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 On Wednesday, the Classic Car Club of
America made a stop in Atlanta as they traveled through the heart of
the state. Though it is typical for car clubs to travel historic
Route 66 in the summer, this club was taking a different type of
tour, traveling approximately 900 miles in Indiana and Illinois,
exploring Route 66, but also looking for (Abraham) Lincoln and other
points of historical interest.
The club makes annual trips, but was not able to go anywhere last
year because of the pandemic. This year, the group happily resumed
their road trips with a tour that took them from Zionsville,
Indiana, where Abraham Lincoln stopped on his way to Washington D.C.
for his inauguration.
Crossing into Illinois the group visited Castle Garden in Lexington.
Next they made stops in Pontiac, Atlanta and Springfield.
Then veering away from Route 66 and continuing their Abraham Lincoln
search the group traveled to Monticello for a stop at the Railway
Museum and Allerton Park.
The group then traveled to Champaign for a stop before crossing back
into Indiana to check out the Newport Hill, famous for its annual
antique car hill climb events.
Another stop in Zionsville, then it was on to Lafayette Indiana for
the conclusion of the trip.
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On Wednesday the cars lined up three-wide from the Paul Bunyan
statue to the intersection at the Route 66 Park and Atlanta Library. Walking
through the assembly of antique vehicles dating from the mid-1920’s to the late
1940’s, license plates revealed that there were cars from as far away as
California and New Jersey. There were also vehicles from Indiana, Missouri and
Ohio.
The group was on a tight schedule, so their stop in Atlanta was only 45 minutes.
Though the Palms Grill is not currently open for business, the front door was
opened so that the visitors could see the inside of the mid-century café’. Many
also enjoyed reading the various historical markers around town and checking out
the giant hot dog man.
Members of the community came out to enjoy the cars and visit with the drivers
about the antique vehicles.
Some members of the community put on their own little car show in the parking
lot across the street from the Atlanta Fire House. Those cars fell more into the
category of Classics as they featured later model cars, a couple of muscle cars
and one rat rod.
All in all, it was a pleasant stop for the car club, a good opportunity to get
out of the car and stretch a bit, and enjoy the unique qualities of Atlanta.
[Nila Smith]
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