By Dean Sprague

This is the third and final part about our trip from Hickory, NC to the 50^th anniversary of the New England MGT Register in Auburn ME. We (Bobby and I) followed Dave and Kathy in their 1946 MG TC. We took my 1953 MGTD. Parts one and two were about the adventures getting to and around Maine or New Hampshire (for Dave and Kathy). This chapter covers the show itself and the trip back to North Carolina.

Bobby and I stayed in Belfast ME with my Uncle Roger for a few days prior to attending the car show. We left early Friday morning and headed down to Auburn for the show. It was September 12, about 43 degrees and time to turn on my trusty heater. Bobby somehow caught my Uncle’s cold so I put in the right side curtain for him, we donned our jackets and gloves and he rested while I drove.

We arrived about 10:30 AM, registered for the event (the motel room was not available yet) and went to the club flea market. I found a wonderful barely used set of Whitworth box end wrenches for $25.00, which I promptly acquired. The other events didn’t seem too stimulating so we crawled back into the TD and drove to Freeport, ME the home of LL Bean and about a 100 other outlets. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it back in time to register for the First Timers Show. The room still wasn’t ready (at 3:30) so we surveyed the competition at the show. I think my TD would have fared well with the 1^st timers. Finally, about 4:30 PM they had a room for us. Bobby still wasn’t feeling great so we skipped the Friday night banquet and got something quick at a local restaurant.

Saturday Sept 13, 2014 from 9:00 to 10:30 AM the (big event) Golden Anniversary Car Show was held. It was a beautiful gathering and just long enough to remain interesting. Afterwards we queued up at McDonald’s in South Paris, ME where we caravanned with about 50 other MGs to Bob Bahre’s private car collection in Paris Hill. The Bahre family has one of the finest (perhaps rarest) car collections in the America. The collection included a Tucker, several Duesenbergs, one or two each of Packards and Stutzes, a very rare Thomas Flyer, a breathtaking Alfa Romero 8C-2900 B, a Mercedes SSK and a flamboyant Figoni & Falaschi Delahaye 135 M just to drop a few names. The collection includes an extensive selection of vintage motorcycles, antique toys and vintage race cars and even an MG TD (wow! didn’t I feel special) and many more vintage vehicles. The Bahre Estate was originally the home of Hannibal Hamlin, Abe Lincoln’s 1^st Vice President. The old Paris Hill jail (adjacent to the estate) has been converted to a library and museum. It contains a broad selection of memorabilia and artifacts from the pre and post-Civil War period, a must see. This day alone would have made the entire trip worthwhile.

It was getting so cold that on the way back to the motel we stopped at a local department store and bought hooded sweatshirts all around, thankfully in different colors so we didn’t look like a family reunion.

Saturday evening we attended the awards banquet making friends with many other MG enthusiasts, swapping stories and adventures as we dined together. When awards were announced Dave, Kathy, Bobby and I won the “Most Distance Traveled” award since the mileage of all cars are combined. Then the car show awards. Dave and Kathy took 2^nd place in the TC class and I won 3rd in the TD class. What a day!

Early Sunday morning we said our good byes and headed out. It was about 37 degrees so those hoodies came in handy again. We stopped for breakfast at the Early Bird Café I think in Cornish ME. They had HUGE blueberry pancakes (more blueberries than pancake), wonderful muffins and hot coffee. I had already eaten at the motel (including pancakes, don’t tell anyone) but who could pass on real Maine blueberry pancakes. We warmed up and headed into New Hampshire following back roads. Of course, we stopped to refuel and stretch (Advil time again) then on to Hogback Mountain where we stopped for the view and what a view it was. You could see almost 100 miles in all directions. The GPS took us to some interesting new scenery thru western Massachusetts and New York on our way to Fishkill, NY where we stayed at the same motel and ate at the same 50’s diner. The food was still great so I overate again (big surprise).

The next morning I ate breakfast at the motel (they snacked) then we headed south thru the Delaware Water Gap on some of the most scenic roads in Pennsylvania. We stopped in Milford, PA for the “real” breakfast at a local diner. Wonderful food with huge portions; I overate (again). It was still quite cool out but more “warm up” coffee did the trick and we were off again. We headed southwest on faster “larger” roads since we had prearranged a stop at the Hamilton Family Restaurant in Allentown, PA to meet with Bobby’s brother who lives in the area. We had a great visit said our goodbyes and searched for more back roads heading for Winchester, VA our final stop for the day. We passed so many scenic spots and historic markers (including Civil and Revolutionary War sites) on this adventure it brought our American history and heritage to life. We got to our motel in Winchester and found a great Italian restaurant. Bobby was still under the weather so he stayed behind and the three of us went to dinner. One of us overate again (guess who?).

The last day was highway day or “put the hammer down” and let’s get home. We took Interstate 81 all the way to Roanoke then we switched over to US 221. We had agreed on the way up to stop at the Bent Mountain Bistro on the way back. It looked very appealing. Since the restaurant was across the road from the State Police inspection we enjoyed on the way up we got to talk to the owner while we were waiting. We were right it was fantastic! No one left hungry.

Our last stop was the Dairy Queen in Dobson, NC for fuel, stretching and ice cream. We said our goodbyes. Then Dave and Kathy headed for SR 421 then to SR 18. We stayed on Interstate 77 to Interstate 40 West. I dropped Bobby off in Catawba and headed for home.

We traveled in all, some 2,350 miles in 11 days and got a chance to see (in many cases actually stop and enjoy) some of the most beautiful scenery and interesting history in this country. If you ever get a chance to take a trip on the back roads, don’t pass on it. Even though it required a bottle of Advil (for us older folks) it truly was a “Bucket List” level experience. Now I think one of us needs to go on a diet.

PS. believe it or not I didn’t add ANY oil, water or any fluids, except fuel to an old MG for the entire trip. Think I should keep it? Well actually, that’s rhetorical.

Want to see more photos? Check out www.cvbmc.org and click on Photo Gallery.