John Trivisonno, 12, of North Providence, sits in a 1957 Chevy Bel Air owned by Joe Bagaglia, of Providence — one of the many classic cars at the cruise night held at the A&W in Smithfield.

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The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

SMITHFIELD — On a hard-topped strip on Route 44, there’s a place frozen in time between the Ed Sullivan Show and Laugh-In.

There, for a few hours every Tuesday night, families can forget that gas costs more than $4 a gallon and that the house they bought for $250,000 five years ago may be worth a lot less today.

The action begins around 5 p.m., when the first of the classic Camaros and Corvettes pull into the lot next to the A&W Root Beer Stand, itself a throwback to a pre-Big Mac era. An hour later, Cruisin’ Bruce, the disk jockey from 100-FM “The Pike,” shows up in his 1969 Ford Torino. He starts by throwing on “Little Old Lady from Pasadena,” a Beach Boys classic, as the crowd wanders from one up-turned hood to another.

Cruisin’ Bruce, aka Bruce Palmer, says that cruise nights have replaced the neighborhood stoop as the place where people connect and families spend quality time together.

“Thirty years ago,” he says, “people used to sit on the stoop and talk. Now, we don’t know our neighbors. This is an adaptation of the old days. I’ve seen countless friendships emerge here.”

Cruisin’ Bruce turns back to the mike and announces the next song, “Rockin’ Robin.” By now, the parking lot is overflowing with classics, from the powder-blue Plymouth Barracuda to the tangerine ’55 Chevrolet with a 350-cubic inch engine. There are Model Ts and Mustangs, Ford Falcons and Ford pickups, Corvettes the color of sherbet and a pint-sized Austin Mini Cooper with a nine-gallon gas tank.

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Adventures at Hand:
A Summer Series

With gas prices so high, we all have less money to splurge on vacation. Many Rhode Islanders are choosing to stay closer to home this summer, opting for day trips and local adventures. With this series, The Journal will offer up some nearby activities and outings. Some may be old favorites while others perhaps, you've never tried.

Video: At Oakland Beach Tuesday Night Cruisers, a man and his car

Your Turn: What are three of your can't-miss R.I. summer favorites?

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More of this series . . .

Row after row of roadsters from the ’50s and ’60s have their hoods popped, showing off engines so pristine you could operate on them. The owner of a ’68 Mustang has a sign on his windshield that says, “Please do not step on or touch my chrome or my paint. If you do, you’ll drive me nuts.” And then he writes, “I killed the last person who messed up my car.”

The ’68 Mustang is a jewel box of a car, clean but elegant, a far cry from the clumsy model that Ford rolled out a few years ago, says Bob Roy, 53, of Scituate, who has wanted one of these cars ever since he was 17. Now, he owns one — a spotless red beauty.

He bought the car for $8,500, and then put $11,000 into it. Most owners, he says, don’t bother keeping track of what they spend to restore their cars. Like love, the attachment is irrational. So what if it only gets seven miles a gallon. It’s worth it for the thumbs-up from Harley-Davidson riders as they watch the Mustang slam down the back roads of western Rhode Island.

“When I hit 100 mph, it gets a little loose,” Roy says. “You have to close your windows.”

At the A&W, proud owners park themselves in beach chairs behind their cars, sipping root beer floats and munching burgers and fries. The crowd passes slowly by, eyeing the abundance of chrome, the running boards and teardrop fenders, the teak steering wheels.

There is more than a whiff of nostalgia about Cruisin’ Night at the root beer stand. Sure, there’s the oldies music and the retro cars, but it goes deeper than kitsch. The boomer generation comes here to relive their youth, which they remember as being somehow sweeter than the Eisenhower era really was.

“It reminds me of a time gone by, you know, when gasoline was 23 cents a gallon,” says Bill Sharp of Smithfield, who was here with his teenage son, Alex. “Maybe I’m having a midlife crisis.”

At one of the picnic tables, two men strike up a conversation:

“I got a ’96 Ford pickup and I’m going to put it in the front yard and plant some flowers in it.”

“My brother had a ’53 [Ford] Flathead. Now that was a nice car.

“I know this guy with a ’52 pickup. You can put a glass of water on the head and it won’t shake. They don’t make them like that anymore.”

The crowd spans at least three generations. There are grandparents with their grandchildren, teenagers on dates and couples with dogs, mostly teacup dogs like Yorkshire terriers. One teenager dressed in skinny black jeans wears a T-shirt that says, “Life’s a drag.”

“Look around,” says George Muir, of North Attleboro. “Everyone is having fun. We’re forever young. I’m never growing up.”

Muir owns a rare ’64 Falcon Sprint, which sports a modified 302 cubic-inch engine with aluminum heads that puts out 375 horsepower. He’s owned the car since 1999 and knows every one of its previous four owners. Although some people think the Mustang put the Falcon out of business, the 1964 Mustang actually evolved from the original Falcon chassis.

Muir, who is 61, says there is a good reason why classic cars are so enduring.

“They’re less complicated. When they break down, you can figure out what’s wrong. It’s either electrical, fuel-related or something broke.” Cruisin’ Night

When: Tuesdays from 5 to 9 p.m.

Location: A&W Root Beer stand, Route 44 in Greenville, Smithfield

Costs: Free

What to bring: Yourself and your family and friends

Advice for beginners: Bring a beach chair and sun lotion

lborg@projo.com