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Normally the show season ends around the end of September or early October, but Paradise Dreams car club from Charlotte, NC decided to have their second annual Winter Heat show the 3rd weekend in November. Even though the threat of rain was in the forecast, they were still planning on having a show bigger than their last year show. After arriving in Charlotte mid afternoon on Friday and checked into the hotel, which I must admit that David and the rest of the Paradise Dreams crew know how to take care of people, because they put us up in a suite at the Hawthorne Suites. Anytime you have to walk around the corner to see the bed, you know it's going to be a nice room. Anyway, after checking into the room, it was off to find a car wash. I know the forecast called for rain, but there was way too much dirt on the car for the rain to wash off. While on the way to find a car wash I past the show site and saw a few guys standing around so I quickly turned around went back to let them know I was in town and to find out where the closest car wash was so I wasn't driving all over town. After a few minutes chatting with the crew it was off to beat the rain to the car wash. Now that the car was clean it was time to meet up with some of the Pebble Pushers crew (who are also from Charlotte) and Tim from Magical Concepts to grab a bite to eat and hang out for a while. Once back to the hotel, I noticed Glens car from DropJawMag.com sitting in the parking lot and that he was missing a StreetSourceMag.com sticker!! After my wife Christine walked around the car to make sure that he didn't have one, I quickly tagged his windshield with one of the SSM logos I carry with me. Saturday morning we awoke to a steady rain. After getting ready we waited for Howard from Xtreme Lowz in Georgia to show up with his Focus. Once him and his little girl Caitlyn were there, it was down stairs to grab a quick bite to eat and to head to the show. As soon as we got to the show and unloaded the Focus off the trailer we found a couple spots over near the Pebble Pushers and their HUGE house of a tent. Even though the rain was steady throughout the day, quality rides continued to roll in. Rides showed up from as far as Georgia and Ohio. The Paradise Dreams did a good job of judging the rides of those who wanted to get it out of the way while others wanted to wait till Sunday in hopes the rain would quit. Several clubs such as Subculture, Pebble Pushers, LA and Animated Attractions were representing at this show. When everyone was judged, it was time to head back to the hotel and make dinner plans.
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After trying to get the more than 15 of us into TGI Fridays (which had over a 2 hour wait), us and the Pebble Pushers crew headed down the road to another restaurant, which got us seated right away. After eating and spending about 15 minutes trying to get "Sissy Boy" to finish his drink, it was back to the hotel where LA and Animated Attractions had the whole 4th floor and had already began to party. I had my SSM banner hanging in my hotel window all day and decided to take it down when we got back in the room. As I was rolling it up, some one noticed a DropJawMag.com sticker right in the middle of the banner. Knowing that no one with me had tagged my banner, we had realized that someone made it in our room long enough to tag it while we were out to eat. I've still yet to have anyone fess up to doing it, but its all fun and games considering I tagged Glen's car the night before. No more than 20 minutes after we arrived at the hotel, the fire alarm started ringing. Once we realized it was the real thing and not a prank, we quickly went down the stairs to join the rest of the hotel guest who were already outside. Come to find out someone had pulled a fire extinguisher on the second floor. The funny part is the whole second floor was an elderly tour group. After the fire department let us back in the hotel, we took off to the Bar of Charlotte to meet up with a few friends who were already there. Even though we went all the way across town to meet up with them, the little troublemaker Katie got kicked out for not listening to the bouncer. Too bad she didn't even remember it the next morning! LOL Sunday when we showed up at the show, the rain had yet to let up and the temperature had dropped quit a bit. The crowd still managed to show up in time for the hydro contest. One way to keep the spectators back far enough is to have the cars hopping in puddles. There was even a car that hopped on airbags with a crazy set up in the trunk. When it was time for trophies Paradise Dreams had several big awards to give away. The 8-foot club trophy went to Pebble Pushers who took it the year before. All the other best of trophies were 6 and 4-foot trophies. Even though it rained all weekend and was cold, I'll definitely make the trip back to Charlotte to attend Winter Heat '03. If your looking for a good show to end your show year, make sure you add this one to your calendar. By Brandon Burrell
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