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Dave Brooke’s 1929 Phantom II Thrupp & Maberly tourer (3XJ).
brown which is a result of the tannin leached from the hemlock,
spruce, and cedar swamps upstream.
The Oswald Bear Ranch is a family-run attraction whose primary
purpose is to rescue orphaned cub bears from all over the
US. We had the opportunity to have our picture taken with one
of the cubs—the bears are clearly intelligent and are not lacking
in personality.
Back in St. Ignace, the evening’s wienie roast (literally) was
hosted by Jim and Margaret Plouffe and sponsored by the Motor
Region of the RROC. The out-of-towners really got a taste
of popular Michigan-made goodies: Dearborn hot dogs, Faygo
pop (soda to non-Michiganders), Vernor’s ginger ale, and Better
Made potato chips. Many thanks to the Plouffe’s for allowing
us to overrun their wonderful waterfront estate and to Mark
Kretz for hauling the lion’s share of the food up from Detroit
earlier in the day.
Charlevoix, Boyne City, and Petoskey
For those signed up to see the Gnome Houses and take the
Castle Tour on Friday, a fairly early departure was required to
cross Mackinac Bridge and travel down to Charlevoix. Stragglers
had a leisurely breakfast at Java Café and motored down
to Boyne City just in time to rendezvous for lunch in Veteran’s
Memorial Park. Rick and Sandy arranged for a fabulous boxed
lunch of deli sandwiches. Given our location, lunch turned into
an impromptu car show for the local folks who came by to see
what all the fuss was about.
After lunch, we drove a few blocks to Van Dam Custom
Boats. I thought this would be interesting, but had no idea how
David and Christine Seidman pose with their 1936 4¼L Van
Vooren (B125GP) saloon.
Dan and Phyllis Strayer's 1934 4¼L Park Ward (B111CW) dhc.
good this part of the tour was going to be. Steve Van Dam
opened the shop for us to roam freely with an invitation to talk
with anyone we bumped into and ask questions. Each sailboat
or motorboat commission starts with a clean sheet design with
Michelle on his Computer Aided Design station. Once all of
the details are worked out with the customer, the boat moves
on to production where a dozen craftsmen with various trade
skills make all of the individual pieces, assemble the frame, lay
up the hull with alternating layers of wood and adhesive, and
finish the entire ensemble into one of the finest luxury conveyances
this author has ever seen—absolutely extraordinary.
There were audible groans as we climbed aboard our Rolls-
Royces for the next destination: wheel barrows by comparison.
Our next stop was Great Lakes Motor Works across the
street: a treasure trove of restored and hot rod vehicles and a
full-service shop. It also serves as the headquarters for Classic
Instruments. As the name suggests, they make reproduction
instruments for classic cars. We saw some relatively rare
cars, mostly Fifties and Sixties American with a few Amphicars
thrown in for good measure.
Our final tour hub, the Holiday Inn Express in nearby Petoskey,
was our next destination. After settling in, we made our way
to cocktails and dinner at the Bay Harbor Golf Club. This
was an extremely impressive setting with the club house
overlooking the 18 th hole with the sun setting over Lake Michigan
beyond. I missed the memo on wearing a silly hat for
cocktails, but after a Manhattan or two before dinner, my selfconsciousness
subsided.
©The ©The Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce
Owners Owners Club, Club, Inc. Inc.
Bram Over (l) with Bob and Elizabeth Ann Cowley and their 1956
SC I Hooper (SZB27) saloon.
November / December 2008 THE FLYING LADY 9091
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