Auldbrass Plantation
Nov 3-5, 2001
- In search of the Frank Lloyd Wright Lincoln Continental

...And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love
you make...
John Lennon

A couple months ago I heard from ZeeJay. He was excited to be getting his Bright Red 97 2.8 and wondering what was up for Z3s in the South Carolina Lowcountry.
I immediately jumped on him to find out the scoop about Auldbrass Plantation. I should have written about Auldbrass Plantation in the Memorial Day Gumball,, and I will. For the moment I will spill the beans about one of the best parts (and there were many) of the trip out to the midwest last May.
Here's the deal:
Frank Lloyd Wright designed cars.
The man who invented car ports designed cars, and one of them was based on a 1940 Lincoln Continental.
Mr. Wright was a father of the roadster life that we now cherish, an avid car buff, so much good stuff that I can spare telling you this one little tidbit right now.
He bought # 2 and # 5 off the Lincoln Continental line, gave #2 to his daughter. She smacked it up.
#5 he took a blowtorch to much like what was done to a Jaguar in the movie "Harold and Maude".


No, FLW did not turn the Lincoln into a hearse.
What he did was bend it's design to his will. Off the top of my head, design changes include covering the rear window. He was not interested in where he'd been, only where he was going. Also added were half-moon shaped opera light windows, much like old Thunderbird's - only better. Not much is known about this car, or if it is known, I haven't been able to find it.


I found spotty notices about it appearing at the Concours at Pebble Beach. I was tipped off in Chicago (jeez, it's fun to say that!) that the Lincoln was in the possession of Joel Silver, the movie producer of the Die Hard series and other blockbuster movies -at his Frank Lloyd Wright Plantation in South Carolina.
Now all I needed was a way in to see that car....
It took a lot of searching and a lot of wheedling but all I could find was some obscure references to an annual tour hosted by the "Beaufort County Open Land Trust".
These people were not organized and they had no idea about any car.
So I enlisted ZeeJay immediately and he was up for the task. :)
Then September 11 happened and I forgot about Auldbrass.
Nov 2, 2001, I got this email from ZeeJay:
I'm giving you just 48 hours' notice.  My apologies for letting it go so long.

Auldbrass is an extremely exclusive home.  As you probably already know, it's the residence of Joel Silver, 
the film producer that created Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, 
and many others.  
As such, he's only interested in allowing people into his home on a "bare minimum" basis.  
His home, however, is a landmark of some sort (national?) and amongst other benefits, the home
receives special funding 
and special consideration by the government, which is very 
beneficial to Mr. Silver. 
The contingency for receiving this special consideration is
 that he be willing to open the doors occasionally to special 
interest groups and allow for private tours of the home.

It's not often that he does this, and I can assure you that he 
does it on a minimum basis.  However, as you probably already 
know, this Sunday, November 4th is a day that he's opening his 
doors.

In short, we can get tickets, and arrangements have been made 
to tour the home.

The cost is $100 per person, and will include a catered luncheon.  
The tour starts at 11am and should go until 4pm, during which 
lunch will be provided at no additional charge.  The funds 
apparently go to Beaufort Open Land Trust, a government entity 
that enables places like Auldbrass to function as it does.

There is sorta a "group rate" available, in that if the first person
purchases a ticket for the tour at $100, additional tickets can be 
purchased at the "Beaufort Open Land Trust Member" price of 
$75.  Thus, it's beneficial for us to meet together prior to entry 
and all of us (whether it's just you and me, or whoever wants to 
attend) to enter together.

There is a maximum of 500 tickets that will be sold for this
 event, and around 350 have already been sold.  In short, I've 
been told that if we are able to create a large group or a small 
one, they can accommodate.

The next tour isn't available for at least 12 months, when the
 Charleston Historical Society is scheduled to have a much smaller event there. 
 I fear that this event happening on Sunday may be the only 
chance to tour the exclusive home for at least a few years.  
Simply put, we've got to do this now or I don't think it's going to 
happen.

There is a guest speaker, too,  
Charles Montooth of Taliesin Architects.  
He was one of the original four FLW apprentices, so it's a really big deal.


Additionally, I was told that the entire plantation has recently 
been restored, which apparently is a really big deal...  Apparently 
it's been dilapidated a long time, and it's just recently been 
completed.  The people that I talked to proudly told me that the 
plantation has just been finished.

I'm looking forward to this...  And I will be there.  If you would, 
please announce the ride anywhere you see fit
I'll also get all the maps and locations picked out and such so that 
we are loosely organized.

