Now that I have mostly recovered from the last two weekends of racing, driving and uh-um, beer drinking; I have found time to blog the amazing five day weekend we had in the mountains of North Carolina. The foundation of our trip was attending the 8th annual
MINIs on the Dragon that happened last weekend in Graham County, NC but we also included some brewery stops and time for visiting friends along the way. In a way, our photos from the trip tell the story and speak for themselves but I'll share a few highlights for posterity.
Our first afternoon and evening was spent with good friends in Black Mountain where we stopped in
Pisgah Brewing to sample, sip and enjoy some of the fine craft beers they reserve for the population of the Asheville/WNC region. Unavailable in our area, Pisgah beers proved worthy of their hype. I was particularly fond of their Vortex I, Vortex II and Hellbender.
The following day took us to Asheville for lunch and beer samples at
Lexington Avenue Brewery, a new brew pub to the city dubbed 2009 Beer City USA. While the beer selection was minimal, our choices were good and the food was excellent. Our day continued with a drive west to Bryson City for a hike to several waterfalls and an attempted visit to WNC's latest brewery -
Nantahala Brewing Company. Unfortunately, I learned we were a day early to try their beer as the NC ABC permits had only just arrived and sampling would not start until the following day. Our next stop was our lodge at
Lakeview at Fontana, a great little place just outside Bryson City on a mountainside overlooking Fontana Lake.
After check-in, we hit the road again to explore some mountain twisties including a portion of the
Tail of the Dragon (NC Hwy 129) and the
Hellbender (NC Hwy 28) on our way to
Fontana Village. As expected, the village was engulfed in hundreds of MINI Coopers and their owners for as far as one could see. We took in the scene and had a nice dinner at the Fontana restaurant grill before a dark drive back to our lodge on the
Moonshiner (NC Hwy 28).
Our official participation in MOTD started the next day with an 8AM group drive of the Hellbender and the Dragon in a parade of well over 120 MINIs. While I did the driving, Michelle did the photography and kept her screams to a minimum as we negotiated the twisty curves of the Dragon from
Deal's Gap, NC into TN and back. Currently, the end of the Dragon (TN Hwy 129) is closed due to a rock slide however the state was kind enough to keep the road open for enthusiasts to drive in from NC to the end and back. The Dragon itself is known as an 11 mile stretch of road with 318 turns.
After surviving our first slaying of the dragon, we met a group in Fontana Village for a drive back east to Sylva, NC for another brewery tour at the
Heinzelmannchen Brewery. Heinzelmannchen is a small, family owned brewery that makes German style beers for the local area. This was the smallest brewery I have visited in NC to date but certainly one of the most enjoyable. Just like the brewery, Sylva was a cute and inviting small town that we enjoyed a tasty lunch in following the brewery drive and tour.
The day continued with a drive back west, stopping at our lodge to prepare for the evening and load up the car with beer we brought from Raleigh's
Big Boss Brewing for an event we had planned for that night in Fontana Village; the MOTD Brew Swap - more on that later. After yet another drive west on the Moonshiner, we returned to the village for the MINI car show and I left Michelle at the lodge to relax while I headed back towards Deal's Gap for an afternoon solo assault on the Dragon. Despite carrying over two cases of chilling craft beer in the trunk, I went out with the hopes of safely running the Dragon and getting some in-car video footage like I did
at VIR last November. As you can see below, I traveled the distance of the road nearly without interruption in a time of approximately 19 minutes.
The only holdups besides fear were a loan street biker who passed me in a curve and the two TN state troopers patrolling the road at all times. I was repeatedly radar clocked in both directions and even followed the last mile on my return trip to NC by one of the troopers. Luckily, I never really overdid it with my speed so no ticket for me. The speed limit on the Dragon is generally 30 MPH and 10 or 15 MPH in the curves. I was averaging 30 MPH in the curves and generally taking the straighter portions between 40-45 MPH. While I could have hit 60+ MPH in a few places, I really didn't want a ticket (or to die in a crash). Later I would find out that this was not the case for other MINI drivers.
Upon returning safely to the village, though a little late from stopping at Deal's Gap for some swag, Michelle and I had dinner again at the grill and geared up for the
Brew Swap. Definitely a highlight for me, the event was a blast and the Big Boss beer was a hit. I traded for all sorts of beers from all over the USA and met some great folks who like me, love both their MINI and good, craft beer. We got back to our lodge a bit late that night but with no scheduled events until 11 AM the next day, we finally called it a day.
With yet another warm and hopefully, dry day ahead, we set out Saturday to the village for the MOTD group photo. Not knowing what to expect, we arrived nearly last to park my car on the baseball field in the village with hundreds of other MINIs and their owners. It ended up being a lot of fun and a good way to see everyone's cars and their unique features and upgrades to styling.
We spent the rest of the day on our own exploring the region with more drives on Hwy 28 and Hwy 129 plus a visit to the
Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest and a drive on Hwy 19/74 along the Nantahala River to the gorge for a late lunch on the river. The lushness of the trees and foilage along the river was simply amazing. No matter where we explored that day, there were other MINIs and their owners nearby. It was as if all of Northwestern NC was a playground for MINI Coopers.
Having explored nearly all the main roads in the area, we decided for dinner to take a drive south on Hwy 28, the true twisty portion of the Moonshiner, for dinner. Despite slight rain showers, Michelle did the driving this time and we ended up eating a tasty Thai meal in the town of Franklin before taking the dark drive back to the lodge for the night.
The next morning, for our final day in the area, we took one last run up Hwy 28 and cut south to Robbinsville for another scenic loop of the Nantahala Gorge and return back to Hwy 28 before heading east to Asheville. After a great lunch in Asheville, we stopped in our favorite Asheville brewery along the train tracks in the
River Arts District.
Wedge Brewery which also only serves the local area and doesn't even bottle their beers but is worthy of the trip alone. I am a big fan of their 3rd Rail Ale Double IPA, their Golem Belgian and their Russian Imperial Stout.On our way home to the Triangle, we were able to also stop in Greensboro for a quick dinner at the Old Town Draught House and some
Natty Greene's Brewery pints with friends who we also joined for the
Beer Run in March.
That quickly sums up our wonderful spring MINIcation/Beercation to Western NC for MINIs on the Dragon but in no way tells of all the great folks we met and the experiences we brought back from the trip. I predict there will be a return trip to MOTD for us one day.
