Summer Nationals

The tell-tale signs of July Fourth (for those of us who drive around the city all day) are the preparations made for the Summer Nationals. It begins with the saw-horses being put up on the Concord Street end of the tunnel under Lincoln Square. It's the first pain in the neck that occurs with this event.

But don't get me wrong, I'm as big a fan of the eardrum bursting sounds of engines nearly red-lining, and the tortured rubber spinning on the pavement as anyone. I have a lot of respect for anyone who can do all the work involved to reach that apex of adrenaline-soaked, testosterone-infused unleashing of all that power over the course of a few short seconds.

On the Crown Plaza Hotel side of the beginning of Main Street, another tell-tale sign of the event is the lining up of portable stadium-style seating along the side of the road. Sometime tomorrow, the real work will begin on closing down that end of Main Street, along with half the lanes at the beginning of Worcester Center Boulevard (if they haven't re-named that street, yet).

Getting through Lincoln Square onto or off of that short stretch of the Boulevard will be something to avoid, once they get this process moving.

I expect that the rubber will begin burning in the tunnel sometime tomorrow, too, since tomorrow is the "night before the fourth" and the whole Fourth of July thing will be getting underway for fireworks, T&A watching, hot dogs, and Speedy Burgers up on the hill.

Yup, the Summer Nationals has had a Speedy Burger stand up in the middle of Green Hill every year that I can remember. There's a particularly nostalgic feeling that you can get by paying the admission fee for the park, walking all that way from the parking lot to the middle of the show, and buying a genuine Speedy Burger... (I hope they're planning to be there this year...)

It'll be the most expensive hamburger you ever bought, once you add in the price of admission.

But those burgers were SO good!

Some years, I've driven up onto Channing Street, parked the car, paid the admission, and walked the half mile or so down into the park, bought a Speedy Burger, and then wandered around looking at the pretty cars and the pretty women, while I enjoyed my burger.

Fast Food, Fast Cars, and Fast Women!

It's a classic combination.