Mid Summer's Night Dream
Hey Jerry -
Your "back in the day" east coast cruisin' sounds like how it was here in SoCal.
Our hot spot was Whittier Blvd just a few miles from where I lived. It was about the same cruise distance centered around Bob's Big Boy in Whittier. Almost bumper-to-bumper cruisin' traffic both east and west. You'd make the cruise east, turn around and head back west. Once you got back to Bob's Big Boy, you'd have to wait in line to get into their parking lot and then hope to get a good spot to park. If you found a spot in their parking lot you could get out of your car and hang out with your friends. If no spot in the lot, you'd have to park in the car hop area and stay in your car.
Then back out for more laps around the cruise route.
Any racing was done away from the cruise spot - and usually much later in the night. The International Brotherhood of Street Racers (Big Willie's bunch) would meet after midnight down at York Field in Whittier and races were organized there, but didn't happen there. Races took place at industrial areas like the "Box Factory" or in yet-to-be-built-up areas like Diamond Bar (now solid residential) a few miles away.
Good times for sure!
