We are getting a nice number of Corvetteforum members joining us in our drive in the mountains as well as other activities. This should be a very fun adventure with the group....more later...Mea

My wife and I would like to attend this gathering if it takes place in the NC, SC, GA, AL, east TN or Bowling Green, Ky area. If Deals Gap gets the nod there are upscale accomadations at a place called Snowbird Mountain Lodge in Robbinsville, NC. Its just a 20 or so minute ride to Deals Gap and the "Tail of the Dragon". Fun road-short-but fun. There are other reasonably priced hotels in the area, but Snowbird Lodge is a real treat in and of itself.
Lots of mountain trails on the grounds and a beautiful setting. If memory serves me, a bag lunch and a 5 star meal are included in the price. Great wine cellar too. That I do remember. It only has 20 or so rooms though. Also nearby and a nice ride is the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. At the forest (limited parking), a 2 mile round trip hike will take you to some of the largest, if not the largest, Yellow Poplar trees in the US.

All this is about 100 miles west of Ashville.

Thanks

Jack & Lynda

Jack & Lynda,

We would love to have you join us! We will be staying within a few miles of the Estates, perhaps downtown, where there is plenty to do and see. Plus the road tour...we have been getting a very nice welcome about this on the Corvetteforum...many locals are interested in joining the fun & offering some great info on the roads, restaurants...etc. We are also planning to visit a waterfall on our route. It will be a great XLR-Corvette snake. Lots of photo opportunities, Kathy and I are ready to take some great pictures!
More the merrier!
Mea

Biltmore trip overnight accomodations: Few of us will stay at the newly remodeled Holiday Inn Biltmore West. Rates online are only $96 plus tax. Convenient to Biltmore and downtown. Plenty of hotels available closer to Biltmore or downtown.
We will start looking into restaurant options to meet in with locals wanting to join the drive and a meal or two.
Sounds like quite a few of you already are with us for the drive & lunch...maybe even dinner! Looking forward to meeting you all with your babies and taking some great pictures!
Suggestions are appreciated for places to eat.
We will tour the Biltmore on Friday, anyone interested please let us know or if you would like to join us for dinner. I am assuming we will have lunch at the Biltmore.
Many of you have suggested great roads to drive on for our Corvette snake on Saturday (weather permitting). We will map them out and plan a nice drive and waterfall stop. Probably no more than 3-4 hours. Anyone interested for Saturday lunch or dinner, let us know so we can plan place and time. Once we figure out all the places to meet up, we will post them. Thanks and ! Mea

Here is what we have so far:
Biltmore trip/lunch
Vettin Man -2
Bruce & Kathy
Paul & Mea
Bob & Paula-maybe
Jack & Lynda

Saturday Drive/lunch
Vettin Man
Leadfoot88
1truL48
RockinC6
JPBabyRange
NC_EB_Z06
Bruce & Kathy
Jack & Lynda
Paul & Mea
Bob & Paula-maybe
Catbert-maybe

I'm thinking Windi and I would like to join you on the biltmore trip too.

We would love to have you join us! Mea

Hi Y'all,

We are very glad to be back home to sunny weather and temp in the 70's.
Let's just say, we were chilly-!
The poor car has experienced snow I would say for the first and last time! and of all places, Georgia.
Paul really enjoyed the drive on 215 & 276 and I enjoyed the great scenery!!! We had the roads all to ourselves, literally...we saw a total of 5 cars pass us going the other direction on the entire mountain! No one in our direction, so we were able to stop and take pictures. Parkway was closed, which made us drive all the other great roads...what a treat!
Weather was actually not that bad...some rain, cloudy, but very enjoyable. I can just imagine how beautiful it will be at the end of April!!!
I will post some pictures, and the route we took. We have a better understanding of the speeds, roads, etc. The roads we did take, the only place to stop with many cars is Sliding Rock Park and less cars at Looking Glass Falls. The two are fairly close together, so we can stop at the Park for a break & pictures. We may have to split the group up to stop at the Looking Glass falls, but it will depend on how many cars we have and how busy it is that Saturday. Fortunately it is after the Sliding Rock, so Paul and I can go ahead and scope it out.
It was a great road trip, first one for our baby Z06. He seemed to enjoy it, except for the snow!
It should be a great drive for all of us in April. I will have the camera ready and charged!
Thanks to all you locals for your help! Mea

Stop at the Sliding Rock Park.

Looking Glass Falls quick stop.

Awesome drive on 215







Driving out of the Biltmore Estates entrance.

Biltmore Village

Here is what we enjoyed : in Commerce, Georgia on our way home... :ack:

Mea
We just made reservations at the Biltmore West. We wanted a non smoking king but they only had a smoking room left in the kings. At least nine non smoking queens are left. Point being is that folks who are attending probably need to book now.
We will be around for Saturday night dinner also.

Thanks
Jack

Sorry I have not posted anything recently...we've been really busy . After Sebring Races (after the 23rd) I will have time to go over the attendees and make some more planning and give you all schedules of the get togethers, dinners, drive, etc.
This is becoming a bigger turnout than expected for the drive and lunch on Saturday, which is great!
Thank you for your patience!

Jack, that is wonderful! See you next month, it should be a fun and active 2 full days.

Mea

Hi gang,

So far we have 12 cars confirmed for the drive on Saturday and some of those for the Friday Biltmore Estates tour. We have 21 cars that are possibles/would like to go. So we may end up with 2 dozen cars for the drive & lunch!
Will post more once I get the plans in order.
Thanks, Mea

Hi Y'all,

I was thinking meeting at IHOP for or after breakfast, they have a big enough parking lot. Then head counter clockwise and end up having lunch on the Parkway at the Pisgah Inn, then finish at the BRP & 191.
Does that sound like we can all make it there for lunch between noon and 1pm-ish if we leave around 8:30 am or so? We would make stops at the sliding rock and the looking glass falls then head back North to the Parkway and head East. There is not many places to pull over for breaks along the route that we could see. Definitely not on 215. We still have not driven the Parkway, there may be areas there, depends on how many cars we will have. You locals might know if over a dozen cars can pull over together on the Parkway entrance at 215 heading East.
After the drive, I think we will head to downtown or to the Village to relax. I am worried about not being able to park all the cars together safely. When we were driving through downtown near Haywood, Patton area, I did not find it safe or a good place to park our cars.

It would be helpful if you locals know of a nice spot for us all to have dinner, where we can all park safely and easily. It does not have to be downtown. Hwy 19 North of I-40 and I-240 has quite a few places to eat that looked good with plenty of parking. Downtown scared me a bit....maybe I was in the wrong area?

I will have to do a head-count after Sebring, we will need to book our tickets to the Biltmore for Friday, and finalize the Saturday drive with lunch and figure out where to for dinner and chat.

Mea

This looks to be the route that we are entertaining.