The Old Guys have been spending Thanksgiving weekend at the Daytona Turkey Run for many years, even before we were Old Guys! And for at least one of the Old Guys, 2007 marks Year Fifteen!

This year, FlaCarShows.com hosted reserved parking for a dozen cars, and those spaces went quickly. There will probably be more next year.

Ft. Lauderdale Bill, Mikey, Sonny and I arrived Thursday morning, and our timing was to perfection. On our last contact, we were all more than 100 miles from Daytona, but as Bill and I exited I-95 from the south, Mikey and Sonny exited from the north, and we pulled onto Speedway Boulevard at precisely the same time!

One inside the Speedway, the first order of business was registration, followed by the annual purchase of Turkey Run shirts (like any of us needed another car show shirt), and then a quick walk through a couple of the vendor rows.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving Dinner later in the evening with Butch and Jen of WJBJ, then returned to the hotel to await Packard Bill’s (soon to be known as Rat Rod Bill…more on this later, and see the pic above) arrival.

Later in the evening, a few of the Old Guys visited a local cocktail lounge (no surprise there), but the big surprise is that they were back at the hotel by 9:30 PM.

Friday morning we were all back at the Speedway about 7:30 AM. The Old Guys have routines, and the first order of business was getting a breakfast sandwich from one of the food vendors we visit every year.

Well, they weren’t there this year, so we went in search of what we hoped would be a good replacement, and we weren’t disappointed in our choice.

We began walking through the vendor area…there’s about 3000 of them…and had our usual hot sausage lunch at another food vendor we’ve been visiting for a few years.

We all bought some inexpensive stuff we really didn’t need, but just had to have, and after walking close to four miles, we returned to our cars and took a well-deserved break.

Packard Bill’s son Steve and his buddy Eric arrived, and since this was their first visit, spent the better part of the afternoon touring the Speedway.

Packard Bill, who rarely does anything on impulse, was bitten by the Rat Rod bug, and after some serious negotiation, bough a 1934 Chevy cab. The good thing about Rat Rods is that the worse they look, the better they are, and this one is no exception…lots of rust, lots of missing metal, and even a bunch of bullet holes!

This father and son project will eventually become the company part’s hauler, but first it had to make the couple hundred mile trip back to Englewood.

Steve and Eric, along with lots of help, managed to get the cab into the bed of his pickup truck, and we eventually met them back at the hotel.

Dinner was at Firehouse Subs, and then it was off to the lounge again. We made up for Friday night by staying out well past midnight, and the good news is that when we got back to the hotel, there was valet parking. If you want to know more, just ask Sonny!

We went back to the Speedway Saturday morning, and as Stevie drove into the parking lot, he hit a pothole, and almost dumped the ‘34 cab. After buying a couple really good ratchet tie-down’s, they headed for Englewood, and we heard from them when the arrived…the trip was without incident.

After winning nothing in the door prize drawings, we called it a day, and came back to the hotel. Dinner was BBQ, chips, and carrot cake. No one has any room left for pizza…yet!

So tomorrow morning, it’s back to the Speedway, but just long enough to get in on Advance Auto Part’s dollar sale…everything on the shelf, regardless of what it is, will be sold for $1. This is the gear head’s version of shopping on the day after Thanksgiving!

Our next trip is next weekend…Biff Burger’s Toys For Tots show in St. Pete. Be sure to check back for our report.