Car shopping in cantaloupe country

Rare finds in the south

As fortune would have it, my friend and I ended up in the south today, cruising Highway 25 to Kennett to meet a friend and eat at McCormick's. By the time we got there, the waitress had served the last chicken salad sandwich to the table beside us. When it was time for dessert, I was told that those customers had also gotten the last piece of egg custard pie, too. Ohhh, I SAW the nutmeg on top!

Well, no matter! The day was beautiful. the drive was picturesque, the company was good--so the three of us ordered fried chicken. Not my typical favorite, because almost everyone cooks it into a dry crust formation that my teeth aren't strong enough to crack.

But hold the phone, folks! The waitress was right--the chicken was fresh! My piece of white meat was really delicious. Forget the wing, though--nothing there beneath the batter! I hate to think the chicken died for that!

Mission accomplished in Kennett--and we even risked life and limb to go to the local Wally World. I took my camera with me, in case something interesting happened inside, but it didn't. All copesetic--though that exit strategy to get back out on the highway is certainly anything but boring....

On the way back north, I had to stop and get a shot of an old rusty Studebaker for sale in a field about four miles south of Malden air Base.

My friend, who is a car buff, says that there were two models of Studebaker made during the fifties--the Commander and the Champion. The Commander was the more expensive of the two. They were mostly manufactured in South bend, Indiana, making the area quite prosperous during that period of time. The plant closed on Dec. 20, 1963.

Studebakers were running around on the streets when I was a kid. I remember that the back looked just like the front, so you didn't know if they were coming or going.

I googled the topic and discovered that the last Studebaker rolled out of Ontario, Canada on March 16, 1966. Since I never see these cars in the car shows or on the streets, I can only wonder how many were produced...

My friend and I decided not to trade our Jeeps for this fine, antique piece of memorabilia...

So we left the south behind, with its crews of migrant workers chopping cotton, and its colorful rusting automobiles sitting forlornly by the road..

Next blog...the absolute LONGEST car I've ever seen--short of a stretch limo!