Last weekend we took off with our little trailer to be a part of an annual event called Hoot & Howl. A camping weekend with a group of vintage trailer folks from throughout New England and the surrounding states. We were invited by the Tear Jerkers group of teardrop trailer folks when we went to the Ross Hill weekend back in August. We loaded up everything early Friday morning and by mid morning we were ready to head north. Salisbury, Massachusetts is about two hours north of where we live in Rhode Island, so it was an easy ride. We arrived at Salisbury State Beach Reservation Campground around one in the afternoon. Once I got backed into the right space (lots of public embarrassment this time) we went to work setting everything in it’s right place and put out some decorations.
This is a Halloween-ish event. We reunited with a few of the folks we had discovered back with the tear jerkers and made a few new acquaintances as we were setting up. This is certainly a social group and everyone makes you feel welcome. We were both a bit hungry from the ride up and all the fussing getting the camp just right, so we headed into town and found a great little biker bar called Gracie’s Place. They served the most delicious chowder I think I have ever had, truly amazing. I had ordered a turkey club and carol got the fish tacos..my sandwich would have easily fed two people but I managed to take it all in. . .a great turkey club and Carol’s taco was just as good. We were waited on by Gracie herself and had a good talk. She is a hot rodder and the bar reflects her passion. A picture of her chopped 1936 Chevy coupe hung on the wall at our booth. We heard several good stories about her car and the meets that they hole in Salisbury.. nice place.
Back at the campground we walked around and gawked at all of the vintage trailers. It seems that most of them were made from the 1950’s through the 1970’s and were they ever cool. It is nice to see that so many have survived and have been so well restored. That evening we had a ‘Meet and Greet’ at the big white tent known as the White House…here we met even more like minded people. An evening of karaoke followed…interesting. . .
Saturday morning came quickly and we got dressed and I grabbed my camera and off we went to the beach to watch the Penguin Plunge..I would have swam but I just trimmed my fingernails…(any excuse, you understand) I was content to take pictures and watch the fun and mayhem of the morning. The Atlantic was serving up some very good surf and by the looks of things it was cold water too. . . Just as we were returning to our camp it started to sprinkle. Breakfast was being served in the White House so we wandered over and and had a hearty breakfast and chatted and chatted. . . We made our way back to the trailer and sat in the Clam for a while and as the rain passed we walked around the campground. I would estimate that there must have been about 200 campers there and most were vintage campers. I just explained that my trailer is a future vintage trailer. Later in the afternoon Carol took a nap and wandered around again with my camera and got some shots of the trailers and the campground.
I also got asked to take the group photo at 5:30. We were to meet at the sea wall. Apparently 5:30 means different things to different people, but ultimately everyone assembled and I got the shot. At 7:00 the supper began and after supper we had another evening with karaoke and a communal campfire complete with singing and stories. Quiet time begins at 10 PM and that is when we retired to the trailer and turned on the furnace..it was a chilly night.
I the morning we had breakfast once more with the group, exchanged some contact information and started packing up. Carol and I never got in much bike riding because of the weather and the time spent chatting so we planned a stop on the way home. We stopped in Windham New Hampshire and rode about seven miles along the rail trail there and had lunch on a park bench in front of a blue caboose. This was a good day. Traffic was light and we made it home in good time and had everything packed up and put away and cleaned and stowed by the time the Patriots game began…. another fine weekend.
Below are some more photos of the weekend.
