New England is famous for many reasons. Over the years, its inhabitants have given the place a flavor of its own, whether by creating a cream-based soup out of bottom-feeding sea creatures that lend plenty of gastric memories for days afterward or by concocting baked bean recipes with similar consequences; it simply isn't the kind of place that lets you leave without lingering feelings. It just can't, as the people here so often recommend, let you fuhget about it.
This reality, however, holds absolutely no water for the regional planners over at Hot Import Nights. For years, the infamous nocturnal car party ignored New England, although we're sure the reasons were unintentional. Perhaps it's because everyone there pronounces the word car without the last letter, or maybe it's because the cab drivers carry Louisville Sluggers in the front seat in case you ditch on the tip. We're not sure. It could be HIN is afraid of Limeys and still heeds Paul Revere's midnight call that the British are coming, hundreds of years past his warning. What it really comes down to, though, is that HIN is from the West Coast, and you know, it's not so easy to make a W shape with your hand when you're surrounded by hundreds of Conan O'Briens and Matt Damons who want to beat your body into an E.
But most of this, as we learned over the weekend, is baseless rumor. Most of it. At the Bayside Expo Center, a convention center slightly off-course from downtown Cheers, er, Boston, droves and droves of Northeasterners showed their talents in a big way. Driving up from Connecticut and New York, down from New Hampshire and Maine, and over from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the outta-state plates represented plenty of diverse styles and personalities. We actually noticed the plates because a huge trend here is to rework them into the rear bumper, allowing them to sit diagonally and off-center, much like the photography we take. It's subtle, but definitely unique to the area. As is the dyno-torturing RX-7 on the first page of this story, which the owner claims produces beyond 600 hp. We'll bring you the scoop on that one later, if we don't sleep in too much. Another strangely innovative creation we found was a white Honda Civic with a Jaguar-style grille, perhaps a testament to the close proximity of Europe and its influence on this side of the Atlantic. Otherwise, the rather small Bayside Expo Center lent a particular subway-like atmosphere to the event, as it was impossible not to bump shoulders while traversing the aisles because it was just packed to the gills.
But we know what you all want to really find out about-how do East Coast party girls stack up? Well, to be honest, we would have been happier with more in attendance, but at this point we'll take anything we can get. Since we rarely get anything though, our opinion is not a very accurate yardstick. Hey, why don't you just flip the pages to decide for yourself? Do you think HIN should return to the birthplace of Samuel Adams beer? Well, we'll definitely be there, riding the T and risking a vicious mugging or two if you will.
Yeah, we'd like to give it two snaps up and a slap too.
"Moby, Moby, Moby. All they ever wanna hear is Moby."
Suddenly we feel divinely spiritual.
"Hi! Can we borrow a cup of flour? We're baking cookies over here!"