by Kevin Murphy

The Sunday, October 6th tour out to Deerfield was blessed by the best weather of the year! All the way out and all the way back, top down at low and high speeds.

Mike Sassaman of the Fiat Lancia Unlimited Club was the tour guide. I arrived at the start—a parking lot next to MacDonald’s off Route 495 in Bellingham—and saw Mike with his red ’68 Fiat Dino Spider, an interesting car that came equipped with a Ferrari 206 Dino 6-cylinder engine. I was the last to arrive at a few minutes before 10AM. Already there were two other AONE members—Scott Sciumeca with his black/black ’87 Spider Veloce and Anthony Cocuzzo with his white ’90 Spider. Somehow, Anthony had his two boys, Michael and Matt, tucked into the Spider with him.

We left as a foursome, with no others showing by 10:15, and Mike was anxious to leave to meet up with the Connecticut members of his club at a pre-arranged destination in Ware. After a fuel stop, we had a pleasant journey through Routes 140, 20, 56 and 9 out to Ware. Just before Ware, the suburban small town sprawl opened to soothing farmland and lakeshore vistas, and we could really let the Alfas breathe. It was one of those drives with the top down and the wind in your face when you know what Jim Croce meant when he sang about catching time in a bottle.

Eventually, we pulled into Ware, on time, and waited around for the Connecticut people. It amounted to a wasted half-hour, as it turned out later—they had gotten there five minutes ahead of us, concluded that they must be late, and raced up to Deerfield to catch up with where they thought we were.

Next, we drove through the college town of Amherst, and then connected with Route 116 and proceeded to our destination at Yankee Candle, where we also found the Connecticut group: another Dino, a bunch of 124 Spiders, an X1/9, and a really too-cute 600 Spider that was pink and white inside and out (not to mention small—I would have had to remove the front seat to drive it).

Everyone in our group was starving, so we descended upon the main building of Yankee Candle for a bite. Yes, the Car Museum is gone, replaced with a (sob!) "Yankee Candle Home" section. The museum store is also history, so there is really nothing left there for car people to groove on. The Alfa people and I sat down to eat and told stories of our old rides and rides we always wanted but never had. A prospective new member joined us for the run, driving another car—but at least he’s looking. We wrapped up with a quick look around and headed out (the three Alfas) in caravan up Route 91 and down Route 2, back to eastern environs. A great day for a ride—lets do it again next year!