[JimD]

The Performance Center is adjacent to the manufacturing facility which is BMW's only plant in the U. S.. I'm sure they got a lot of tax breaks from SC and the other taxing authorities when they built it. They are finishing a $100M expansion to the manufacturing plant they started before the economic downturn. There is a small museum at the manufacturing plant that anybody can visit, I think.

This area is also just south of the foothills of the Alleghany mountains. There are a number of scenic drives headed mainly to the northeast. I was messing around on the Garmin website yesterday and noticed they now offer a scenic route software upgrade of some sort - might be an option for those planning a trip home if they have a Garmin. Asheville is less than 2 hours north (Biltmore mansion, Grove Park Inn, etc.). The SC shore would be about 3 hours to the east. There are other things to do in the area, in other words.

Jim