailers or the TCT group in general, as many of the spectators had toured our trailers earlier but came back bringing more friends and families to see the trailers.
5:00 pm arrived and it was time to shut our trailers down and get ready for dinner. Since we had such a busy day I had planned just sub sandwiches, chips, and cake for dinner. Everyone made their own sandwiches to order, we had Turkey, Chicken, and Ham. Best of all we had a nice large campfire to sit around, which we could finally enjoy since the weather has warmed up quite a bit. The last few days have even been too cold to sit around a campfire! Tonight we were able to enjoy a long night of sitting around the camp fire eating cake and talking late into the night. Eventually fewer and fewer people were left around the fire until the rest of us were so tired and ready for bed that we decided we better get some good sleep as we still have about 7 hours to show our trailers tomorrow before the event is over and many of us will be driving home tomorrow evening as well.
Tim Heintz
Tin Can Tourists Southeastern Representative
1950 Spartanette Tandem