Back From Allentown....With Treasure To Boot!

In case you've been wondering where I've been for the past few days (and I know you probably haven't, but let me have my fantasies, okay?), I've been to the annual Allentown 45 & 78 Show held once a year in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Was it worth it? You bet it was!

It took place in a building adjacent to an antique mall (where, as it turns out, I found a few 45s the day before....nothing like getting a head start). It was advertised as 9000 square feet of 45 dealers and they were not kidding! The place was wall-to-wall with dealers, collectors and, of course, loads and loads of 45s. You couldn't tell where to begin let alone if you were going to ever get through them all.

Plus, since I live in Indianapolis, I decided to drive there and the word to describe the trip was "grueling." Now, I'd taken long road trips before so it's not a big deal to me. And going through Ohio was no big deal. It even got prettier once you got a few miles from Columbus.

But Pennsylvania.....oh, man! I had to take the turnpike and while there is some truly spectacular scenery through the Appalachian mountains, there was also a lot of bloody road construction. Or the appearance of it. The state law, as plastered on countless signs, says to keep your headlights on during construction sites. Why? I don't know. Maybe they were afraid I'd hit one of their foremen.

The worst of it, though, was not on the Turnpike, but on I-78, which took you to Allentown. On another road construction site, I noticed that the truck in front of me had come to a complete stop....just in time for me to slam on my breaks! And wouldn't you know it, there was a traffic jam. It was one-way traffic over this bridge over the Schuylkill River. I remained in snail-crawling traffic for almost a half an hour.

But I made it in one piece and I would definitely go again. I met some people I've bought from for a long time (Erik Lindgren, for one) and got a whole pile of cool stuff, which I will now begin to tell you about next time I blog in. Right now, though, it's nap time.