DREAM CRUISE

I live very near Woodward. Today (Friday, a day before Dream Cruise) at 1 in the afternoon, I needed to drive on it between 14 and 13 Mile. That one mile took me about ten minutes. I do not mind one bit.

Everyone is entitled to their feelings, and I know so many folks who live near Woodward who hate this time of year. Neighbors who abandon their homes and head up north for four days just to avoid it. I get that it can feel like an inconvenience. I also get that almost anything can feel like a pain in the ass if you let yourself be negative and look at it the wrong way.

People make fun of the guys who'll park their cruisers and just sit next to them all day, waiting for someone to come ask them questions about it it seems. In a not serious way, I've even kidded guys like that. But truth is I'm so glad they're there. Dream Cruise makes a special part of the country even more fantastic. Dream Cruise let's the soul of our area come out to play once a year. You can be an elitist and make fun of "blue collar rednecks staring at cars" all you want, but isn't the working man what made and still makes this entire region? You can complain about the crowds, but isn't there something field-of-dreamesque about how they will come every year? Isn't there a certain energy you can't help but tap into when you take in the sight of a 64 and a half Mustang and a Rolls Royce and a black & white Blues Brothers mobile all within a hundred feet of each other? People who don't get Dream Cruise don't get that it's not just about cars. It's about all walks of life drawing together and tapping into that which we still have in common...that common ground of romantic nostalgia (not just for cars but for each of our own pasts) and camaraderie, all in a free event that is shockingly trouble free year after year. The smell of burning tires and exhaust mixed with food and the occasional beer to me is intoxicating.

Maybe it's because the very first thing I experienced when I moved here years ago was Dream Cruise. I had rented a small home in Beverly Hills, not far at all from Woodward, and the very day I rolled into town was the day of Dream Cruise, the real one, the Saturday itself. It was 1999. I was tired from the drive in from the east coast, and I knew nothing about where to go buy food, gas or anything else for that matter. I was nervous to be starting this brand new show in 48 hours with no time to prepare a damn thing. And I walked up 14 Mile Rd. to Woodward to this amazing sight. I'd never seen anything like it. The vibe I got from all the people I saw and the few I talked to was tremendous. I'm from the east coast, where everyone is uptight and closed down. These people were still tough, but real, and open, and not afraid to have a good time, and I was instantly sure I'd made the right decision in taking the job.

So maybe I just associate Dream Cruise with everything else I love about Michigan all rolled into one. They say first impressions are lasting. '08's been a tough year, riding out this non-compete clause and all. But I'll stand on Woodward tomorrow and see the dads with their kids, smell the burning rubber, the cooking food, watch three generations at a time take in the past, hear the thunder of engines defying the green movement like rockstars that never get old, check out the Michigan girls who are the hottest in the whole world, stare at the coolest damn machines dreamed up by your fathers and grandfathers, and feel so damn lucky to be there looking at the past and looking forward to the future.