Enjoy your trip. The people are the salt of the earth.
We generally have breakfast at a diner next door (west). They don't accept credit cards so carry cash.
If you are scheduled to have work done in the morning, be sure you are dressed and ready to leave by 7 or so. The guy with the tractor is a notoriously early riser.
You can stay at the Airstream campground which is right next to the service center (I think the east side of the building). If you are having service work done, there is n/c, but if not, I think it was about $10/night.
The tour is a really great thing to do and folks are right, the people at Airstream are wonderful people.
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Computers manufactured by companies such as IBM, Compaq and millions of others are by far the most popular with about 70 million machines in use worldwide. Macintosh fans note that cockroaches are far more numerous than humans and that numbers alone do not denote a higher life form. -NY Times 1991
Just go west out of Jackson Center on the main road - cross the interstate and at the next intersection there's a little bar/restaurant on the left had side that has very good basic food. Fried fish & chicken are both excellent.
JC Pizza a few doors down is pretty good....granted it's no Chicago Style Pizza, but it'lll do!
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Computers manufactured by companies such as IBM, Compaq and millions of others are by far the most popular with about 70 million machines in use worldwide. Macintosh fans note that cockroaches are far more numerous than humans and that numbers alone do not denote a higher life form. -NY Times 1991
We are going to JC for our first pilgrimage this April. Please let us know what it's like, where you stay & eat etc. How exciting!! Have a safe trip!!
As Silvertwinkie mentioned, there is an Airstream campground onsite. Ohio in Mid-February is a wee bit too cold for my tastes...but April should be fine. If you are having work done that will take more than one day, there is a Hampton Inn relatively nearby that is supposed to be nice (but was booked during my stay). I'm staying in Marysville in an AmeriHost which is OK.
pmclemore's "diner next door" (Hobo's) is indeed where I had breakfast. Good food, cheap prices and very welcome after a 6:00am wakeup to get me to Airstream around 7:00.
Morton's (Nortons?) Bar & Grill which is next door to Hobo's provided lunch - perfectly acceptable hamburgers/fries. Going the other way from the factory there is also a newish restaurant, Cafe Somethingortheother that is a more upscale wrap/salad/quiche sort of place.
How about a classic motorhome? One that looks like the trailers?
They did have a pair of skydecks in for service...which were surprisingly attractive. They have the same sort of thing going for them that the space shuttle does - you know it is big, but as you get closer and closer it just keeps getting bigger and bigger and it is only once you are alongside that you realize it truly is enormous.
They also had a 1963 16' Bambi that they are detailing to put in a museum. Louvered glass windows, zipdee exhaust, amazing curves, and a mirror polish - shockingly beautiful.
Have a great time...it is a great tour...I know you will enjoy it!!
It WAS a great tour - the guide was a really good guy and it was facinating to see how they make an Airstream. I heartily recommend the tour to anyone who can make the trip to central Ohio. BTW, the tour is at 2:00pm and lasts about an hour and a half.
Also, three other tidbits...
They started making 'rear entry' Airstreams (the door is toward the rear instead of toward the front) and they are selling like hotcakes. It allows the living room of the larger airstreams to be in the rear where you are more likely to see forest or lake and less likely to see bumpers.
The new european Airstreams are very sweet. Lightweight and with a narrow body, the european trailers look really good - they have a vintage feel. Sadly, there are no plans to sell any of the lightweight/narrowbody designs in the US.
The 20' Safari layout is VERY nice. You get the 'good' bed (placed widthwise under a panoramic window), a dry bath, and an open feeling floorplan.
Well, going back a few years--- to the Airstream Homecoming in 2004, I remember that the restaurant to the immediate west of the Airstream Compound was closed up..... But upon my "re-indoctrination" into Airstreaming, last June, I was pleased to see that the restaurant had reopened again....
Years ago, (circa 1969 to the late 70s) this place used to be called the "Feed Bag"....and i have recollections of eating three meals a day there a few times when Gramps was having warranty work done on his '69 23' Safari. (hmm..) I also remember staying the night inside the trailer right there inside the service dept....that was kinda creepy..... waiting for the service techs to finish their job on the trailer.
You could literally spend a full day touring the entire Airstream facility, the tour of the factory was a small part of what i was involved in... I got as big of a kick out of walking around the lot out back and seeing the different Airstreams and what was being done to them.... There was even ten or more Airstreams in the "Park", next door....
But, one last thing you CAN'T forget---- is to take a short drive east from the plant, and just on the outskirts of town, you will see the brand new headquarters of the WBCCI, on your right.....(across from the soccer field) Make it a point to drop in and say Hi to the ladies... You can see the various different pieces of WBCCI memorabilia there, badge ribbons going all the way back to the 60s or before, and they have a nice assortment of VHS tapes and DVDs there you can view, or borrow.... of past rallies and caravans...
All in all, nice weather or not, there should be way more than enuff to keep you busy and occupied for a FULL day there in JC....
Scott Anderson
Grosse Ile, MI
WBCCI #22426
(formerly #22425 1969-76)
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Scott Anderson Grosse Ile, Mich. 1969 23' Safari Twin WBCCI # 22426 (formerly #22425 1968-76)
When it is my time, I want to go peacefully, And in my sleep.....Just like my Grandfather.... Not screaming, kicking and in a state of panic, like the other passengers in his car were......
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waiting for the service techs to finish their job on the trailer.
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