<– Day 12 – Thurs. May 10th: Willys to Hawgs | Day 14 – Sat. May 12th: Ann Gets the Boot –>

Our welcoming party at Lawrence Elliot’s place. From Left to Right, Carroll, Ann, me, Van, Lawrence, Susie, and Phillip.

Day 13: I only had to drive for 20 minutes today. That was in the morning on our drive to Maury’s. For the rest of our drives, our Chauffeur and tour guide, Maury, took us all over the windy hills of Western North Carolina. I think he could make a living doing this with a DUKW and microphone. He was entertaining and informative! However, I suspect being an architect pays better, so I don’t see him changing careers just yet!

We started out the day by meeting Maury at his shop, where his GPW is located. The GPW, #58671, was drafted into the Army on August 25, 1942. Six years later, it landed in Maury’s hands when he purchased it from Tom Stanek, who’d done a restoration on it and learned that the jeep was a Bechtel reconditioned unit. Maury has written up all the history he’d uncovered on his GPW in a article titled “Tracing the History of GPW 58671”, which appeared in the Winter 2008 issue of Army Motors Magazine.

Here’s Maury giving us a tour:

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<– Day 11- Wed. May 9th: Exploring the Palmetto State | Day 13 – Friday May 11th: Lawrence & Lubbeck –>

Judi and Kieth Rhodes and Ann and I at Hawg Wild BBQ and Fish House in Hiawasee, Georgia.

Day 12: On Wednesday we drove from Aiken, South Carolina, to Asheville, North Carolina, via Hiawassee, Georgia.

We drove from Aiken to Asheville on Thursday.

Thursday began with a visit to Kaiser Willys, first meeting Rachel and Amy, then with a visit with Mike at the warehouse. Mike explained that KW began with his father. They’d go on road trips towing a trailer and, when stopped at motels, would sell parts out of the trailer to fund their trip. Eventually, they began selling parts out of their home, then when they grew too big, moved into a warehouse.

I’m sure I’m explaining something incredibly important!

I forgot my shopping cart, or I would have loaded up!

I think that sign ought to read, “Back your jeep up, open the tailgate, and load up!”

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<– Day 10 – Tues. May 8: Laurel, Hardy & Wood Cars | Day 12 – Thurs. May 10th: Willys to Hawgs –>

Day 11: Our drive was short on Wednesday, going from Charleston to Aiken.

Wednesday’s drive from Charleston to Aiken.

On Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, we spent time driving around Charleston. Ann did some research and discovered that Charleston was ranked the number one destination in the US and World in 2016 and has been a top destination for most of the decade in the US. By the wide range of languages spoken at our Holiday Express, I believe it!

Ann also explained that South Carolina is nicknamed the Palmetto State, after the trees. You’ll find Palmettos and half crescents of various designs on t-shirts and other objects for sale around the state. You can learn more about the palmetto and crescent here.

Charleston is a lovely city, very walkable, with plenty of shops, restaurants, sights, and things to do. The architecture feels old world and the roads are skinny, with some cobblestone, brick, and modern pavement in various sections of old town. We agreed that we could see ourselves returning at some point and spending more time here.

We were a about 2 miles(?) away from Charleston’s Downtown Market.

We only had time to explore one attraction in depth and that was the downtown market, a four block long daily (and sometimes nightly) market. It has both permanent and temporary shops. Parking was easy (right next to the market), even at the market’s 9:30am opening. By that time, tourists, and possibly locals, were milling about, tasting some of the local mini-biscuits (I can recommend them), and exploring the vendors.

Eastern end of the market.

These two shots show the permanent shops.

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