Solomons Seen: Jeepers

Last week Solomons Island hosted a number of Plein Air artists and I noted their sense of community. On that same “community” theme, the inaugural Tiki Trek & Jeep Show event sponsored by Patriotic JeepsSupporting Public Safety (PJSPS) and the Tiki Bar was held yesterday. There were tons of jeeps on view vying for prizes in several categories, but the bigger picture was again one of community.

The non-profit PJSPS connects creates events for jeeps with the express intent of raising money for Public Safety organizations. Yesterday’s event was raising funds for the Calvert Advanced Life Support Team.

I had a chance to talk to a few of the folks at the event and found them very willing to talk about their community. The SOMD Jeepers were well represented. This is a FaceBook based club for jeep enthusiasts that has no hierarchy and no dues. I spoke to one (of the 1400+ members) and gathered a few good comments that speak to the code these folks live by. A few other clubs were out too – Pasadena and Chesapeake were two that I noted.

The guy I spoke to was confident that should he ever break down on the side of the road there would be other jeepers there in a heartbeat to lend a hand. It felt like the musketeers in a way – One for All and All for One. Another story was of, well I’ll call it an intervention. It’s always a good idea to have a designated driver, or a plan to get home when you may have indulged a little too much. The tale is of a club member that shouldn’t be driving home, so his buddy hitched up a trailer and went and not only picked up his friend, but also towed his rig home as well. NOW THAT’S COOL!!

Many of the jeeps had names and or emblems on them that were fantastic. A few had custom plates as well. A husband and wife team had two jeeps – Jekyll and Hyde. How awesome is that!

There were plenty of Wranglers of all varieties – most prevalent were the Rubicons. There were Saharas and Willy’s, and a couple old Cherokees. The WJ (newer Cherokee) really caught my attention – it was the only one in the crowd and I admired its uniqueness. There were even a Liberty and a Patriot – though I’m not as much of a fan. Prince Frederick Jeep even brought down a new Renegade. If you want to see some heavily modified rigs and talk running boards, lights and winches this was the place to be today.

lining up for Grill Sargent BBQ

The gloomy day didn’t dampen the spirits of this crowd, there was a country duo playing near the front of the Tiki Bar, and Grill Sargent BBQ was serving up some good grub to a hungry crowd.

I have to admit, if you couldn’t tell already, that I’ve wanted a Jeep for years, but it never seemed like the right fit for our needs. This event and the sense of community has me considering it yet again – and Deb’s already given the green light provided the motorcycles go… hmm, guess I need to do some thinking.

Lots of photos of the amazing rigs: