I think that Smoky Mountain MINIs (the club hosting this year), will be providing the rules and regs soon. However, you might have STIFF competition from little old ME.

But anyway, I see you are talking to "Nut"tie -- using my description of Summer Camp for Adults. I love it there, esp. when you walk up to the dream world of a MINI in every driveway.

Hugs,
PB

 

Hi folks,

I snagged me a room at the Inn! I just bought a Cabrio, saw this thread and say "I gotta go!" Fortunately Fontana still has some of the regular rooms available.

I plan to arrive a few days earlier and drive around. There are some amazing roads in the Deals Gap area. Anyone check out the Cherohala Skyway? It's a beautiful road that takes you up to 6000 feet in the mountains.

I've driven down in the Deals Gap area a lot but I am really looking forward to driving my new Cabrio down there and meeting fellow MINI owners and drivers. This will be the first time I've ever attended an organized event and it should be fun. Sounds like a blast. I love everyone's enthusiasm!

Is it really only January?

 

Yeah Another topless beauty joining the fun Welcome aboard Topless Yeller:smile:

Lois

 

Oooooh! Only 115 days to go! It will ZOOM by, too! Hmmm...I think I'll start my packlist! Now that I have my Garmin 2610 system, "Navi" will guide me, leaving extra room for more shoes! YAY!


Clover

 

shoes are good - but don't forget some tough, sexy boots too!

 

Ah yes, Rye....boots are a subset of shoes....I will always bring several pairs of boots! YAY! And without all the AAA books and atlases, I'll have more room for the bootsies!

Clover

 

Boots in your Boot?

But, Clo, the important question isn't how many pairs of shoes, boots, shoe boots, and flip flops you will bring....it is how many pairs will you actually WEAR???

There's the driving shoes and the black flip flops....

Hugs,
PB

 

:smile: Thank you! Glad to be aboard! I'm wondering just how many Cabrios will be down there. Nothing like driving the Dragon topless.

 

I'll be there!! And hopefully topless...Gary II isn't in production yet, so I hope he will be here by then!! We will be staying at Topoco Lodge with all the other Atlanta Minis. I'm sure this year will be great...last year was a blast!! Can't wait to see everyone!

 

And I hope so to.

 

and no 2 hour waiting lines

 

With all of this TOPLESS talk, me thinks there should be some additional competition , to see whose topless is the nicest ,,,,,,maybe after the chili cookoff, someone bring a kids' swimming pool and lots of ice water

 

Well, it is rumoured that Smoky Mountain MINIs will be icing down beverages in a MINI Drinkmobile that just happens to be a MINI blow up wading pool........but I am not sure how many of us want to see all you guys topless like that.

 

and i was just out practicing in the snow

 

Well, OK, only if we can pick the guys. Anybody want to start a thread on that??

 

Things to do.


Make reservations for MOTD - Done
Get in shape for Topless competion - to do

 

 

^^^^^ i did my nip-ups out in the snow this morning

 

A bit off topic but I've been reading through this thread and am rather curious. I'd gone on a few Miata drives when I had my MR2 Spyder. Spyders are rather rare in my area so I'd often drive with the local Miatas.

I never went to their big event at the Gap but heard about it and we had similar gatherings for the Spyder as well. The Miatas seem to get about 500 cars there. What about that event that you didn't like or agree with? What kind of feedback did you get from the Miata crowd? Seems to me the event is rather loosely organized and not at a very good time of the year and I can only imagine how difficult it would be to organize hundreds of cars in one place.

IMO, early spring is a much better time of year. The Deals Gap area is less crowded, the weather is better, the police presence doesn't seem to be as prevalent and getting a hotel room is much easier.

RE Spiders: I've stayed at the Fontana before and the only "spider" was the one I was driving.

There are some beautiful roads besides the Dragon in the area. Do you have plans to organize drives on those roads as well?

Reading through this thread has really gotten me excited about this event but trust me, you don't want to see me without my shirt off.

 

You hit it right on the head. It seems that a lot of the Miata crowd (at least this past year) are growing tired of the randow free-for-all that the gathering has become. In addition it seemed that people didn't seem to be mixing all that much, there were groups hanging together at Fontana, and at Tapoco, but nobody really seemed to be mixing and mingling that much.

The other issues were just the time of year... Good god was it HOT!!!! I saw some guy walking down the street just burst into flames!!!

 

July is NOT the best time of the year to organize outdoor events in the south, even in the mountains, unless you have access to a large body of water and many kegs of beer to consume. I can imagine that the cars don't appreciate the heat either.

I'm not quite sure why they have it that time of year except for tradition and most people are smart enough not to. The weather is HHH. HOT, HUMID and HAZY. You feel like you are in HELL. Then you get these sudden daily cloudbursts and thunderstorms in the mountains that are always fun.

The Spyder events were much smaller and we'd have them in either early spring or late fall. The weather is perfect then. Plus we'd try and all stay in one or two locations. That made organizing drives and dinners much easier and things were much more "festive" as a result. I think people like to feel like they are going to something special and if you don't give them a reason to go they eventually will stop going.

 

It was pointed out by management at Fontana that the time of year seems to be one thing working against the Miata crowd. They book many groups for a week or two that time of the year, but the Miata crowd rents rooms for the weekend only. This means at the peek of their season they must turn away long term rentals because of that two day period.

The early May time frame the MINIs visit is the beginning of the season and everyone in the area loves the revenue we bring to the area that time of the year.

To have several organized events is nice, but people have to realize not every second of the day will have something planned so you’ll need to take advantage of the beautiful area you’ll be visiting and get out on your own to discover what’s out there.

Last year some of us from Sunshine MINIs did a jet boat ride and that was a blast. There are many things to do in the local area other than drive so use you imagination and have a great time.

 

And the local Chamber of Commerce will be providing us with lots of brochures and guides so that we all know what's around to check out!

 

I think you have to strike a good balance. Too organized isn't good either. People start to feel strangled and it's alot of pressure on the organizers. In the end no one will have a good time. People like to be able to kick back and relax as well.

There's tons to do and see down there. Like I said, there are a bunch of wonderful roads and things like white water rafting, canoeing and you can go shopping in Cherokee and Gatlinburg. Up in Tennessee you can go to Pigeon Forge and there's tons to do there.

I'm actually going there earlier in the week so I can drive around and check things out. Great roads down in north Georgia as well as North Carolina.

 

Speaking of reservations... After learning here that there would not be maid service at the cabins, I called Fontana to ask about the possibility of obtaining maid service if we paid extra. The OL NutCabin wil be home to quite of few of us from the OL, and many more who are planning to make it their Hqs for everything except sleeping! It seems likely that it will need some cleaning in order to be habitable for those of us who are actually staying there! Especially in light of a four night stay!!

Since there isn't an easy way to arrange for maid service at an extra charge thru Fontana Village, I wondered if any of you had any ideas on how we could arrange for this??