Mid Summer's Night Dream

Ya'll in the South might be planning your next A Body ride in the country but today I'm waiting for the wind to die down so I can snow blow the drive again. 8 days in a row clearing the drive and sidewalk. Hopefully the temp will get above 15* today and the state plow won't have buried the end of my drive.
I've been doing some daydreaming while watching the birds at my feeder and wondered how and when the Friday and Saturday night cruises of my day (mid to late 60's) turned into the cruises of today. I would leave home about an hour before dusk, pick up my girl if she wasn't grounded and head for State St. The rout was about 3 miles long and there were pass throughs at A&W, Red Barn, McDonald's, The Dog House and at the far end of town was Morgans KFC. McD's and Morgan's had speed bumps and it was an art to slowly pull up to the bump and bounce over with just a blip of throttle and slowly let the rears touch the bump. To get the rears over most would chose a slight chirp or sometimes a bit more to finish the process. You had to be careful or the restaurant manager would call the local cops and that could spoil your evening. Anyway the 3 mile process would continue all evening until you met up with a friend or one of your girl's friends and then there was an equally slow process of backing into the perfect spot so everyone could get out and talk. Sometimes 5 or 6 cars would be together American Graffiti style and all would tune to the same radio station and party a bit. The restaurant wouldn't complain if you bought a coke or a $.35 burger but generally if there was parking for the paying crowd you didn't even have to buy anything. Unlike today where the cars are highly restored classics the normal ride was probably Dad's work car or maybe an old junker you and your buddies got running so you could get to school without walking. There were those hotrods guys around and racing was pretty common but normally light to light stuff and rarely did anyone get above 60 or so. One of my friends had a 64 Catalina 389 he bought from his uncle, he pulled the intake and put 2 fours on it and headers with cutouts. Pretty cool ride and fast for a huge car. In the summer of 1970 I moved on to the racing crowd with my new 340 Swinger. She was a real fast 4 speed with 3.23 gears and Ram Air. I challenged and beat some Camaros and Chevelles some Mustangs and even Mopar B bodies. My best friend had a 70 Cuda 340 and another good friend had a 69 Swinger 340. We rarely raced each other but it was always a toss up as to who would win.
Those were the good days and we were a lot happier than sitting in lawn chairs behind your carefully prepared vintage piece as some cruisers do today. We can all dream and wish it was 1970 again and there was a race about to happen or your girl was in an amorous mood and well you get the idea.
It's time for lunch and then get the blower out of the garage again. Have a happy and prosperous and safe new year and take time to reminisce once in a while.
Jerry