You know my email address...  and my cell phone number, if you 
need to get in touch with me.  Let me know, too, if anyone needs 
lodging for the night and I will see what I can do to recommend 
hotels and such...
Although, I don't know that with this late notice of the ride 
anyone's going to want to stay overnight anywhere...  But heck, 
I'll still do my best to help wherever I can.

Let me know a head count, if you will, and I'll put together a place 
to meet that everyone can find easily.  Plan on needing to be local 
to Yemassee (45 mins to an hour south of Charleston, as you 
now) around 10am.

I'm really looking forward to this...  :-)
The words than rang in my head were:
"I fear that this event happening on Sunday may be the only chance to tour the exclusive home for at least a few years. Simply put, we've got to do this now or I don't think it's going to happen."
After September 11, one does not put off for another day thinking that it will always be there.
The other words ringing in my head were Zeegar's. He came to the Concert for NY because it just occurred to him, "I can do this."
Ja, I can do this.
It was so Z3. ZeeJay, who doesn't know me from Adam, or Eve, kicking it into high gear to help a fellow Z3er.
So we sent out invites to Z3 Rides and Caranostra.org, and ZeeJay offered to pick me up at either Charleston airport or Savannah airport and return me there, at least an hour each way.
I posted for help getting there because the flight schedules were not cooperating.
Zeegar offered his hospitality in Charlotte which solved the puzzle.
I would fly into Charlotte Saturday, Zeegar would pick me up and host me at Chez Zeegar, return me to Charlotte airport Sunday morning before his autocross. I would fly to Savannah Sunday morning and return to Charlotte from Savannah Sunday night. Another night at Chez Zeegar and he would return me to Charlotte Monday morning for my flight home to New York.
Everybody got your scorecard out? There will be a quiz later.
By the time we got this all organized I had an hour to pack.
About this time the fear sets in. I am normally a white knuckle flier, but this was of course worse.
I did actually think, "Well they are short hops, not as good to hijack carrying less fuel."
Packing was also different. For the first time in my life my thinking was not about avoiding checked baggage and avoiding the authorities, it was how to pack against terrorism. Cindy Adams had a couple columns about having her tweezers confiscated every time she flies so I plannned to check a bag with my tweezers and other sharp objects. I also brought along enough necessities in case the flights were grounded again while I was away.
Next thing I knew I was headed out the door.
I had my camera of course but there is a general moratorium on picture taking of anything that might prove useful to anyone seeking to do harm.
A pity as it is so heartening to see the flags draped over tunnel entrances, and other signs of patriotism. New signs at the airport. Me nervous as a cat at check in. My lip pencil passed scrutiny but the sticks I use to put up my hair failed.
Early at the airport, hardly a soul in sight. Petrified.
Stopped in for a bite and decided that I would handle my fear by getting tanked.
I continued the tanking on board with Bloody Marys, I got the idea from the nice lady across the aisle...

At Charlotte I thought of TimUK, how he makes the city sound like a French dessert.
Noted the car theme shop at the airport, Jeff Gordon and Dale Ernhart shirts. So North Carolina is geared toward driving "enthusiasm". That explains the North Carolina Boys.
Zeegar found me in Baggage Claim, semi blotto. I was amazed he parked the Z3! She was a pretty sight in Atlanta Blue.
The weather could not have been more perfect and we were off to meet Male Lezbo(Ade), Z3POWER(Nathan), Obsidian (Matt). I suck, no pictures. At Ade and Shelly's house I got Nathan and David to sign my Homecoming photo. Cindy fit right in with the "eine" girls ;).
I got a ride in Matt's amazing Miata, wheel skipping down the highway, Nathan and Cindy in ... his pickup truck. (Gasp!)
Sushi and car talk, a call to Zeejay to confirm for Sunday morning. Out in the parking lot looking under Matt's hood at the Borg Unit regenerating the supercharger and assorted other goodies. Again, I suck, no pictures.
I collapsed after Dave's cat Billy made sushi out of my forearm.
(My fault.)
For the flight to Savannah I had to pack only carry- on, as time was of the essence.
The plane was nice and empty. My cabinmate is having a white retro Thunderbird delivered in Albany in 10 days- but having someone else drive it to Florida for him.
By this point I was trying to figure out how to have a home down here. Then ZeeJay pulled up in his bright red Hellrot 97 2.8.

