With Spring weather approaching in the Northern States, some of the usual Summertime activities are starting once again.  One of these typical summer activities is the car cruises.  They are popular all over the USA, and they usually occur on weekends.  Every town seems to have at least one weekly rendevous spot for car cruising.  The larger towns and cities have several.  Usually they take place at a local drive-in restaurant or drive-in ice cream shop.  Sometimes, they convene at an old drive-in theater or even at a local baseball field or parking lot.

Local residents come to show off their cars.  Some of them have classic cars, or old-time antiques.  Some of them have hot rods, street racers or modified stock cars.  Some have muscle cars or simply stock cars that are particularly fine.  It is not uncommon to see hundreds or even thousands of cars at some of the larger cruises.  Typically, they line up their cars in rows, then open their hoods to reveal their souped up, crome plated, decked out powerhouse engines. 

Sometimes, the owners of similar vehicles cluster together in a certain area.  You may see dozens of Corvettes lined up on one side of the field.  There will be new ones, older ones and some real classics.  They will be in every color, even some with custom candy apple red paint, pearlescent glow or metallic sparkle paint.  Some will have modifications of the engine or even the body of the car.   Their hoods will be open and the glow of chromium plated engine components will glitter in the sun.  The proud owners will be sitting in lawn chairs next to their vehicle or will be hovering over it with a cloth to keep the dust from dampening the sheen of their baby.

There are usually numerous muscle cars and plenty of old classics like the 55 Chevy, the 56 Ford Thunderbird, any model of the Ford Mustang and the GTO.  You can even spot some rare classics like the old Nash Rambler, the Henry J, or the Hudson.  The Hot Rods will be there, especially the modified 32 Ford Coupe and the old Pickup Truck.  There will be chopped and channeled 49 Mercuries and severely modified classics from the 50s and 60s.  The owners of these old-time, classics and hot rods will typically be middle aged or greater with gray hair. 

Most of these older car afficianados have lovingly restored these old classic cars of their youth, and they bring them to the car cruise to show them off to their friends and their neighbors. 

The younger crowd will also be at the car cruises.  They will typically bring big wheeled trucks with massive off-road tires and chrome decorations, or they will bring low riders and souped up street racers.

Most of the car cruises are very informal affairs.  Everyone sits around and drinks beer from their personal cooler, or wanders around visiting the other car owners and sharing drinks.  Radios or boom boxes will be playing music at many locations.  For the classic car owners, the preferred music is usually old time rock and roll and pop music from the 50s and 60s.  The younger crowd usually prefers rap or current hit parade music.  Some folks will be blaring country and western.

Guests are always welcome.  There is typically no admission charge.  You can park your car on the sidelines, unless it is really fine; in that case, you line it up with all the other beauties.  You can walk around, take photos and visit with the car owners.  Most owners are more than eager to show you their pride and joy.

When visiting the USA, if you are in a town or city on a weekend, just ask around about local car cruises.  If you search hard enough, you will likely find the location of one or more car cruises that take place on a regular basis.