October, 2013

Mepkin Abbey

Miz B continues to never let me down.  We took a very long drive with the Palmetto A's to Moncks Corner in the LowCountry of South Carolina on our regular 3rd Saturday of the month get together.  We met up at the Reid's parking lot for a quick business meeting and then we were off!

There were 8 Model A's in the line up.  We made our way onto Interstate 77 for a brief three miles, taking the Bluff Road exit.  Then it was onto Highway 378 for a quick trip to Sumter.  We met up with a previous club member and his grandson at the Chick Fil A.  After a brief stop and hellos, we were headed south for Monck's Corner.

We arrived for lunch at The Dock Restaurant, now a Gilligan's, about 12:30.  To our surprise, another club member met us at the restaurant.  Now we had 10 Model A's!   Everyone enjoyed a nice seafood lunch and fellowship.  JP Temple came out of the restaurant to discover he had a hitchhiker wrapped around his light bar - a little green snake!  Wonder if he came all the way from Lexington or if he thought he might just go for a ride from the restaurant over to the Abbey?

After the snake was removed, we made our way across the canal and on to Mepkin Abbey.  

Mepkin Abbey is a community of Roman Catholic monks established in 1949 on the site of the historic Mepkin Plantation located on the Cooper River, north of Charleston, South Carolina. Founded by the monks of Gethsemani in Kentucky, the brothers of Mepkin belong to the worldwide Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance popularly known as Trappist. Following The Rule of St. Benedict, the monks at Mepkin Abbey devote their lives to prayer, spiritual study, work and hospitality.

We toured the grounds and gardens of the Abbey.  Such a peaceful place.  The beauty of the South Carolina LowCountry is absolutely awe inspiring!

We began our way back to the Midlands about 4 o'clock.  It had been a beautiful day to travel in the Model A's.  We arrived home well past dark.  It was good that I had the halogen headlights this night!  

The Ford TriMotor

Our next adventure had us staying in the Columbia area.  In fact, we were at the downtown Columbia airport, known as Hamilton-Owens Field.  The Ford TriMotor airplane was making a trip to our state capital.  This one is owned by the Kalamazoo Air Zoo and is retiring to museum life after this year's tour of the US.  It was manufactured in 1929.

The Ford Trimotor (also called the "Tri-Motor", and nicknamed "The Tin Goose") was an American three-engined transport aircraft that was first produced in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and that continued to be produced until June 7, 1933. Throughout its time in production, a total of 199 Ford Trimotors were produced. It was designed for the civil aviation market, and was also used by military units and sold all over the world.

In postwar years, the Ford Trimotors continued in limited service with small, regional air carriers. One of the most famous was the Scenic Airways Ford Trimotor N414H which was used for 65 years as a sightseeing aircraft flying over the Grand Canyon. The aircraft was still in use as of late 2011, mainly for promotional and film work, though one Trimotor operator offers rides. As of August 2013, a Ford Trimotor was still being used by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) to fly passengers on sightseeing tours. 

Summer travels

It's been a while since I've last written.  We've had a few adventures in Miz B, but between all the rain and then the heat, there have been very few.  We did take a ride up to Union County to Rose Hill Plantation.  It was the home of the former secession Governor of South Carolina, Henry Gist.  Built between 1828-1832, Rose Hill Plantation has been beautifully restored and visitors can enjoy tours of the home and gardens.  The park also offers picnic areas, walking and bike trails, and nature trails.  Rose Hill was the last privately maintained Governors Mansion in South Carolina.  All subsequent governors would live in the Governor's Mansion in Columbia.

The day was spectacular, although a bit hot in the afternoon.  We left home about 10:30 and traveled up to Newberry for lunch in a popular diner on the main street of old downtown.  Then we were off to Union County.  The plantation is situated in the Sumter National Forest and we were treated to narrow winding roads.  Just the kind we really enjoy driving in the Model A!  

We arrived with a bit of time to spare before the tour was to begin.  We enjoyed a friendly chat with the Park Ranger, who would be conducting the tour, on the front porch of the mansion.  The mansion is under restoration.  Having fallen on very bad times from about 1900 until 1942, the house was just about falling down.  A private citizen purchased the house and many acres of surrounding land and set about making necessary repairs.  In the 1980's the estate was sold to the state to be preserved for the future.