97 2.8s rock like 98 M Roadsters.
I attempted sleep while we dashed over the Georgia border back into South Carolina, the Lowlands.
For a FNG Zeejay had already outfitted in toys from LeatherZ, Z3 Solutions and Z3Hatz. Adding today sexy mesh see through BMW driving gloves.
It's a rough job, but somebady's got to do it.
First stop was Old Sheldon Church. I had already exposed ZeeJay to my bitch mode. What can I say, I get very grumpy without sleep. :)
He was right, Old Sheldon Church was pretty groovy and steeped in southern pheremones from it's hairy spanish moss hanging off the oaks like tinsel on a christmas tree.

Fabulous grave markers.
We made ridiculously good time but drove in circles for a bit before we landed at Auldbrass.
We saw another Z3 immediately after we arrived, but they drove by us :(
The shape of things to come.
These southern variety stepford women who seem to insult you by speaking to you as if you are not there. Since I am a New Yorker I am already very sure I am there and ready to prove it whenever it is in doubt.
I was growling and snapping by the time we reached the entryway.

So many people walking like tour buses at Yosemite.

The Stables/Guest Rooms
Click on the image for large version...


Caretaker's Quarters, now the music room with player piano

I took pictures of everything I could. I poked around and did some spy work with the employees. The 1940 Lincoln Continental does spend some of it's life time here, right now it is in a repair shop in Savannah.
Glee and ecstasy.
The Beaufort County Open Land Trust dames were giving me the creeps. They'd give spiders the creeps. Still, we figured we'd have a bite to eat before we split early. ZeeJay had some Lowland shacks by the water to show me where we could eat fish and swat flies. There was always the possibility of a John Belushi-type raid of several car shops hunting for the Lincoln in Savannah to kill time before my flight home.
Over at the linen table cloth and chafing dish silver platter tables were crab puffs and southern fried chicken and red bean salad and fried green tomatoes and potato salad and cornbread and ham and biscuit petite fours and 2 kinds of finger sandwiches, tomato and cucumber. Also an open bar.
We began to serve ourselves and were greated by this gauzy white dress southern Open Trust babe, using the royal "we" said, "We can't serve yet because the shrimp and grits aren't ready. What else can we do?" I said, "If you are asking me, I would say you are asking for a food line where the food will get cold before people get to eat it. Serve the shrimp and grits as the second course."
I felt like the kid who said the emperor had new clothes.
She waddled off and found herself shuffling back in to scold other hungry people who ventured to capture a crab puff off the table.
I overheard someone say that lunch was at 12:30, this was apparently a secret.

Guest Houses

Avaiary, Lynx Cage, Zebra Pens

Main House
Click on the image for large version...




What is it about these people? Like Hyacinth Bucket insisting her name be pronounced "Bouquet" they actually prefer that "Beaufort" be pronounced "Beeyufert".
Isn't that backwards?
It was 12:20 so we waited the ten minutes.
The picnic was lovely. We sat by a lake perfectly laid out at our feet with Auldbrass at our backs.
By the end of our chat it was about 2pm and still enough time to see the Lowlands. ZeeJay took our plates of ants up to clear them as we heard the burble of the speaker to the small crowd assembled.
As we headed over ZeeJay and I engaged in some er, vulgar words about the situation and a woman passing by agreed.
How this became a deeply engrossing conversation I could not tell you, but it did.

Our New Friends!!!!

For unknown reasons, the 330 other people who were there decided to leave early and we were left with about 20 very relaxed and cool people sitting by the pool at Auldbrass.
We were actually living in the home like guests, as it was orginally made. We had a much easier time talking to guides, appreciating more of the rooms, clearing up the details.



It was built for a man named Stevens in 1938 but was abandoned when he died. By the time that Mr. Silver came upon it, Frank Lloyd Wright was dead. Frank Lloyd Wright's son Eric guided the restoration. It became a game for us to figure out what was from the father, what was from the son and what was from Mr. Silver.
We got into the bathroom and saw the hexagonal shower stall, with slanted wood ringing the stall. The walls revealed planks that open out from the bathroom to the grounds.
And so we sat with these new friends and discussed love and sex and art and cars and motorcycles and architecture how southerners speak, "mash the key", "I'll tell you what"... as the sun bathed the grounds in increasing red warm tones and we settled in like real guests by the pool.
Frank Lloyd Wright said,
"..how thoroughly you feel the flush of the joyful respect for such evidence as that people really do live their lives."
Yes indeedy.

We had a grand time.


