A recent crisp and bright December day delivered conditions that brought the big cat heart of my XK120 Jaguar to full roar. With the Jaguar feasting on the cool air and eager to run, Elaine and I had set out to visit an amazing and still thriving remnant of American Revolutionary War history, a three-century old Public House and America’s oldest tavern, “The Old 76 House.” I found it amusingly ironic to be behind the wheel of a very much alive piece of later day British automotive history. Once again the British were coming. My journey would travel routes once traversed by General George Washington at a pivotal time in American history when the battle for independence hung uneasily in the balance.

Now, join Elaine and me as we break bread with ghosts of the American Revolution.

Driving to history, Visiting America’s oldest tavern and the man who saved it

During the later colonial period, taverns served as the powerful pumping heart of Revolutionary fervor leading up to and during America’s War of Independence. Two of the most famous of these taverns, Fraunces Tavern in New York City and The Old 76 House in Tappan, New York, remain in operation today. Both have been operated by members of the Norden family. For a number of years Robert Norden oversaw Fraunces Tavern and for the past 37-years his son, Robb has owned and operated The Old 76 House.

The significance of the tavern or “public house” in colonial American history evidences itself in the central role it played in community formation. For a land patent (think of today’s incorporation) to be granted for the formation of a new town, e.g. Tappan, New York in 1686, the town actually had to have pre-existed as a town for one generation. The existence of a public house stood as a requisite feature central to a town’s formation, much like the role a grain of sand plays in the formation of a pearl. Colonial Tappan like its Mid-Hudson Valley brethren of communities featured a predominately Dutch and German population. Decidedly anti-British, they rejected the idea of using the British term public house or pub in their new community. Tavern instead would be their choice. And across America that tradition lives on today. In 1686 the site that would become the Old 76 House […]

A recent Drivin’ News story, “When the collection outlives the collector,” resonated with a broad spectrum of readers. Its theme focused on the challenges facing adult sisters charged with disposing of their recently deceased father’s collection of distressed classic Cadillac cars and piles of associated parts.

Much of the feedback focused on the need for a collector to organize and preferably simplify the contents of a collection in advance of the time when it gets passed on.

Inspired by the research of Drivin’ News friend and “avid car guy,” Rocco Scotellaro, Drivin’ News will explore channels available for collectors to dispose of their collection’s contents. The word “dispose” may seem a rude assessment in contrast to the more positive “sell.” Unfortunately, while most classic car pieces and parts have a value, the market for some items associated with classic cars especially pre-war cars may be melting out of the population. For the sake of one’s progeny, information about purpose and worth can be invaluable.

With that said, Drivin’ News explores managing down a collection.

How to manage down a classic car collection.

Mr. Doan and his collection being auctioned by VanDerBrink Auctions

Disposal of classic car parts, pieces and print materials presents a daunting task even for the collector who knows what his collection contains. Thus, avenues for clearing out parts and pieces will be the focus of this article. For a discussion of the sales channels for complete and running vehicles, readers can refer to the October 14, 2021 Drivin’ News story, “Comparing classic car sales platforms.”

The plight of the four LaFronz sisters featured in the Cadillac story hit home for both the younger readers who might be on the receiving end of a collection and the not so young audience members (You are not going to catch me calling my friends old) who find themselves staring at piles of vintage car parts accrued, often times, over decades. In hearing the sisters’ story, younger potential collection recipients can envision the painful loss of a parent complicated by the daunting task of disposing of items for which they have neither an interest in keeping nor a knowledge of their value. For older collectors, with most residing in an age bracket frequented by grandparents, the task of planning for the disposal of their collection presents the potential for […]

The allure of blue highways in many ways draws its power from the potential to discover unexpected cultural treasures along the twists and turns of less traveled byways. On a recent journey I found one.

It certainly offered the most understated of promotional roadside signage, even for the blue highways of Western Virginia. “OPEN” read the flapping flag next to a narrow road that climbed into a dense forest. However, for me its simplicity generated an irresistible draw. Turning off the highway put Elaine and me at the bottom of a steep narrow road that snaked up a hillside and, with a sharp hairpin to the right, twisted out of sight.

I would soon learn that this serpentine climb would lead to the century old Wood Ridge Farm in Woods Mill, Virginia, now, battling to survive the forces of our modern world with a brilliant strategy devised at the intersection of cold reality and the genius of its fourth generation owner.

Meet Barry Wood the visionary owner of the 300-acre home of the Wood Ridge Brewery and so much more.

Saving the farm. Barry Wood’s beach club on the Blue Ridge

Cresting the steep climb we faced a broad expanse of land rich with plowed fields and traditional farm buildings and equipment. Unexpectedly, integrated into this bucolic setting resided structures and features that were anything but traditional farm trappings. I resolved to meet the owner and ask, “What’s your story?”

I pulled into an open space in a large parking field filled with cars and dusty pickup trucks that worked for a living. All pointed towards a rough hewn, pin light adorned, handsome log building. It stood two stories high with open decks overlooking a sandy expanse filled with tropical trees and foliage.

Wood Ridge Farm Brewery, alive at night

Elaine and I walked in to be immersed in a beach-like party atmosphere with a live sound track from the stage and the competitive banter from the corn hole competition in process. Pretty young women holding beers socializing with attentive young men blended with families herding kids and dogs, retired couples and milling family groups. A genial mix surrounded the good natured competition on the corn hole courts. Others drifted along sandy trails edged with tropical flowers, banana trees and palm trees. Paths to the left led […]