Today we wouldn't have much of a caravan heading out to Old Town, a few of our regulars would be out of town and others had to work. Linda & I would arrive just after 1:30, Gary would greet us at the gate. A little further down the bricks Bratt and Kathy by the Hunted House would register us. We would make our turn by the Old Town Clock and make our way towards "Trophy Row". James Butler in his '67 Pontiac Firebird, our August, 2008 "Cruiser of the Month" was in his place of honor. The "Looney Bin" would be occupied by Cris & Larry in their Mustang. Gary & Kathy's Fairlaine was parked next to the Mike Kelly shed. We were the first to cross Florida Plaza and claim our parking spot. Linda & I were the only ones there for a while.  I would walk over to "Victory Lane" to check out the The Tampa Bay Mopar owners show. There were several of the New Generation Muscle cars there,  it looked like a good turn out. I didn't see any of the older ones in the line up but maybe a few would show up later. I would then head back and Linda would open the gate for Conrad who was in his '57 Chevy pickup. Then Bill & Doris would stop by for a chat, the rain started to fall for while. It sure was lonely down in Block 4, Linda & I would head up to see who was in town today.

We spotted Mark R chatting with Larry who had his '47 Chevy in the "Looney Bin" next to Cris & Larry's Mustang. Jim would join them later in  his '67 GTO. Many of the  "Redline Rodders" were in place, Bob & Marge would back their '66 Rambler Ambassador convertible into his spot. Karen Ben & the Kids were behind the stairs as usual. Emil was over from Clearwater with his "High School Flame" as usual, in a spot he likes to call his own. Bill would have his "Show Time" pickup along the fence. The 3 Amigos had arrived and were headed towards their spots. Once we got back down to our car from this first outing, Ron S would arrive in his '41 Packard 120 Coupe, now there would be 3 cars south of Florida Plaza, it sure was lonely. Jeff with his '59 Edsel and Dave & Nancy in a '59 Edsel Corsair convertible would not make it to Block 4. They were set up North of the Mike Kelly shed. Rob, from Port Orange would be bringing out his '08 Edsel Citation 50th Anniversary Edition and display it with them. Just to be safe we rolled the windows up in our '60 Ranchero before we would head to "Flippers" for dinner. "Big" John was out in his '34 Ford Hot Rod, "Scary Larry" rode out with him. "Cousin John" would be in his favorite place, Darrell had his LTD North of the stage, Dave would have his '67 Plymouth Satellite across from it.  Charlie was now in town visiting with the guys at the top of block 1. We chose to dine alfresco but the rain drove us  into the dinning room. Jane would serve us in her usual fashion and the food was good. Not too many cars would arrive and make their way to "Trophy Row", however I did spot Roger F in his '56 Chevy followed by Larry V in his '54 Ford make their way in to town. After dinner we would make our way back down "Trophy Row" to see who else made it out. We visited with the recent arrivals that included Bert & "Ernie" out in his '66 Comet wagon, Dave D in his "Mint Julep" '57 Chevy, I would visit with Mike Singer in the "Blue Room" for a while. There were a lot of empty spaces, well, OK so the rain was still falling and would continue to do so for a while. Coy made it to Block 4 to pick up his back newsletters, by now there were only 2 cars down here. Even Roberta the "Beer Lady" would go home, she was concerned about the rising water in the canal near her home. Tony, K4AVD, from Wisconsin, would check in over the radio as would Laura, NO4OO, who was at work and T Rod, KT4ROD.

It wasn't until about 7:30 that the spectator crowd started to grow, I can't blame them it was wet! I talked with a family from Cornwall, England that were a little disappointed in their choice of Saturday to come out. Not disappointed in what they saw, just in the number of cars that there was to see but they got to talk to just about everyone. The Saturday Nite Cruise will still go on, Rain or Shine. There are many of us that don't let anything stop us from coming out. Over the last 20 years Old Town has been known for the place to come to for these classic cars on parade. Tonight would be a little smaller but worth the trip out. Ed, WB8BHL and Fred, WD8NKI would stop out to see the Cruise just before it started.

William & Mesha brought us our Flag then Esther stopped by with the "Flag Winners" just after 8:20, James Butler in his '67 Pontiac Firebird, our August, 2008 "Cruiser of the Month" was led by Dave, Gary and Bratt followed by the "What if?" car, a 2008 Edsel then 2 vintage Edsels, then the rest of the cars from the top 3 Blocks to block 4 that becomes the "Staging Area" for Old Town's signature event. Mike Singer who had been at the controls of the "Blue Room", playing a mix of nostalgic music and radio "Jingles", gave the safety announcements. Played the National Anthem, "Wolfman Jack" proclaimed, "It's the Saturday Nite Cruise", for this the 948th running of this tradition. The Cruisers made the turn at "Kids Town" on to the "Bricks" of "Deac Hundley Avenue", Mike Singer announced the Flag Winners as the rest of the 62 cars in parade formation cruised past,  delighting a crowd of cheering spectators along both sides of the Avenue. "Rain or Shine" or even the tail end of a Tropical Storm, every Saturday night of the year, there is nothing quite like it for the "Cruisers" and it is always a treat for those watching it from the sidewalks and boulevards.

Thank you Old Town for letting us, the curators of this "Rolling Display of Automotive History", the cars that are the "Stars", to be their guests this evening. Thank you to the Old Town Merchants Association and the Sponsors of this event, "Valvoline", the "General Store", the "A&W", "Out of this World Embroidery",  "Wound 'N Around", Pepsi, Roberts Brothers, the "Tropical Breeze" & "Flippers" just to name a few. Thank you to Allan, Joe, Ron, Gary, Bratt, Dave, Esther, Miguel and the entire Cruise Staff and fellow Cruisers for making our 300th consecutive Saturday a fun and safe one.

We would come back for part 2, tonight, the new Cruise route makes it a lot quicker and less congested, William was directing us off the frontage road down the new path. Gary awarded the Flags to those of us that were lucky enough to win, Allan was working the audience then Joe did the drawings. Coy went home with the $52 50/50. Mark from Parrish would show up just about the time we got back to the stage, he had been working on a part for his car over at Nick's all day, maybe we'll see that machine on the first weekend of next month. Wining this flag on our 300th night was very special.

On to the "Flag Winners".

Tonight's random drawing winners received the coveted "Old Town Checkered Flag" and the new "Clock Pin", along with $25 cash, A Case of Oil from Valvoline and a drink from the Tropical Breeze.