KINGSTON — Back in the trees, between Kingston Junior High and private farmland lives a little section of days long past. If one listens closely while walking by, one can almost hear quiet strains of Elvis crooning as he used to for adoring crowds. If one were to venture further, a small land of neon and chrome would appear.

In this land of vintage tributes and music, Bob Thompson is king, reigning over his 1950s museum with a kind hand.

He opens the My Girl, a ‘50s diner with a newly added gas station, to parties and gatherings, drawing people from all over to taste a slice of Americana.

“I lived it,” Thompson said. “I lived the movie ‘Grease.’ I had a gang of guys in school, we were called the Spiders. We had a spider’s web on the back of our leather jackets.”

With the Spiders, Thompson would cruise Kitsap County, hitting all the hot spots. In an effort to regain those glory days, Thompson has worked diligently on his museum.

“It’s a cool place,” said Early Irons Car Club President Tracy Tucker. “He’s got a lot of really neat cars there.”

While Kingston’s backwoods may seem like a strange spot to find a building dedicated to the 1950s, Thompson said it holds true to this area during the time period.

“I’ve seen a lot of neat things here,” Thompson said. “There are so many stories about this stuff.”

Just recently, Thompson deemed that one of the museum’s most important displays was completed: the classic car collection.

“I restored some,” he said. “I bought others. It takes a long time to restore a car, two to six years. I’ve only got so long in life.”

The final touch to his collection, now 22 strong, is the 1958 Edsel convertible in coral and white. It is showcased in the My Girl part of the museum with three other cars. The rest — including a ‘59 Custom Royal Dodge, a ‘59 El Camino, and a ‘55 Packard — are either in the gas station or at Thompson’s home.

“Wow, wow!” said Tucker when he found out Thompson managed to get an Edsel. “The Edsel was named after one of the Ford boys. It was a bit of a lemon. But it’s a nice looking car, I like it.”

“Edsel Ford got the first car,” Thompson said, adding that of the classic cars made, he managed to acquire No. 17. “Just think, 16 cars before mine was Edsel’s. I could have had the 108th car, but I got the 17th.”

“He’s got a rare collection,” said Thompson’s friend Dan Phillips. “The cars are very rare. Of course, his Edsel (and) Dodge D-500 are very hard to get a hold of. They just add to the collection.”

Thompson said he buys the cars to share with museum visitors. Now with his car collection completed, he has moved on to other projects.

“I’d like to see him expand his operation a bit,” Tucker said. “It’s a good place to have community meetings, not just car club meetings.”

“We’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg as far as Bob is concerned,” Phillips said.