The home has a central hallway and staircase entered from the front door.  Directly to the rear is the back door.  The front and rear entrances have matching porches, which were added in the 1830's.  At that time the house was transformed to reflect the Federalist style of architecture.  Recently, restoration efforts have uncovered many of the original paint colors and faux painting techniques applied to the woodwork and doors.  Air conditioning has been installed, to preserve the building further.  The house is very close to the Tyger River and the humidity levels can be quite high.

John with Rose Hill Mansion

Kitchen building

Fan Light over front door

Restored Faux Wood Graining

Dining Room

Original bed in Master Bedroom

Harpsichord in upstairs Ballroom

Ballroom

Front entrance garden

Downstairs bedroom

Desk in Back Parlor

After our tour, we were off to Union and ice cream!  The temperatures had gotten up to the mid 90's and the humidity was probably just as high.  

Ice cream was delicious and cold.  Soon, we were on our way back home, arriving about 5:30.  Nice trip.

We took another ride with the club to Cheraw, SC.  It was another cool rainy morning, but the skies dried up a bit just before we arrived.  Our first encounter in Cheraw was a statue to and of Dizzy Gillespie.  Cheraw is the home of this great Jazz musician.  

Dizzy Gillespie

We first toured The Lyceum (c. 1820).  It began as a chancery court, became the Lyceum Meeting Room and private library, served as Cheraw's first telegraph office, and was both the Confederate and Union quartermasters' headquarters. It now houses a museum depicting Cheraw's history, Indian artifacts, steamboat era and Confederate War relics. 

Cheraw Lyceum

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at the River's Edge, a Mennonite family owned and operated restaurant.  The food was wonderful and the enormous portioned desserts were most delicious!

Lined up in front of River's Edge Restaurant

Our next stop was to Old St. David's Church.  The last Anglican or "State" church built (c.1770) in South Carolina under King George III. The church was used by the Americans and the British during the Revolution and later by both Confederate and Union armies. There are soldiers from almost every American War buried in the cemetery. Also in the cemetery is a Confederate monument, the first ever erected (c.1867) in memory of those who had fallen in the Civil War. The original inscription did not mention Confederate soldiers directly because Union forces still occupied the area. The steeple and vestibule were added in 1826.  It is a very sparsely decorated church with a simple altar and wooden cross.

Old St. David's Anglican Church

Our tour guide in the pulpit

Altar cross

Revolutionary War grave

Before leaving Cheraw, we drove down to take a look at the Great Pee Dee River.  It was very swollen from all the recent rains and was flowing very swiftly.  We also saw remnants of the pre Civil War bridge that the Southerners had destroyed to keep the Union troops from crossing the river.

Great Pee Dee River

Rain!

Rain, rain go away!

I want to drive my Model A!

Last weekend, we drove up to Cross Hill, SC.  A very small community on Lake Greenwood, to the Higgin's home, for an indoor picnic.  We were meeting the Old 96 club for a meeting and supper.  Amazing, the folks who had the shortest drive - those living in Greenwood and 96, drove their modern cars!  We, us and the Cockerills, who drove almost 2 hours to get there, drove our A's!  We were fortunate to not run into any rain going up there.  While indoors, enjoying fellowship and a wonderful meal, it poured buckets!  By the time came for us to depart, the sky had cleared and we were hopeful for no rain on our drive home.  We got within 2 miles of the house when the rain began.  I'm sure the Cockerills, who had another hour to drive, ran into some pretty heavy rain.

We had a nice drive, the weather remained cool and overcast.  Ready to travel again..........

Now if only it would quit raining..............

Goats, chickens, and cows!

Saturday, June 16th was a beautiful day. Liz traveled with us, so we took both of the Model A's. We had to be in Lexington, SC by 6:30, which meant leaving the house by 6AM. Early!!!

Miz B and I were alone for the first part of the day, as Liz rode in the sedan - where it was a bit warmer with its roll up windows. We left Lexington on time, with 11 A's and a modern. It was apparent that one of the cars was having an issue with keeping up with our speed of just under 45 mph. The driver soon pulled over to let us know that he had decided not to travel with us.  Soon, we had caught up with the rest of our group and were on our way to Saylor's Crossroads in the Belton, SC area.  

We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and club meeting under the shade of a couple of market umbrellas.  The meeting was quick and informative.  By the end of July, the club will have a trailer in which to store and transport our club picnic and swap meet supplies.

