The 11th annual show is just around the corner.  Check out The York Show's official site HERE to learn more about the show.  Also, I have The York Dispatch article from this past show, available to read HERE, which includes some information about the one of a kind "Critical Mass" pin, which took Eric Selak four and a half years to build.  But wait, there's more!  In addition to this story, I have six others about The York Show, dating back to 2000, featuring hundreds of photos, which you can check out at my Pinball Shows site.

See you at York!  Pingeek

The journey begins. My 1990 Honda Accord, which I bought brand new had to go, unfortunately. It was leaking oil and antifreeze all over the place, was worn out, and never really was the ideal vehicle for hauling pins. Now a Dodge Caravan on the other hand, once you remove the seats, ditch them in the basement....:) 

This year I got a late start. Normally, around 4 am, I'm on the road blaring "Don't Look Back," one of my favorite albums, eh, cd's of all time.  This time, however, I had to stop at the post office to ship some dvds at the last minute, so I wasn't out of Richmond until around 9 am, which will never happen again.  Nothing like driving in rush hour between 64 East and 95 North, trying to get out of town.  The goal here, is to be past 495, cruising up 83 North, chillin' at Denny's or Mickey D's in York, PA by around 7 am or shortly thereafter.   

Fortunately, I loaded up the van the day before!  Some junk, I mean, uh, goodies I was hauling to the show included....a Williams "21" pinball machine, a Zultan fortune teller, possibly a backglass on the left, my trusty Bogen tripod, which I've used since 1989, and something I had packed to ship out, perhaps a board, but the person said at the last minute they were picking this up at the show. 

 Oops!  Got a playfield of a hard to find 60's Williams pin exposed to the light. How to fix that?  

A sheet of cardboard solved that problem.  This playfield was near mint, even sitting for a while in a warehouse without a playfield glass! No way that sucker was catching any rays.  The head of this game was wedged in tight, and wasn't going anywhere.  Notice the blanket wedged between the body and the head of the game. This pin was going to somebody that really wanted this game bad, so I was more than happy to bring it to the show at no charge, rather than deal with a shipping company. 

I arrived around 1 pm in York, PA.  This is an intersection on Arsenal Road, just off 83 North. Was somebody using their cell phone while they were driving? This was the weekend of Friday the 13th, so I guess anything was possible.  I took this pic in the parking lot of Weis Market, just after getting my groceries.  Notice that the van held up much better than the SUV thing or whatever that was.  

Steve Miller was in town that weekend.

York has lots of old family owned restaurants all over town.  Brandon Spencer, a York show regular, knows the area well, since he is from here.  He said I had to try Lee's Diner, located on Route 30 West, heading towards Gettysburg.

This is one of those old classic American diners, and unlike many throughout the USA, this one is open!  This is a great place to stop for breakfast. It's only a few miles from the fairgrounds.

The Chicken Shack just down the street, now that's a different story. Was it me, or did the boarded up look make you not feel welcome?

The boarded up doors didn't look too inviting either.

Oh wait, it's closed.

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