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There is just so much great stuff in the area of the Dragon:
-a Best Western right on a river
-a county full of waterfalls
-many great additional roads to drive
-50 story dam to drive over
The most important thing is good weather. If you want I can provide you with info and photos and route suggestions.
We would be very interested in going with you if the time of year provided a high probability of good weather. We had to abandon the area one trip due to rain and cool temperatures - from personal experience this is no fun
If you are considering BRP then I might suggest close to same as the trip we took this summer. Actually, even with 4 days I might suggest first day to get to base of Shenandoahs (Front Royal) and rest for the night...early morning as the Top of the Blue ridge is amazing early morning with the clouds right there, Day 2 Shenandoahs and BRP to Bristol, Day 3 Bristol to 421 Snake Run then to Fontana Lodge at the Tail. On this day there is still lots of time for Tail of the Dragon and area. Day 4 Dragon in the am and then up to BG... Day 5 BG and back. I am just throwing it out there to get all the absolute best driving and best scenery imaginable. That is exactly what I did this summer in the trip... AMAZING! The report below (23 Days) refers, has maps, piks and Vid...
Sounds good Les, but I wouldn't want to make it boring for you.
If you can get me a list of where you stayed, I can call them up and arrange for bookings for us. I can also check other places in town and put together a list for everyone to call up and make reservations.
Will also need to know about stops along the way where we can take in the sites, maybe take some snaps, either individually or as a group.
Can do...will help out however I can. I have done this loop in some form or another a few times... I don't think I could ever get bored of it. Now Karen getting a bit frustrated at my enthusiasm...thats a diff story. There are a few GREAT tunnels on BRP as well.
Stops? eheh Just kidding. There are plenty of scenic lookouts, restaurants, gift shops, and other things to stop at along the way. You might be best off just to make that decision on the go.
As for accomodations...ummm...I will e-mail as our hotel in Front Royale was not what many might stay in. Just a bed too me ...
On the other hand...Fontana Village Resort is amazing!
I did this trip in May 2015. The Best Western hotel 1 exit south of the museum was really good to stay in.
As for driving the dragon, be very careful of state troopers there. Once on the dragon, be wary of motorcycles. One side is a ditch/hill, the other side is a cliff.
If the route is via Front Royal the nearby Luray caverns and car museum is a must see. The section of the Blue Ridge Parkway at Front Royal is called Skyline Drive. We have driven this three times when they used to have the Spring and Fall Corvette drives down Skyline Drive. Members of the Virginia club were on these drives.
Corvette clubs often stop at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville and go to the Dragon via Hellbender 28. They often stay at the Fontana Village Inn. We have done this ourselves.
The important thing is to be on the Dragon on a week day, preferably in the morning to avoid traffic.
Hey Stan .....those dates are good for me ... lots of planning goes in to something like this ... Very interested on this tour/run ...
I would take a extra day to be in Toronto a day early ... I will talk with people from our Ottawa club to see if any interest ...
My parents spent 2-3 months around Nashville every winter for 10 years up until 2012.
Graceland, IMO is waste of time. Unless your a diehard Elvis fan. Eh. old house, old stuff. Self guided walking tour, they (at one time) gave you a walkman and a tape to play and It'd tell you about what your looking at. Mepis is a ways west of where you guys are planning on going
BelleMeade Plantation is a much better tour bellemeadeplantation.com
The Jack Daniels Distillary tour is great, the booze, IMO, not so much. Lynchburg TN is about 1.5 hrs south/south east of Nashville.
[QUOTE=Graceland, IMO is waste of time. Unless your a diehard Elvis fan. Eh. old house, old stuff.
well, what would you expect when was built many decades ago ? they are trying to preserve the original buildings of the era, is not something they want to reno every few years.
Graceland, IMO is waste of time. Unless your a diehard Elvis fan. Eh. old house, old stuff. Self guided walking tour, they (at one time) gave you a walkman and a tape to play and It'd tell you about what your looking at. Mepis is a ways west of where you guys are planning on going
Sorry Mike but I have to disagree with you there. We did a two week trek in our C5 three years ago through St. Louis, Memphis, Nashville, Ashville, Altoona... etc and Graceland was one of the high points of the trip. Although I am an Elvis fan, friends of ours who aren't, were amazed with the whole experience they offered. Don't forget there is a lot more then the mansion to go through. Across the street is another 4 hours of entertainment. Whoever goes on this trek will truly enjoy it... as long as it isn't 110 degrees every day like it was for us. Imagine.. driving top down through Pigeon Forge... 110 degrees... top down with the AC blasting. That was interesting.
By the way, if you happen to go through St. Louis.. THIS is the place to go: http://www.broadwayoysterbar.com/menu.html
Sorry Mike but I have to disagree with you there. We did a two week trek in our C5 three years ago through St. Louis, Memphis, Nashville, Ashville, Altoona... etc and Graceland was one of the high points of the trip. Although I am an Elvis fan, friends of ours who aren't, were amazed with the whole experience they offered. Don't forget there is a lot more then the mansion to go through. Across the street is another 4 hours of entertainment. Whoever goes on this trek will truly enjoy it... as long as it isn't 110 degrees every day like it was for us. Imagine.. driving top down through Pigeon Forge... 110 degrees... top down with the AC blasting. That was interesting.
By the way, if you happen to go through St. Louis.. THIS is the place to go: http://www.broadwayoysterbar.com/menu.html
Gotta agree with Paul on this! If you're not an Elvis fan before visiting Graceland, odds are you will be afterwards!
Great fun - We've been several times and it's always interesting. Cheesy? Of course - it's preserved to be as it was when it was his home. It's a very historic site and there's good reason that 38 years after Elvis' death, he remains #2 among top earning dead celebrities. REMEMBER THE KING!
