Friday, June 3 dawned bright and sunny, and a bit steamy. We checked the oil, tires, and of course, the water level in the radiator. All were right where they should be. We drove out of the drive at 8:20 am. Our first stop would be the gas station, the one with no ethanol, to top off the tank. I had a little scare before we even got onto Hwy. 6. Miz B decided she had just a bit too much water in the radiator, and blew about a cup or so out the top. The car couldn't be hot, we hadn't driven a mile, yet. With that little out, it appeared we were just fine.
We met up with the rest of the club members going on the trip over in Lexington and pulled out of the parking lot at 9 SHARP! There were 4 A's and a modern car to bring up the rear. We were meeting one other club member up at the traffic circle near Saluda.
We were in Saluda by 9:30, pulled off to the side for about 10 minutes, to let the traffic clear. For some reason not understood by us Model Aer's, those folks in modern cars aren't too keen on going 45 mph!
We were having a grand time driving the rural back roads of South Carolina, going up and down the rolling hills on our way to Abbeville. We stopped for coffee and a short break around 10:30. Then it was back on the road.
In Abbeville, we first stopped at Yoder's. It is a Mennonite restaurant on the outskirts of town. The home cooked food was wonderful! Just about everyone enjoyed the fabulous deserts, as well. After lunch, we parked on the town square and enjoyed walking around. They have a beautiful old Opera House that was open to self tour. We also enjoyed the antique shop, thrift shop, the reenactment shop, and the fabric store. Some of us came away with treasures.
At this point, Calvin decided he was going to drive back home. But he would meet us in Maysville - at Mike's A Ford-able in the morning. He wanted to take a different A to the show.
We left Abbeville by 2:00 and were headed for Athens. George Bugg was going to meet us at his museum at 6:00. We had some time to kill, so it was decided that we would stop at any antique/junk shops we came across along the way. We found a fun spot in Comer. Lots and lots of stuff! Treasures for someone, I'm sure, just not me!
We made it to the Bugg museum by 6:15, after a quick refueling stop in Athens. Rain was beginning to threaten, so we made our way into the building.
What a museum it was. George has a very large collection of well restored cars. I believe he said he had 88 in the building. They were mostly Fords, with a few others mixed in. One of the more interesting was a Chalmers. Pretty unusual car with an interesting company history. We spent a couple of hours with George as he told us some of the stories of how he acquired a few of the more unusual ones.
While we were in the building, the skies literally opened up and it poured buckets. Our timing was right on! The skies cleared just in time for us to make our way to The Varsity - the World's Largest Drive-In, in Athens. This place is definitely for the college kids at UGA. I can say I've eaten there, but wouldn't go back. Nothing special about the food. Good thing school wasn't in session. We realized that the locals don't go there. The place was empty! Oh, well, live and learn!
By the time we finished our burgers and sodas, it was getting pretty dark. The rest of the trip to Commerce, to our hotel, was going to get interesting. I knew my headlights were pointed up enough to illuminate traffic lights! It was another 20 miles to Commerce and it was a very dark night. It was a good sight when we pulled up to the hotel portico. Checked in, showered and ready to go to sleep!
The day proved to be pretty uneventful for Miz B. She was running nice and cool. The filter seemed to be doing the trick. We would check the water in the morning.
Saturday, June 5 dawned a beautiful but steamy day. We were up early to make sure the little car was in tip top shape for the rest of the trip to Maysville, and of course the 180 mile return trip home. The car had not used a drop of water, the level was perfect! The oil level was another story. We knew the rear main bearing seal was blowing oil and expected it to be atleast 1 1/2 quarts low. It was probably closer to 2 quarts low. Not surprising. We had driven at least 165 miles the day before.
We met up with another couple from New York state, that were staying at the same hotel, and they joined our caravan to Mike's. We arrived at 10:30. There were lots and lots and lots of Models A's! People had driven their cars from all over to be there. We were greeted with American flags and bumper holders for our cars. Now Miz B had her flags for the 4th of July!
We did a bit of shopping, got the well needed firewall insulation for John's '30 Town Sedan and new "laces" for both of our A's shoes. - Chrome lug nuts, nice and shiny! The skies open up for a brief 10 minute shower, just to get the day even steamier! The barbecue and Beaufort stew was really good and there was chocolate cake for desert.
We had a nice chat with Mike. He is a native South African and was interested in my little right hand drive. There is a road use sticker on my windscreen that is from Transval. Interesting, this is the area of South Africa that Mike and his family are from. We talked for a bit and then decided that it was probably time to hit the road. We had 180 miles to drive and the skies were threatening again. At 1:40 we were on the road again.