After our breakfast, we were on our way to the Split Creek Goat Farm.  We arrived in time to see the yearlings being fed.  What a sight that was!  They put watered down goat milk into a huge bucket with "nipples" attached and the little goats thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  The milk is watered down to wean them from "mother's" milk and encourage them to graze.  There were plenty of goats, but also, chickens and roosters roaming freely.  We went into the store and sampled several different goat cheeses.  All were quite yummy!  They sell many goat milk products, from soaps to cheeses.  To my delight, they also sold fresh eggs.  They were beautiful - pale green and light brown.  Some were small and some were very large.  I bought chèvre and a dozen eggs to take home in my cooler.  We also enjoyed the little converted hen house full of quaint antiques.

Liz joined me for the rest of the trip in Miz B.  We had a great afternoon and decided that it definitely was a fun way to spend a beautiful day, and we were headed for the Happy Cow Creamery.  The temperature was beginning to climb, although not too bad as long as we kept rolling.  All of us were looking forward to seeing Farmer Tom and his happy cows.  Most of us went straight into the store and purchased cheeses, milk, and ice cream.  After storing our purchases, we sat under the shade of an awning and enjoyed some delicious ice cream.  We decided to forego the farm tour on this trip; it was getting close to 3pm and it was going to be a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive for us to arrive home.  We said our goodbyes and told Farmer Tom that we would be back again for a longer visit.

All in all, it was a great day in the Model A.  Miz B didn't have a bit of trouble, nor did any of the other cars in our group.  We had spent a great day traveling the backroads of rural South Carolina with wonderful friends.  I can't wait for the next tour!

Time and Miles Fly!

It is amazing to think that I have been driving Miz B for 4 years!  What most amazes me is the fact that I decided to sell my modern car and just drive her everywhere!  I sold my 2004 MB about 18 months ago and haven't regretted a moment since.  I certainly missed the little car while she was in the mechanics garage for a couple of months at the end of last year.

When I bought the car, June, 2009, she had 60,397 miles on the odometer.  Today, she has 82,817 miles showing.  22,420 miles in 4 years, averaging about 5,600 miles a year.  Not exactly an accurate picture of how she has been driven.  Last year, I drove a bit over 8,000 miles!  One two week period, in June, we drove from SC to MI and that was a trip of about 3,000 miles.  

I expect that in the future, the car will be seeing about 7-8,000 miles each year, especially considering that I am not driving a modern car.

This little car certainly has made for some major changes in my daily life.  I have become very active in the local Model A Club, the Palmetto A's and also in one of the national clubs, MAFCA.   I had a wonderful time chairing the MAFCA National Awards Banquet and look forward to new challenges in the future.

But, in the mean time, here is the view from the right hand drive of Miz B...................

Traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway in May, 2013

Tour to Chester

Saturday's tour began with all of us meeting at the Flying J Truck stop on the north side of Columbia.  That meant that we had to leave the house about 45 minutes before our departure time of 8:30.  Not too bad!  When we arrived, there were three other A's already waiting for us.  By our departure time, we had 11 A's in total traveling with us.  Nice group!

We noticed on the drive over to the meeting spot, that the fan belt was making a bit more noise than usual.  It was a high pitched squeal.  It didn't sound good, but we had a spare in the trunk, just in case it was needing a repair.  The squeal was not constant, so we didn't worry too much about it.

Our first stop was one for gas about 2 hours after our start.  This was probably the worst gas stop we had ever made!  The pumps didn't take credit cards, there were only 4 pumps, and it was a busy place.  After about a 30 minute refueling, we were ready to get going again.  

We were headed for the Catawba Fish Camp.  We arrived close to noon and were a bit concerned that there were very few cars in the parking lot.  Not usually a very good sign!

Next time we will know, if there aren't any cars in the parking lot - just keep driving!  Lunch was fair, at best.  Don't think we will be going there again.  We did have a great meeting, not very long, but very productive.  We settled on a club trailer to purchase and that will be done this week.  Yeah!  At long last, the club will have one central place to store all of our picnic and swap meet supplies.

We were soon back on the road and headed for home.  We had a couple of planned stops along the way.  One was a quick break and the other was to Liberty Hill Presbyterian Church in the Wateree Community.  

Just before arrival, the skies opened up and it poured buckets!  Unfortunately, Miz B's side curtains were in the trunk!  We didn't get too wet, but would have stayed a bit dryer if I hadn't been so quick to take them down the day before.  

After a brief tour of the graveyard, some of those graves dated back to the Civil War, we were back on our way home.

