Obligatory Complaining About Dream Cruise Thread

**CLAUDE G** · August-15-10, 12:38 AM

Here is my little rant...

First of all this whole event is over rated, its gotten too big over the years. What has really got me sick is that for all the people who own property along woodward this has been nothing more than a big money grab, with the high prices of parking, vendor space, and even renting out spots to sit and see the cruise.

Then to make matters worse, the businesses along Gratiot got jealous and now we got the Gratiot cruise to deal with also.

The money part pisses me off, but if you need to go up that way 2-3 days before to do any business its impossible to get through all the traffic.

This was susposed to be something that was free, and its getting worse than attending a baseball game with all the people selling you crap, and charging for parking.

**jtf1972** · August-15-10, 12:57 AM

Originally Posted by smogboy

$100 bucks to fill your tank? It'd better be more like an M1 Abrams for that price. Even at $3 a gallon [[which the service stations might very well jack it up to gouge us with), you'd be filling a pretty hefty 33+ gallon tank.

People exaggerate when complaining. :P

I have to laugh a little every time I hear how my kid's mother loves to drive in the "Dream Cruise" in her late 90's Toyota [[or whatever the hell that POS generic Japanese sedan is.)

9mile&seneca · August-15-10, 08:46 AM

Originally Posted by Fury13

11) Too many damn Chevys!

Well... you have to have a vehicle that is actually intact after 30 or so years...

**English** · August-15-10, 10:09 AM

I've never been. Either I've been out of town, or at Hart Plaza for the African World Festival. But I'd love to go.

I can't relate to metro Detroiters who don't like cars or find them boring. Even if I don't know what I'm looking at, I love a beautifully preserved classic car. After my sister's wedding yesterday, her new husband's dad loaned his wonderfully preserved 1970s-era convertible to the newlyweds. Couldn't tell you any of the details, not even the make or model, but it made for a perfect getaway vehicle. Much better than a limo.

**oldredfordette** · August-15-10, 10:57 AM

Drive down to Woodward right now, English. The damn things are everywhere.

**luckycar** · August-15-10, 12:51 PM

We're going out tonite.Oldredfordette,want to come along?

**Jimaz** · August-15-10, 01:23 PM

Are there any webcams? I couldn't find one on WoodwardDreamCruise.com/.

**EMG** · August-15-10, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by English

I can't relate to metro Detroiters who don't like cars or find them boring. Even if I don't know what I'm looking at, I love a beautifully preserved classic car.

Just living in or having been raised in the Detroit area doesn't automatically confer a "car loving" gene, contrary to popular belief. [[If there is, I missed out on it). It's just a personal interest/taste that some people have and others don't. I'm a classical music lover - but I can fully understand how my wife, who does NOT share that interest, doesn't have any more appreciation of the finer details of the Sarabande from Bach's Fifth French Suite than I do of the fender style of an auto built 35 years before I was born. I'd be just as bored sitting around watching a car parade as she would be attending a harpsichord concerto.

My own opinion of the cruise is - it's great for the people who are interested in it, but in that same vein it really ought to be relegated to someplace like the State Fair Grounds or even a speedway track of some sort, so that the fans could go enjoy it and the non-fans who live, work, and run errands along Woodward, Gratiot, etc. would not be burdened with it. IMHO there is just no excuse for shutting down major thoroughfares for any reason other than 1) life and death emergencies or 2) necessary maintenance and reconstruction. Recreational events can and should be held in off-road areas reserved for such things.

**ja!mz** · August-16-10, 04:48 AM

Its fun to remember when Detroit made things and actually mattered.

**jackie5275** · August-16-10, 09:28 AM

My brother & sister-in-law just moved out of Ferndale in the spring. They had lived right near Woodward & 8 Mile in the neighborhood that backs up to the cemetary on Woodward. They could watch the Cruise from their backyard if they wanted. At first, it was cool for them. Gradually it got worse. It became such a nightmare for them. My SIL worked at Beaumont in Royal Oak and had to find ways through the neighborhoods to get to work avoiding Woodward. People looking to park on their street. The final indignation for them was when some cruiser watchers from out of the area claimed their spot at the cemetary and camped out there overnight.

**Warrenite84** · August-16-10, 09:33 AM

I am definitely going with my 1960 Chevy Impala post sedan. Yes, parking stinks but if you want to cruise, do it now or early on Saturday. My parking fee limit is $25 with bathroom access, [[when I can find one). Yes I go every year. If you can't stand the cruise, there's a million other places to be that day. How about the Greenfield Village or a Metropark?

My cruising choice in the 80's was Gratiot on Fridays and Saturdays.

**Johnlodge** · August-16-10, 09:38 AM

Originally Posted by jackie5275

My brother & sister-in-law just moved out of Ferndale in the spring. They had lived right near Woodward & 8 Mile in the neighborhood that backs up to the cemetary on Woodward. They could watch the Cruise from their backyard if they wanted. At first, it was cool for them. Gradually it got worse. It became such a nightmare for them. My SIL worked at Beaumont in Royal Oak and had to find ways through the neighborhoods to get to work avoiding Woodward. People looking to park on their street. The final indignation for them was when some cruiser watchers from out of the area claimed their spot at the cemetary and camped out there overnight.

It's amazing how I can live in Ferndale and am barely affected by it, but somehow for other people it's a horror that forces them to move.

My SIL worked at Beaumont in Royal Oak and had to find ways through the neighborhoods to get to work avoiding Woodward.

I find Coolidge is handy for that, being that it runs straight from Ferndale/Oak Park to Beaumont. There are also a few other North/South roads in metro Detroit, I think. Don't quote me on that though, they may all run East/West.

