Lots of folks were getting in on the excitement Saturday in Pilot Mountain as the town hosted Hot Night, Hot Cars. Organizers said that Saturday was “a perfect day for a cruise in. Great weather, great people, great music with The Entertainers, great downtown shopping and great food.”
There was a good crowd in attendance in the late afternoon, early evening, after the band had taken the stage. Driving into Pilot Mountain for the cruise in, there were still cars on haulers heading into the downtown area for the event — where they managed to park at that time is another discussion for another time.
On stage the band was ripping through classic beach music favorites as dancers made their moves and listeners tapped their toes. Nearby folks waited in a line for cobbler, a line so long it seem to suggest, “Maybe we should try to get this cobbler in July a little earlier in the evening than this.”
Close to the stage from which The Entertainers performed, there were several hundred people who brought lawn chairs and formed a semi-circle in front of the stage — leaving a good chunk of real estate available for dancing — and dance they did.
Wendy Kehley of Ararat, Virginia, said The Entertainers were “fantastic” and based on the number of people who were cutting a rug in front of the stage on South Depot Street as they played, she was not alone in that opinion. Sometimes at events such as these a dancing couple or two may get up, but Saturday there were times that the dance “floor” was full of those dancing and shagging the night away.
Kim Quinn runs Main Street Coffee in Pilot Mountain and wrote that the cruise in is a favorite event for both her and the staff. “Hot Nights, Hot Cars is our best event for the coffee shop. Year after year, my staff has grown to love working on cruise-in day.”
“It’s the only event that they ask to work the night shift, so they experience the madness of the cruise in. But what I really think the experience is about is teamwork and friendship. It’s the one event we all get to work together and see how strong we are together,” she said of Saturday’s cruise in that brought throngs of folks to downtown Pilot Mountain.
Up on Main Street there were differing agendas as to what people were in town for. Some had their cars parked along the main drag and many had their hoods up to allow inspection of the engine block or to show off some modification they are proud of.
Others took the “cruise in” aspect of the event to heart and were driving their cars up and down Main Street, sometimes playing a song a little louder than normal to draw attention or revving a souped-up engine to do the same.
In parking lots there was a smattering of more cars to see as one walked from Stevens Street down to Academy Street, it all depended on which corner one went around as what may be found.
With cars to be seen, heard, and at times smelled coupled with food trucks, and The Entertainers doing a long set on stage — Hot Nights, Hot Cars on Saturday was a successful draw for downtown Pilot Mountain.
This was the second of six such cruise ins Pilot Mountain will be hosting over the summer. Coming next on July 6 will be Gary Lowder and Smokin’ Hot followed by Blackwater Band on August 3. The Extraordinaries take the stage of Sept. 7 and The Tonez wrap it up with the final cruise in on Oct. 5.
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