We then made asses of ourselves among the zoo animals, the zebra and the lynx and the sculptures, the avaiary.


Hugged our new pals good bye as they donned their leathers for the ride home to Statesboro on their Harleys. Promises of getting finding the 1940 Lincoln Continental and getting together again very soon.

At 4pm I turned into a pumpkin and we headed back to the airport in Savannah. Yakking up a blue storm as the Old South faded in the rear view mirror.
Back on the plane to Charlotte was more full. My seatmate had a garage full of old corvettes.
David and I played hide and seek at the airport until I had him paged. "Would a 'Zeegar' please contact the Customer Service Desk to meet your party?"
I'm a party, meet me.
Dave's North Carolina is a party. I got a shower and found David and Bill (one4fun) watching "the Hire" DVD downstairs.
This time I got a ride from Bill in the Hurlmaker, him mischievously sandbagging at the yellow lights to leave Dave with a red one.
Rachel, Miata Slut.
By now every one of the lowered cars hit the speed bumps with me in the car. I am apparently a brick house. Be warned.
It was fun to be with them in the bar even though the Yankees lost the World Series. At least it was a great game and the Diamondbacks worthy opponents.
When they talked about autocrossing I got a totally different picture than what I saw in the Northeast. They had 180 cars lined up and ran until 6pm- even that was cutting it short for David to come and meet me at the airport.
They seem to have a far more collegial attitude. David said the organizers feel that they are a club which means they support each other. "If we don't help each other we wont have great events." Well said.
Certainly I felt utterly glam to be passenger in so many fabulous roadsters.
I found another cure for fear of flying is taking 2 or 3 flights. Every flight you take convinces you a little more that things are OK. The searches are pretty extensive actually. Zeegar's car was searched each time he came to the airport in Charlotte and so was ZeeJay's each time he came to Savannah Airport.
I finally saw the rocking chairs at Charlotte Airport as I left this morning. That is charming. Even more charming is the hydromassage chair I sat in for 10 minutes and fell in love with the night before at Savannah's airport.
This time the plane was packed. I ended up near the back in the middle. At 1hr 40 mins it's not a bad flight. We hit a lot of hard turbulence and that scared me like crazy. I kept repeating the mantra of facts I know about how air turbulence only appears to be dangerous, no plane has ever gone down due to turbulence, and the captain was very open and communicative and reassuring.
Still, I was pretty freaked out. The gentleman beside me was a big help and I later enlisted his help to get some shots of the fall leaves from the air.

The Statue Of Liberty

Yankee Stadium, World's Fairgrounds, Space Ships for Men In Black

Home.
It was quite beautiful as well as the Statue of Liberty and the island of Manhattan. When you fly into La Guardia you get this fabulous up close view. He did not succeed in getting those shots, being unfamiliar with the camera, but he did manage to get off a few.
I felt bad for the red caps at the airport, with the new security what can they do?
Once again I was happy and proud to return to my city.
Thanks y'all, see ya real soon!

Technical note:
I believe that Dave's 2.3 has the same hesitation as my car has now and that ZeeJay's does not. Feeling like the new clutches maybe have a problem?

Epilog:
I want to say something about traveling by plane after the attack, at the risk of becoming tiresome.
When people this far away hear I am from Manhattan, they either look at me with new eyes and ask if everyone was OK, or they are nonplussed.
The ones who ask if everyone is OK often have lost someone close to them, even if they are far from New York City.
The ones who are non-plussed feel like it is something that happened far away that has nothing to do with them.
I read in the paper - over the shoulder of the passenger next to me on one of the flights -that 3600 people had died the 30 years of Ireland's "troubles". I remembered reading about atrocities like the Ormaugh (sp?) bombing and feeling so terrible for those people.
3600 people in 30 years.
We lost 5000 in 100 minutes
Currently the big issue is whether to allow hundreds of firefighters to continue digging through the rubble at Ground Hero with their hands.
Mayor says no.
3800 people have not filed for death certificates, althouh they are eligable.
There are still many daily memorial services.
There was solidarity in the country. Everywhere had their flags out and it brought tears to my eyes each time. Even in Yemassee, stuck in an era long ago, there was a huge sign, "These Colors Don't Run".
Every check in at the airport was an extensive search, or two or three.
All the screeners I saw took it very seriously.
This is a free country, I intend to enjoy it.
There were a lot of moments where I remembered taking things for granted.
mashed their keyboards to get right here, I'll tell you what...since Nov 7, 2001
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