The Shelby American (Fall 2021)

hindsight is 20-20, then I’m sure glad to see 2020 in the rear-view mirror. It’s been over eighteen months of no cars, no shows, masks and quarantine. With vaccination in hand and the slow opening of the “new normal,” I decided to do two things: get to a show and check one of those things you want to do off the bucket list of life. The 44th Annual Spring Fling put on by the In- diana SAAC seemed to fit the bill. I had heard about this show and how good it was; nice location, beautiful roads, lots of cars, etc., etc. You hear this about a lot of shows but this one with 44 years under its belt seemed to be the one to go to, plus it had Hertz cars as the main attraction. So, we signed up, made hotel reser- vations and got ready to go. The two weeks prior to the show found us pulling the engine, attending to trailer brake issues and a million other things that seemed to put the stops on this journey before it started. But hard work, perseverance and a little luck made sure we were ready to pull out at the “butt-crack of dawn,” hoping to get to the Abe Martin Lodge in Nashville, Indiana before dark. The trip out was uneventful, the pipeline gas crisis was a nothing- burger, traffic moved smoothly and we arrived after thirteen hours on the road. Driving up to the hotel and see- ing lots and lots of Shelbys made me glad we had made the decision to at- tend the show.We asked and got direc- tions for parking and were soon checked into the hotel. It was now approaching 8:00 p.m. and we were starving. The hotel restaurant had closed for the night, so we went searching for another place. The small town of Nashville is located right outside the park’s main gate so we drove over looking for someplace and soon came upon The Brown Coun- try Inn. It was 8:45 p.m. and they closed at 9:00 p.m. so we asked if we could get dinner.With a great big help- ing of southern Indiana hospitality, we were soon sitting at table and our din- ner order was taken. My wife is a fussy eater but this meal met all her check boxes. She loved it. We were the last ones to leave the restaurant at about 9:40 p.m. and we drove back to the Lodge. The ride back along the winding road through the woods was like a little private race course, not that we drove excessively fast, but let’s just say the Shelby was feeling its her- itage being put to use. The next morning a drivers meeting was held at the front entrance to ex- plain the Pony Trails run. The route was about 75-80 miles through some The SHELBY AMERICAN Fall 2021 95 – Steve McDonald If Photos by Steve McDonald.