Been to Memphis and the town is amazing although Graceland IMHO is vastly overrated and outdated. It would be great to see the cars lined up and pictured in the area of Beale St. There is also an amazing rib joint called The Rendezvous that I wouldn't mind visiting once again. The concern that might transpire, however, is timing and route planning, to include of course that Memphis isn't the safest overnight venture in the US. In addition, the drivers and roadways once you near Memphis from Nashville are horrid... I have never seen worse drivers anywhere to date.
1. Tail of the Dragon.
2. Bowling Green Corvette Plant and Museum Tours. Maybe the track too.
3. Everything else is a bonus, if we have/make the time.
Once I get confirmation on time and date from the Museum in regards to tour times and dates, that will drive our departure date/time + route to and from. Bowling Green might in fact end up being a 2 day/2 night, I don't know yet.
I will be adjusting the route as I am thinking of limiting driving time to about 8-9 hours a day. With a few stretching stops along the way. If we go with a large contingent, we will get separated, so it will be good to have gathering stops along the way as well.
Been looking at Google Maps, and here is what I'm thinking at this time for a route. Will change as more people chime in. I'm expecting a few from Piedmont/Virginia clubs so they may have additional routes and ideas.
Day 1.
- From Toronto to Fort Erie and cross over into the U.S.
- Make our way to somewhere around Hagerstown, Maryland (90/79/70) for our first over night stop. This is about 9 hours of driving, add about 4 hours worth of stops and a day goes by pretty quickly.
Day2.
- Make our way down 81 to Blue Ridge Parkway and follow that to the Asheville, North Carolina area for our 2nd nights stay. (7 hours driving)
Day 3.
- Next morning (129/Tail/40/65), do the Tail and end up in Bowling Green for our 3rd night stay. (6 hours driving) Might be mid afternoon by this time, we can make our way into Nashville for dinner and some sight seeing. Yeah I forgot that Graceland is actually in Memphis and not Nashville so that's probably out. However, since some of those interested in going have been on the museum and plant tour, they can always drive up to Graceland and meet us back in Bowling Green. (BG to M is about 5 hours driving one way)
Day 4.
- Next day, spend the day at the Plant and the museum and maybe do something with that new race track.
Day 5.
- Head to Indianapolis (4 hours) and one last night's stay. If anyone wants to continue on tho, Sarnia is only about 7 hours away and Toronto another 4 hours after that. Could be pulling into Toronto around 11pm to midnight on Day 5 if you choose.
OR
Day 6. (Pending)
If there's time, maybe stop at the Speedway Hall of Fame Museum, grab lunch somewhere and then make our way up to Sarnia (7 hours - 65/70/75/94) and then homeward bound (Sarnia 401 to Toronto is about 4 hours).
Where is Rowland Creek? And.. the Blue Ridge Parkway is 45mph MAX. 25 in some spots.
45 is 70kph so not too bad. The 25 is only 40 and that is a problem. Besides, Blue Ridge Parkway is not for spirited runs anyways. It's more for the scenic take your time cruise. And if no one wants to do it because of the speed, we can always stick to the highways.
And yeah, I can't find Rowland Creek anymore. Now I'm not even sure where I got that from. Gotta stop taking shrooms I guess.
How about we end up in Asheville, North Carolina for the night. And from there head up to Bowling Green. (74/129/Tail/411/321/40/53/25/10/141/231...Geez they change their highway numbers a lot for short distances.)
Google Blowing Rock NC Stan and also Grandfather Mountain. Just off the BRP, top of the mountain and just a wonderful drive up or down hwy 221. Twisties, twisties, twisties.... then on to Asheville.
If you are going to Hagerstown you are very near Harper's Ferry - a really cool place. Google it and see the pictures. Each street is about 15 feet lower than the next. They dug a canal all the way from the ocean to this mountain town. You can see everything in about 1-1 1/2 hours.
You could take an alternate route to Asheville by staying on 79. A cool stop is the New River Gorge Bridge. You can take a one lane paved road that goes under the 886 foot high bridge and snakes all the way down to an old steel bridge that goes over the white water river. The road goes back up the other side to the main highway.
Dam, I should learn how to post pictures! Maybe everyone should post pictures of cool places on the way to the Dragon?
If you are going to Hagerstown you are very near Harper's Ferry - a really cool place. Google it and see the pictures. Each street is about 15 feet lower than the next. They dug a canal all the way from the ocean to this mountain town. You can see everything in about 1-1 1/2 hours.
You could take an alternate route to Asheville by staying on 79. A cool stop is the New River Gorge Bridge. You can take a one lane paved road that goes under the 886 foot high bridge and snakes all the way down to an old steel bridge that goes over the white water river. The road goes back up the other side to the main highway.
Dam, I should learn how to post pictures! Maybe everyone should post pictures of cool places on the way to the Dragon?
That sounds really cool Rich. I'll check that out.
The Blue Ridge Parkway is nice. but tends to get boring after an hour or so, due to the speed limit & motor-homes.
The roads at the bottom of the BRP are great, and you can make time as well as see beautiful country.
That is why I mentioned the Shenandoah over BRP. Shenandoah (still Blue Ridge) is newly paved and very well maintained whereas BRP can be a mess in areas with local traffic overwhelming. I still remember getting stuck behind a farm implement some years back for well over an hour plus.. The Shenandoahs are a scenic route, unlike the Parkway which is also a local road through the mountains.
11-28-2015, 03:05 PM
we'll be so tired from driving that a pillow is all we'll need 
Imagine.. driving top down through Pigeon Forge... 110 degrees... top down with the AC blasting. That was interesting.
