Back To The Bricks

Saturday, I went with Dad and the little’s to Back to the Bricks, a classic car show in downtown Flint.  This is something of a tradition that started several years back with Dad, Jay and I, but Jay’s schedule has made it so that he usually misses the show.  I already know what you’re thinking.  A car show in the middle of downtown Flint?  Um no!  All I say is hear me out on this and then you can say what you want.

Years ago, Flint was a thriving city thanks to General Motors, but when GM left the area leaving a few spots open, they took the jobs with them.  Flint, along with Detroit and other spots in Michigan, was hit extremely hard and is slowly coming back.  When most people hear about Flint, it’s usually nothing positive and to me it’s not fair.  Due to the crime rate, lack of jobs and an overall negative image, this city has been forgotten about over the years.

As the four of us were walking through the streets looking at all of the cars that people brought out to show off, Dad and I were amazed by how many people came out and how the show has grown over the years.  Almost everywhere we turned, there was a vendor or two promoting their business and this was not the case even last year.  To me, it seemed like the city of Flint pulled out all the stops for this.  There were now more restaurants and stores open, which was beautiful to me.   What got me was the amount of people that come out for this show.  To this city and surrounding areas, this show isn’t just a show, but The Show.  Almost a way of life.  This city, no matter the race or background, comes together for a classic car show to support this area and each other. 

While we were telling Mom about it over dinner, Hillary said, “You know, I usually don’t like cars, but going to this show is always fun.”  And she’s right.  One may not necessarily like cars and even the idea of going to a car show puts them to sleep, but this car show has something for everyone.  It may be the cars, the music, seeing what the different vendors have or just walking around the downtown area to see the new changes.   I feel like if Flint put together more events like this that encouraged the city to come together, more people would see how far the city has come and maybe change their attitude toward this area. 

If Saturday hadn’t been the last day of the show, I would have encouraged anyone reading this to check it out to not only to see the cars (although that is the best part), but to see how beautiful the downtown area really is.  Despite this little tidbit, I would still recommend checking out the area.  Plenty of restaurants, shops, the University of Michigan Flint and museums are definitely worth checking out.