It was a fun day of driving the Model A's with good friends.

A day or so later, John decided he had heard the fan belt squeal enough and was going to replace it.  Good thing he did!  It was beginning to shred.  No wonder all the noise.  

We are looking forward to our next tour with the club.  On June 15, we off to Grits & Groceries, Split Creek Goat Farm, and the Happy Cow Creamery.  Yum!

Gatlinburg to Home

Saturday morning dawned with light rain showers.  Seemed a bit like liquid sunshine, because it was warm and the winds were calm.  As we packed the cars, apparently a bear came from the woods to check out the activity - finding nothing too interesting turned around and left.  I never saw it, but that's the story.  

We had breakfast and were rolling out of the parking lot by 9AM.  The rain was coming down hard as we hit the mountain just outside of Gatlinburg.  After a quick pit stop for gas in Cherokee and an application of RainX, we were motoring down US441 South, headed for Clayton, GA.  It seemed that we were mostly going down the mountains, after leaving Cherokee.  After a week of many hard climbs, we were looking forward to the flatter lands of northern GA and SC and the even flatter land of the SC midlands!  In Clayton, we picked up US76 East.

About 1PM, we stopped in the tiny crossroads of Townville, SC, in Anderson County, for lunch.  It was the Townville Cafe.  We all had great hamburgers and were ready to get going in about 45 minutes.  

Our weather was relatively pleasant for the remainder of the drive - just a few light showers.  We were watching a large thunderstorm off to our left, which was moving north.  We were fortunate, we seemed to be driving at the back of it and never ran into it.

About 2PM, we received word that Buster had made it home.  They had stopped in Clinton, SC about 9PM the night before - just too tired to drive any further.  Buster was behaving very well.  Seemed that he had a case of altitude sickness in the mountains of the Blue Ridge.  Once down in the flats, all was well and he ran perfectly!

We got separated from the others when the car behind me decided it was time for fuel.  Our walkie talkie had gone dead and we never heard they were going to stop.  Not a problem.  We kept going to the next filling station, filled up and waited for the rest to catch up with us.  Soon two of them came along; the Crabtrees had split off for a road that went through Orangeburg.  They live in the SC Lowcountry, near Charleston and didn't want to go through Columbia.  Not exactly sure what time they got home, but received an email from them about 8:15PM, saying they had made it.

The last two hours were completely uneventful.  We had driven this highway for many years and were all very familiar with each turn and pothole!  In Ballentine, the Princes and we took SC 6 West and parted ways with the Cockerills as they headed on into Columbia on US 76.  Another 2 miles down the road, we were on our street and almost home.  We arrived at 5:57PM.

We had had a grand tour of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We were gone 8 days and drove 1,492 miles in Miz B.  We used  1 quart of oil and 84.6 gallons of fuel, averaging 17.63 MPG.  Considering we were climbing mountains and were very loaded down with luggage and miscellaneous tools, water, and oil, we feel that the gas mileage was pretty good!

Miz B will get a much needed clean up today and be ready for the next tour - only 6 days away!  We are headed out with our local club for Chester, SC.

For those of you reading this blog via the link on the MAFCA website, please know that I write about my adventures in Miz B, be they national or local club.  Feel free to look any time for new posts.......

Asheville to Gatlinburg, TN

Today was a big day!  We were to be in our cars and lined up on the road leaving the hotel at 7 AM. We were released in groups of 20 cars to make the short drive to the Biltmore Estate. We were to have a group photo made in front of the grand old home.   I decided if Miz B was invited to make an appearance before such a grand lady as the Biltmore, then I needed to get out the McGuiars and clean the road grime off as best as I could. Unfortunately, the wheels and tires were just going have wait, and wow are those cream colored wheels and wide white walls filthy!!

Here is a bit of the statistics on the place:

Biltmore Estate is a large private estate and tourist attraction in Asheville, North Carolina. Biltmore House, the main house on the estate, is a Châteauesque-styled mansion built by George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895 and is the largest privately owned house in the United States, at 178,926 square feet (16,622.8 m²)^[2] and featuring 250 rooms. Still owned by one of Vanderbilt'sdescendants, it stands today as one of the most prominent remaining examples of the Gilded Age, and of significant gardens in the jardin à la française and English Landscape garden styles in the United States. In 2007, it was ranked eighth inAmerica's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects.

