As far back as I can remember, one night every year, at the end of January, my dad would take me to the Philadelphia Auto Show. When I got older, friends would join in on the trip, but we have photo albums filled with shots of the early years, when it was just me and my dad wandering around and checking out all the cool cars.
Last year, Ben seemed to enjoy his first trip to the auto show, but he was pretty little. I figured this year he would have a lot more fun with the cars, and who better to join us than Poppop! And just like that, we had a guys night out! (You can click here to see photos.)
So three generations of us guys piled into Daddy’s car and headed over to the city (‘Philadelphia!’ Ben exclaimed, and he also could tell you we were crossing the Delaware River!) Ben was excited the whole car ride over, and after winding our way up through the parking garage it was time to head over to the big show. We wheeled Ben into the building in his stroller, but once inside he was ready to jump out and get started. I had packed his monkey backpack (whose tail doubles as a leash) to help keep Ben close as we wandered around. Unfortunately, as we entered, Ben informed me that he was ‘too sweaty’ to wear his monkey backpack, and that he wasn’t ready yet. It turned out to not be too crowded, and Ben was being very well-behaved, so the three of us walked through the door into the giant room filled with shiny cars of all shapes and sizes.
Ben took notice of the carpet that looked like a winding street right away, and was eager to follow the road where ever it took us. Upon taking a first look around, Ben told us that “This place is crazy!” And then we were off, charting a course among the maze of cars. Ben was determined to find a red car to buy Nana (she told him she wanted a red one before we left.)
I think our first stop was Toyota and Ben felt the need to try on every single model for size (sometimes even different colors of the same model!) Sometimes, he would climb in the back seat and tell Daddy and Poppop to sit up front, at other times, he would slide behind the wheel and instruct us to get in the back, telling us he was going to drive us home. All the while, Ben was like a little old man, kicking the tires on a prospective buy…he would flip all the switches, push all the buttons, tilt all of the sun visors, and explore every nook and cranny of each car. It was pretty hilarious.
For the next couple of hours we laughed and played in every conceivable kind of car. Ben made sure to point out all the red ones (at one point he turned and asked us “Which one are we gonna bring home for Nana?”) Ben had a blast, and Poppop and I had fun watching him enjoy himself. He really seemed excited by the cars, which made Daddy proud. Plus, Ben was so well-behaved that we never really needed the backpack/leash anyway. I think one of my favorite moments was as I was hanging back, following Poppop and Ben as we walked. Poppop lead the way, strolling along with his hands in his pockets, and there was Ben, a few steps behind…one hand in his pocket, following and checking things out like a cool little man. I couldn’t help grinning to myself at the two of them.
Finally, we came to the last display, and it was time to head home. We had made it through the entire show, climbed into countless cars, and we were all a bit worn out. Ben tried asking for a snack, but at four dollars for a soft pretzel I was able to convince him to wait for home. Of course it wouldn’t be an adventure without some sort of misadventure, and so Daddy and Poppop chose the wrong exit and almost got lost on the way out. Eventually we made it back to our car and were driving home, but we had to laugh as Ben recounted the ordeal from the backseat (“And we went out the wrong door, and it wasn’t the right place, and Poppop said ‘Oh no, this isn’t good!’). He was too funny, babbling on about it from his car seat. Growing up, we always had a running joke, when ever our Dad would make a mistake, we would all chime in “Wrong again Dad!” (Needless to say, he gave us plenty of memorable moments to shout this out), but I have a bad feeling that I just laid the groundwork for Ben to carry on the tradition with me!
All in all, it was an awesome night with just us guys and all of those cars. I think the three of us bonded on some sort of manly level, and we definitely created some lasting memories, especially for Ben. Hopefully, he will grow up and look back thankfully on those annual trips to the car show with his dad, just like I do with mine. To see pictures of some of our fun, click here. See you next week!








