I'm remembering something about a multi-state drive that happened last year on Saturday... does anyone know anything about it? Is it planned for 2006? It probably included the Cherohala Skyway (I'm driving it on the way there) and other fun roads.

I'm not from the area, but I've been trying to do my research on driving websites.

If there isn't something else planned, I may try this on Saturday, to get some different scenery:

Round and Thru the Smokeys: http://maps.yahoo.com/beta/index.php...33970442&mag=6

This route heads west out of Fontana Village, going across the Dragon and up towards Pigeon Forge, before taking a nice scenic twisty drive down "Little River Road" that goes through the north side of the park. It then catches 441 and goes South-East over "The Big Hump" and circles back down to Fontana through Bryson City, returning via a section of "The Little Dragon"


On my way to Fontana on Thursday morning, the Dallas caravan (2 MINIs so far) is meeting up with some folks from Houston (and anyone else who wants to meet up) near Cleveland, TN and taking this route:

Twisties to the Dragon: http://maps.yahoo.com/beta/index.php...46178544&mag=8

This route starts in Cleveland, TN, which is a bit North-East of Chatanooga. It runs along the "Ocoee River Road" (recommended by several motorcycle sites) runs up to the Cherohala Scenic Skyway and then hits Fontana Village.


Does anyone have feedback on these drives? Anyone wanna come along?

 

agranger, I asked that ? in the discussion thread, and Mark says their are no plans for a drive this year, but i have heard that their will be a board at the Adventure Center for people to sign for some activities, not sure what they will be. Check out the discussion thread for ?'s asked. We plan on doing the Do it yourself drives, and I'm sure their will be alot of others doing this too. Hope this helps.

Mike

2003 CR/B MCS

 

That is correct, there aren't any official drives this year, with the exception of the Parade on the Dragon on Friday (Cinco de Mayo).

The plan is to have a whiteboard in a central location so anyone who wants to schedule/run a drive can post the info and alert other people. That said this forum is another great place to coordinate things before getting down to the dragon. All the "official" events are listed on the MOTD page so you can plan around things.

 

agranger vbmenu_register("postmenu_862724", true);
5th Gear
I live in the area and the routes you picked are some of the fun roads I take when I am out in the MiniS. I see the trip would take about 4 hours - non-stop. You will probably want to stop and take some pics along the way. It is a beutiful route and very scenic. You go from the tops of the mountains, down along the creeks and rivers. Back to the top of the mountains.
The route in is probably as fast as the 129, as you know, it is a slow trip in that way. It is also picturesk.
I can provide some info on places to stop for lunch or hicks while doing the fun drive. We can probably put a questionare together so you have things to look for while you are out driving. Maybe a prize for most right answers - no locals allowed to compete.
Drop me a note wgeise@aol.com or post here.
Bill Geise - a.k.a mellow yellow

 

Mellowyellow: Thanks for the feedback! It's always to have a local's perspective.

I was looking for a nice, scenic drive for Saturday some time and a spirited drive for my way in on Thursday morning/afternoon with a small group.

Some kind of road rally would be cool, but I wouldn't want to do it on roads I don't know that are kinda twisty... especially without a navigator to do the clue finding. I figured that, by Saturday, I'l be looking for something more peaceful.

I would LOVE to have a local suggest the best photograpic stops, places to eat (somewhere on the north side of the park maybe? Miller Cove, Sunshine, Townsend, Bethel, Wear Valley) and anything else that might be of interest.

 

Has anyone been to Smokey Joes BBQ in Townsend?

 

Yup.....good BBQ, plain and simple, and clean too. I've eaten there before as I live not too far away and a bunch of us (MINIs) ate there while I "graded" answers for the touring rallye year before last. There are tables in a back room overlooking the river. Also, if you are going to have a number of diners, call and give them a bit of warning and they will be better able to accomodate.

 

This is one of the reasons I love NAM! Thanks QueenB!

I made a slight modification to the 'round the smokeys' route this morning to capture a nice twisty road through the park.

Does anyone know if there is an admission fee to drive thru the Smokey Mountain National Park? (the entrance near Smokey Joe's in Townsend?)

 

No, there is no fee. I will warn you, the Townsend area will be rather trafficky that Saturday as the 5th and 6th are a big heritage festival. The few restaurants will be very busy in the area. The festival might be of interest to some though.

 

Well that's a shame. Only one motoring event planned for the whole weekend. No rally this year either. I would have signed up for the Jarrett House & Dilsboro Excursion but only 30 MINIs were allowed to participate. I guess the social events will be the only things to do since I'm not into mods or autox.

 

That's not entirely true, while there is only one organized drive there is nothing saying that you can't get a bunch of your new friends together and go driving. The guide that is being provided with all registrations will contain quite a few routes around the area. So it's not like you're being completely left in the dark with nothing to do.

I think the reasoning behind the lack of pre-announced planned drives is because of something you hit upon in your post. Drives had to be limited to the number of cars. As much fun as it sounds to have 100 cars on a single drive it can be a real nightmare.

As is mentioned in the general information post made by Edge, the event is grassroots, thus if no one steps up to organize a drive, there aren't going to be any organized drives.

 

I'm not a local, so my navigation might be a smidge off, but I'm planning to do the "Round and Thru the Smokey's" drive described in the first post around 10am on Saturday, hoping to stop at Smoky Joe's around noon for a BBQ lunch.

I'd love to put some faces with the screen names I've been seeing for years, so please come along!

Feel free to throw your name in here to 'sign up'... I'll post the drive on the whiteboard that will be in the activity center and I'll try to come with several sets of directions, just in case the group gets large...

Anyone else interested in a scenic drive on Satuday?

 

I thought the purpose of NAM and the DC MINIs taking over MOTD was to plan organized events. Although the social events look well planned (despite the $20.00+ cost per meal), I'm disappointed to see so little motoring events on the official schedule.

 

My local club has been questioning the need for insurance... for something resembling a 'sponsored' event (organized by the club), would that make the club liable for the death of a member??? Some clubs have learned that, yes, it does make them legaly liable, even if the member was speeding (and was told not to) and had signed a waiver saying that the club was not liable. His surviving family got upset, sued the club and won (or so I remember the conversation going... details, like my memory, may not be perfect).

This might give some clubs pause before they take on a long-ish drive with a lot of people they don't know...

I, as an individual going out for a nice drive, however, have no liability for the people who choose to follow along. I hope that lots of you join me!

Please keep the tone positive for all of the fine folks who are organizing MOTD 2006. They are doing a hell of a job orchestrating all of this and they are giving up their driving time on that weekend (and other weekends for planning, calling, organizing, etc) to help give us the opportunity to get together and have some fun! Other than the aformentioned $20+ price for a hamburger dinner (probably due to the remote location and lack of choice for catering... not any fault of their own), I am very, Very, VERY pleased to have the opportunity to gather w/ my fellow MINI enthusiasts and get a bit of driving in as well! Some good beer and cigars (not when driving) are also in my future, to make it even better!

 

As far as insurance goes, I thought the $5.00 registration fee was suppose to take care of those issues. Perhaps it doesn't cover an individual registered attendee who would like to organize an official event?

Regardless of what is planned and what isn't we'll still have a good time. You just can't go wrong when a MINI is involved. But those 20 buck burgers better be REAL good!!

 

I forgot about that! Oh well... the folks putting this together are tops in my book!