**fryar** · August-16-10, 07:59 PM

I'm personally very Meh! about the Dream Cruise, but you can damn well bet if I kept an old roadster around as a hobby vehicle or whatever, I'd totally be there, and I agree that a well-maintained old-to-antique car is a fabulous thing.

Well, but of course it's a shame that it doesn't travel all the way to Jefferson. Notwithstanding the miles of blight between Ferndale and Midtown and possibly the impracticality of that area hosting the Dream Cruise, it would be nicely unifying for the region.

And, dude, let me tell you, during the summers, people used to come out of the woodwork and drive their old clunkers up and down Woodward in downtown for - get this - fun on weekend nights when I still lived there [[2005-8) for hours, tying up traffic. Dream Cruise or no Dream Cruise, people were out showing off their lowriders with big old goofy oversized wheels, weirdly overpowered hydraulics, and whatnot. In my mind, there's plenty of scope for a suburban-cum-urban Dream Cruise, in between the many old-timers in their old-timers and the numerous lowriders in their lowriders.

Because it would counter the regional fractionalization, not only because they both move a little slower [[ba-da-da-da-da ba-da-da-da).

**Jimaz** · August-16-10, 08:58 PM

Originally Posted by fryar

Because it would counter the regional fractionalization, not only because they both move a little slower [[ba-da-da-da-da ba-da-da-da).

Lookee what I found: War-Low rider [[soul train). With Japanese subtitles no less!

**fryar** · August-16-10, 09:05 PM

Why can't we [[Dream Cruisers and Low Riders) be friends?

**smogboy** · August-17-10, 12:28 AM

Originally Posted by fryar

Well, but of course it's a shame that it doesn't travel all the way to Jefferson.

Can you imagine Jefferson in front of the RenCen full of cool classic cars or some crazy armada of cool GM rides? I think that would be an impressive sight.

**alangbr** · August-17-10, 06:58 AM

Unfortunately I live a block from Woodward. I could care less about the dream cruise and the people who have to have it. What does make me mad is that if I took a pos car with a broken muffler to one of their neighborhoods and started doing burnouts and making enough noise to raise the dead, just how fast would they be complaining about me. Some people do have jobs to go to early in the AM and being kept awake half the night by these morons is getting really old.

DC48080 · August-17-10, 07:23 AM

Originally Posted by fryar

And, dude, let me tell you, during the summers, people used to come out of the woodwork and drive their old clunkers up and down Woodward in downtown for - get this - fun on weekend nights when I still lived there [[2005-8) for hours, tying up traffic. Dream Cruise or no Dream Cruise, people were out showing off their lowriders with big old goofy oversized wheels, weirdly overpowered hydraulics, and whatnot. In my mind, there's plenty of scope for a suburban-cum-urban Dream Cruise, in between the many old-timers in their old-timers and the numerous lowriders in their lowriders.

I believe that is called the HOODward Cruise.

**fryar** · August-17-10, 07:45 AM

Rofl, dc48080

EastSider · August-17-10, 07:59 AM

Originally Posted by oldredfordette

People do pee in the bushes and puke everywhere. 100% fact.

Have fun, Lurleen and Cletus. I'm going out of town. Don't forget to brush your tooth.

I wonder how many of the Lurleens and Cletuses are either your union brothers and sisters who built those cars on the line or their children.

Solidarity forever!

**johnsmith** · August-17-10, 08:12 AM

Originally Posted by EastSider

I wonder how many of the Lurleens and Cletuses are either your union brothers and sisters who built those cars on the line or their children.

Solidarity forever!

I'm just glad that Lurleen and Cletus pee and puke all over her side of town and leave mine 100% puke and pee free.

LodgeDodger · August-17-10, 08:48 AM

It's a part of our heritage. Get over it.

bartock · August-17-10, 08:54 AM

Originally Posted by smogboy

Can you imagine Jefferson in front of the RenCen full of cool classic cars or some crazy armada of cool GM rides? I think that would be an impressive sight.

You can get a slightly different version of that on Jefferson between 375 and the Belle Isle Bridge on any decent weekend night in the summer.

bartock · August-17-10, 09:02 AM

Originally Posted by jackie5275

My brother & sister-in-law just moved out of Ferndale in the spring. They had lived right near Woodward & 8 Mile in the neighborhood that backs up to the cemetary on Woodward. They could watch the Cruise from their backyard if they wanted. At first, it was cool for them. Gradually it got worse. It became such a nightmare for them. My SIL worked at Beaumont in Royal Oak and had to find ways through the neighborhoods to get to work avoiding Woodward. People looking to park on their street. The final indignation for them was when some cruiser watchers from out of the area claimed their spot at the cemetary and camped out there overnight.

Are you saying that your family moved out of Ferndale because of this once a year event, a slight inconvenience of having to take the next n/s road west of Woodward 5 miles to work, and one time experience with people they noticed camping out at a graveyard? Wow, what utopia had they moved to Ferndale from?

**Lowell** · August-17-10, 09:35 AM

I'm kind of divided on the cruise. I enjoy some of the vintage, like last year when I was dining at Howe's Bayou in Ferndale and an amazing procession of old police cars, fire trucks and ambulances passed by. The sheer number of old vehicles is simply amazing. Where are they the rest of the year? It is as if they appear by magic.

On the downside, the emissions from this event are horrible, particular when the traffic slows or grinds to a halt. Many of the old cars are just that, old cars, and emit excessive exhaust and were not that good even when new -- burn in and blow it out the back, no catalytic converters or emission controls. I am sure many of them require lead additives as they were built for the now absent leaded gasoline.

I'm glad I don't live nearby or have to use Woodward during what has become a two week event but it is so Detroit and fun to see.