Back in the 80s, the Playground ARC Hamfest (usually just referred to as "Ft. Walton Hamfest" 'round here) was able to fill three or usually four big spaces at the Northwest Florida Fairgrounds. Lately, though, it’s struggled to fill two. This time? Room number two was chock-full, and there was spillover into the third area. There was decent food service again, too. The only downer? The only commercial vendor besides my friend K4MR was Signman. Both are excellent, but you always want MORE. Ground truth? Post-COVID. It’s just harder to get vendors large and small to hamfests other than the major events. But so what? I had a great Saturday afternoon, spent time with numerous friends old and new, and even got a good-looking new-old-stock Svetlana 811A to add to my collection of “backups to backups.” What were some of the things I saw? What sticks in my mind most? An absolutely beautiful Johnson Thunderbolt. I am not foolin’ when I say it looked like it had just come off the factory floor. When the XYL saw I was about to strike up a conversation with its seller, she hastily dragged me away, intoning, “HE’S GOT A HAM SHACK FULL OF STUFF LIKE THAT!” That she did was probably a good thing. I guess. What else? Several (from different sellers) classic Zenith Transoceanics. A Drake Remote VFO for the T4 that was practically being given away (has to be rare). Finally, not just an Instructograph (if you’re a modern-day novice, don’t ask), but a spring-wound crank-up model from 1936! Oh, and lots more… All in all, a real nice Saturday outside those dadgummed slowdowns on I-10, which seem inevitable as spring comes in. There was a wreck just the other side of the Bayway on our way to the hamfest from Mobile and nothing but one traffic jam after another going home. On the way back, we were finally able to detour onto Highway 31 to Spanish Fort and the Causeway. By the time we made it to the Causeway, our dreams of spending a nice evening at the Bluegill Bar and Grill had faded. It was home for frozen pizza. I didn’t even feel like setting up for the BARTG RTTY contest, and when I forego the green keys these days, you know I am tuckered (I did work a few today, Sunday). It was, you guessed it: TV with the cats. The bottom line on this one? Thank you, Playground ARC. I had a fine time. I will darned sure be back next year for the Playground ARC Hamfest. And how.
