Day Two- June 15, 2010 Tampa to Montreal Tour

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Hilton Head

Sea Pines Country Club , Governors Rd., Hilton Head Island 08:00am

Brando is up at 6am to wash the car. Mostly he needed to wash the right rear wheel, as they over-filled the differential oil before we left and we have been spewing oil for 3 states. On to the Rotary meeting...What a wonderful breakfast meeting it was, with a picture perfect view from the country clubhouse windows overlooking the famous South Carolina savannah grass and bayou rivers they are so well known for. The VanLandingham Rotary Club is warm, friendly, and very interested in seeing the car.


105 miles/

2 1/2 hours

We asked some friends to go to our house and pick up our "spare" generator for the Packard and overnight it to our next destination. One must always have a plan A plan B and plan C!!

Georgetown, SC 29440


Rotary Club of Georgetown, Maryville Social Hall

Interesting journey, when you ask someone from Georgetown how to get to the location, they don't use street numbers in their description. It is generally just before this or before you pass that. Yep, the meeting is just down a bit and across from the Food Lion. Well we found it, so I guess they were right! Good old fashion southern fried chicken and sweet tea lunch and a full house. District Governor Alan Walters even joined us. A big THANK YOU to Rotarian/ Judge Robert O'Donnell who forwarded on our generator when the shipper took an extra day to get it there.

After lunch we continued up US17 and stopped at the Jiffy Lube to dump some extra oil that made the giant mess on our wheel. Nice fellows would not even charge us for their work.

Next gas stop was the best so far. The old lady has been improving her gas mileage from 8 mpg to now 9-10 mpg. Who knew that the cheapest gas would be in South Carolina at $2.43!

OK, it is not just hot...it is very hot. We topped out the days ride at 98 degrees and 100 percent humidity, and the only thing that keeps us going are the ice water bottles that I keep on the back of our necks while we carry on. Next, we stop at the NAPA auto parts dealer for some cleaner for that dirty rear wheel that really annoys Brando. They have been closed for 20 minutes, but see the Packard and unlock the doors for us. When checking out, we see an antique Packard parts container and ask if it is for sale. The nice fellow at the counter actually gave it to us! His name is Jason and is his own expert in restoration, having built a Corvair for a friend not so long ago. He has his own 1936 Ford and we had a great time talking old cars with him.

225 miles / 5 hours

Myrtle Beach, SC

We hoped to stop and visit the club, but could not get there in time. We enjoyed passing through the beautiful stretch of beach, but my goodness...23 miles of beach community equals a lot of traffic! The Packard really does not enjoy that much idol time in 98 + degrees weather.

Scheduled to Arrive 6:00pm

destination- New Bern, NC

We did not make New Bern. The traffic and heat stopped us at Topsail Beach in North Carolina, about an hour short of the destination. No scheduled Rotary Club stop, so it could have been worse. Although we discovered that after talking car talk with Jason at NAPA, the reason we stopped, the cleaner for the wheel, was left behind on the counter. We still got the Packard box though!

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