Spartanburg, SC to Greer, SC to Asheville, NC

Days on the road: 4.
Miles today: 102.
Miles to date: 1212.

Day 4 was activity filled as the first planned event took place today. A tour of the BMW Zentrum manufacturing centre between Spartanburg and Greenville in South Carolina. It is an amazing facility - 1200 acres, 4 million sq ft, 5300 employees working 2 shifts pumping out about 600 X5s and X6s (and soon the X3) a day. They build to order and and export their product to 142 markets worldwide. Cameras were not allowed inside as they had some pre-production X3s around that they weren't quite ready to release to the public. Here's a shot of the Audi parked brazenly in front of the BMW visitor centre/museum:



As I was headed back onto the road after the tour, I looked to my left and caught an X3 test mule on the road:
I never said it was easy to drive, shift gears, and snap photos. Remember, as always, safety first.


As it was early afternoon before I was back on the road, I had planned a short trip up secondary roads to Ashevillle, NC. On the way, I can across this barber shop and went in for a hair cut and a hot towel / straight blade shave:


Cleaned up, and full of Southern drawl small-talk with the proprietor, I jumped back on the road with her warning about Asheville - "It's all full of hippies and head shops up there".

After a very scenic 2 hrs on the road, I pulled into Asheville. After finding my hotel and getting settled, I headed downtown. There were people everywhere, roaming the town before dinner and filling the many street-side patios at bars and restaurants. It looked as though a little bit of Haight-Ashbury had blown up and scattered hippies all about. As I roamed the town, I saw various street performers and eventually I heard the distinct sound of tribal drums - OH JOY, a drum circle!!!


Further exploration lead to the discovery of some great late 19th/early 20th century architecture and an eclectic mix of citizens, tourists, more dirty, free-loading hippies, and college kids.