Southern Maryland Cruise Night

On Saturday evening I head over towards Southern Maryland to meet up with a Mopar group over there that was planning a dinner and cruise night. The event plans sounded too good to pass up on such a great evening weather wise and I'm glad I went.

I left home shortly after 4:00 and made it over to the Prince Frederick area meet up spot around 5:15. I didn't know anyone there, but in the automotive community I've learned that doesn't matter one bit. You all show up for the same reasons with a common interest and just enjoy hanging out and talking cars. There were about 16 cars that showed up all together, and I was about the 8th person to show up. When I hopped out, most people were making their way over to check out 'The Colonel.' I introduced myself and immediately began answering questions about the car. Most wanted to know about the wheels, stripes, and my engine cover which I had customized this past winter.

Now, I don't want to come across like I'm bragging here, but I am quite proud, so bear with me. I've been around plenty of meet ups now, with plenty of awesome cars and lots of other Challengers, but there is something special about mine that attracts owners of all other cars. I believe it's the combination of the Hemi Orange color with the Classic package that I ordered with the car. Hemi Orange is the color this car born to wear, and when matched with the old school heritage wheels, body striping and such, it evokes more nostalgia than any other modern car on the road today. I get plenty of guys who own the SRT model coming up and just saying "Man, that is a beautiful car." It makes me smile and only reassures me that I made the right call on color all along!

So after we hung around for about 40 minutes waiting for everyone to show up, we headed out on a 'spirited' drive through the back roads of the area. And man was that fun! We drove for about 45 minutes in the setting sun of the evening twisting and winding through the turns with the RPM's hovering just high enough to punch it coming out of the apex. Exhausts and engines we're roaring together to create a beautiful symphony of torque and muscle. I didn't want it to end!

We ended up back near our starting point and parked at 5 Guys, where I enjoyed a delicious bacon cheeseburger and a cherry coke, talked more car stuff and talked about the cruise and how much fun everyone had on the back roads. Then we packed up once more and drove about 25 minutes over to this place called Bert's 50's Diner. Real cool place right on the side of the highway, all decked out in 50's memorabilia and we all got ice cream to cap off the night.

All in all (aside from the migraine I got about 20 minutes from home) it was a great night, and the weather was perfect too. I'm very much looking forward to all the future meet & greet's I'll be attending this year, since this time around I'VE GOT MY CHALLENGER!!! Here's a couple pictures and video that one of the other guys took. Enjoy.

Picture or two from before I showed up

Everyone loved what I did with the engine cover

Talkin' car stuff

The group at 5 Guys

50's Diner

And short video clip from the organizer. I'm 5th in line, 4th in the rear view.