We definitely weren't the first cars to roll out of the parking lot this morning, nor were we the last!  But, it turned out that we really had a great parking place for the photo. We drove up and were directed to park with our front end facing away from the house and our tires backed up to the front lawn. I thought that possibly we might be in the front row, but the A's kept coming!  We ended up with three rows across the front and a line of A's down each side. My count of cars came to 106!  That's a lot of Model A's!!!  I did notice the only other right hand drive on the tour, a yellow and black A400 was parked in the row in front of me and a bit to the left (as you look at the house).  

Miz B is in third row with white top                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

As it turned out, those of us parked in the row backed up to the front lawn, we were allowed to leave our cars right where they were while we toured the house and grounds. That was wonderful, because time was slipping away from us - we had tickets to enter the house at 9 and the photo shoot didn't conclude until 8:50!

This home is positively magnificent!  The Vanderbilt's must have had a love for orchids, as every room had at least one blooming orchid on display. If you have never visited, it is definitely worth the travel time to do so. Words could never do justice to the grandeur of this home. Not one luxury of the day was overlooked, from the central conservatory, the magnificent pipe organ to the beautifully decorated personal rooms of the family, all is lovely!

We left Biltmore about 11 and headed toward the parkway and Gatlinburg. After a quick local barbecue lunch, we were on US 25 N for a few short miles to pickup the parkway. We only had 80 miles to go before completing the 469 miles of the entire parkway from Charlottesville, VA to the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. About the last 20 miles, one of our group began experiencing difficulties with "Buster," he is a 1930 Model A Pickup out of West Columbia, SC. Buster was having a great deal of difficulty climbing the mountains. Plus, he was going through a LOT of gas!

As we exited the parkway, it was imperative we find gas for Buster. The O in the gas gauge was right smack in the middle!  We think he was running on fumes, his 10 gallon tank took 10 gallons!  We found gas and Buster's owners decided it was time to part ways and make their way back home instead of going on to Gatlinburg. We said our goodbyes and Buster headed south and the rest of us headed west for Gatlinburg.

We arrived - along with at least 150 other Model A's at the resort in Gatlinburg. That made for chaos at the registration desk - again!  But in time, we were all registered and getting ready for the farewell banquet.

We feasted on delicious fried chicken, mashed potatoes  gravey, beef tips, Mac and cheese, corn, salad, and yummy desserts. No one left hungry!

Tomorrow, we will make our way back to Columbia, but we will have another A traveling with us. Jack and Mary Crabtree out of Charleston will be with us. We are always thrilled to have other cars join us in our travels.

I will blog again tomorrow evening of our days adventure. Not sure we will go the entire distance - no real deadline to make, so we might take it easy!

Here is a link to my Facebook page where I have posted photos all week. 

http://m.facebook.com/#!/happybegg?ref=m_notif&notif_t=feed_comment&__user=1320983774

I will update blog with photos after I return home. 

Boone to Asheville

Our morning dawned bright and sunny. We loaded up Miz B and headed for the parkway. It was so nice to see the sun!

Our first stop was to Grandfather  Mt. We already had our tickets, so we just rolled through the guard post. It was a very steep climb to the top. We wanted to walk the swinging bridge and cross over the point of 1 mile altitude. It was blowing hard and was very cold. The thermometer in the gift shop said that the wind chill was 5 degrees. We bundled up in several layers and off we went across the bridge.

The view was spectacular, you could see for miles!  After making a video and taking several photos, we were on our way back down the mountain.

Miz B at the Visitors Center on Grandfather Mountain

View from the Swinging Bridge at Grandfather Mountain

Swinging Bridge

Fay Prince after crossing Swinging Bridge

Miz B with her friends on Grandfather Mountain

Our next destination was to Linville Falls and lunch at the Famous Louise Rock House. Lunch was delicious. I had fresh fried flounder and John had the homemade vegetable soup and grilled cheese sandwich.  It was so nice to have Linda and Walt Kritemeyer join us. Afterward, we dug through the picnic basket for the cookies - we needed dessert!

Soon we were back on the parkway headed for Asheville. We took our exit and made our way across town in 5:00 traffic.  We made a stop at Biltmore for a tour of the gardens.

Miz B in front of Biltmore House

We arrived at the hotel about 5:30 and went for supper. It was a miserable experience to say the least. It took over 2 and 1/2 hours to be served and eat. I don't think the hotel was very well prepared for 400 hunger folks!

The rest was good and in the morning we headed to Gatlinburg, TN .......