I truly believe in buying Made in America Products. I support local business as much as I can, be it local food, Manufactured in the US products, buy from small businesses in my community. Cars have- for some reason- been the exception for years. I was a Volvo driver when Katie was a baby, and then stuck with Volvo for years, especially after my Volvo saved both of our lives when we were in a front end collision….. Our Mermaid Cottages Island Car is the 25 year old Volvo Station Wagon that was Katie’s first car and is still running great! The pictures above show the Island Car with Mary Lou.
A few years ago, I traded my Volvo for a Land Rover- a car I’d always thought I wanted. You know, car of the royal family, riding around the suburban streets of Atlanta thinking I was really on a safari in Africa, I totally bought into the marketing package !But after three years of the car constantly being in the shop and being a gas guzzler ,I purchased a Honda CRV. My dear friend Penny Paxton ( of the self portrait blog entry this summer with her Bellamy Murphy rooster piece of art!) has driven Honda’s for years and loved the CRV. I’m now on my 2nd CRV and am waiting till Honda comes out with a Hybrid CRV and then I’ll be set for ever. Seriously- I’ve already talked to Honda and they’re staying it’s still a few years away, but is in the works.
Honda is not one of the big 3 Car Companies, but a vibrant part of American Business. Best of all , they make really, really good cars, that don’t use alot of gas, last a long time and are just a pleasure to drive. Go to www.honda.com/america/ for more details on how they conduct themselves.
Which brings me to point for this blog. Just like with Sarah Palin and the Turkey Slaughter Episode in Alaska ( I truly don’t know if I can eat Turkey this Thanksgiving…..) where were the very highly paid PR people when the Big 3 EACH took their separate Corporate Jets to DC……
Here’s the suggestion I heard Scott Simon share from NPR’s Weekend Saturday and as someone who personally loves Road Trips- I thought this was brilliant!
He suggested what they SHOULD have done is all shared a Hybrid Car and driven the 9 hours from Detroit to DC on one tank of gas…… They would have driven through all the areas of our country that rely on the jobs the US Auto Industry creates, could have stopped along the way at small town road side restaurants and talked to the people who’s jobs have been affected and even done Podcasts from the road. Then pulled up in from of the Capital and held a big press conference to talk more about their trip and their need for the $25 Billion Loan and explain to the public directly ( not in front of Congress) why this was so crucial to the entire country. Pretty good huh! Visit http://www.npr.org/ and then go to Weekend Edition Saturday and you can hear the whole show .
Unfortunately that’s not what they did and last night’s SNL did another brilliant satire of their meeting before Congress this week.
I hope we can help save this industry, I hope they can come up with a very detailed plan on why and how they’d use the money, I hope someday I can buy a hybrid car from one of these American Companies that runs as well, is as maintenance free as my Honda. But until then, I will keep supporting a car company that has been in the US since the 1950’s and has taken car innovation to new levels.
Speaking of Road Trips- I’m off today on my next road trip- heading to the Outer Banks of North Carolina to spend Thanksgiving with friends. We’re staying in a Vacation Rental in Corolla, NC so I’ll be experiencing the holidays like so many of you all this year! Looking forward to reporting back on my vacation rental experience! I always enjoy seeing the vacation world from my guests perspective, this always reminds me how important a great website and lots of information is to all of you! Stay tuned!
