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MINIs & Minis Tips & Tricks Local Service Reference |
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Deal’s Gap, NC
MINIs on the Dragon 2011 (MOTD 9) Video
Fontana Dam Road to Lake Chilhowee Turn-Around (South to North)
Best Dragon video ever by the River Region’s own, DarthAlex
Parade Part 1 Parade Part 2 Parade Part 3
MrWonChong’s Tail of the Dragon 2011 Video –
Tabcat Bridge to Deal’s Gap (North to South)
Part 1 Part 2
On the Tail of the Dragon
“Killboy” shot from “Picnic Table” corner, mile marker 7.1
“Killboy” shot up toward “Guardrail Cliff”, mile marker 7.2
Tail of the Dragon & Cherohala Skyway
One of our grandsons’ birthday falls in the last week in April, so a weekend with “MINIs on the Dragon”, which is held at this same time each year, is pretty much out of the question. Inasmuch as “slaying the dragon” is a rite of passage for many MINI owners; we decided to try it on our own. Our three-day trip consisted of one day driving up, one day dedicated to driving the scenic roads, and a day driving back home. In the interest of time, we took the interstates through Atlanta up and back. Going up, we took US 19 through Cumming, Dahlonega, Blairsville, and once in North Carolina, Murphy, Andrews, Topton, then Robbinsville and Deal’s Gap on US 129, and NC 28 to Fontana Village. Just north of Cumming GA, I spotted a red and black Bugatti Veyron stopped at a traffic light — the first I’ve ever actually seen on the streets. The 13 mile stretch between Dahlonega to the point where 19 merges with US 129 was a nice warm-up act for the Dragon. We stopped for food and fuel in Blairsville, where we spotted two other pepper white MINIs – one Clubman and one “justa” coupe. After a thoroughly fun drive on US 129 from Topton, through Robbisville, we passed the Cheoah Dam, better know as the “Fugitive Dam” for the famous scene in that Harrison Ford movie. Turning off of 129 at the southern end of the “Tail of the Dragon” at Deal’s Gap Motorcycle Resort, we were finally on the road down NC 28, nicknamed “The Hellbender”, (in an apparent reference to the salamander being a smaller cousin of the dragon). We arrived at the Lodge in Fontana Village right at the 4:00PM EDST check-in time. After settling in and walking around the campus, we decided to drive the 30 miles back down to Robbinsville to eat supper. Just a few miles on the Hellbender, Cathy spotted a black bear coming up from a drink at Cheoah Lake. We ate at Lynn’s Place Restaurant on East Main Street in Robbinsville. Cathy had the broiled trout and I had the Cherohala Chicken. Both were very good and the service was prompt and down-home friendly. We arrived back at Fontana in deep dusk and took the road that leads to the base of the dam to see it silhouetted against the twilight sky.
We over-slept Wednesday morning. It was already 10:00 when I checked the time. We were on the road again by 11:30 with the first stop scheduled for the Deal’s Gap Motorcycle Resort store to pick up some dragon stickers for the MINI. We arrived to find wall-to-wall motorcycles with no place to park. Sooo, we proceeded north on US 129 to slay the Dragon.
In preparation for the trip, we had read that:
1) This was fertile ground for revenue enhancement by the Tennessee Highway Patrol aka LEOs (Law Enforcement Officers) and that you exceed the 30 MPH speed limit at your peril.
2) It is imperative that motorist stay between the solid yellow and solid white lines that define the lanes in each direction for the entire eleven miles. In Dragon Slayer jargon, this is called: “Keeping it between the Mustard and the Mayonnaise”.
3) In deference to more experienced (read, aggressive) drivers of both two and four-wheeled vehicles, to use the occasional pull-off areas as a courtesy when they’re approaching quickly or filling your mirrors.
Actually, this was our second drive of what is now know as the “Tail of the Dragon”. Our first was in the summer of 1972 in Cathy’s 1970 Chevelle Malibu. I had dubbed that stretch of 129 back then as “The Crookedest Road in the World”. “The Dragon” rolls off the tongue much easier and this time was a much better ride. The cambered corners and smooth asphalt on this constantly moving road is what makes it the ultimate motoring experience. Even at midday, virtually all of the Dragon was covered by a canopy of hardwood shade. Cathy explained that the “Slide Area” signs denoted rock-slide areas — not how you should execute the corner. Eleven miles and 318 curves later, we crossed the Tabcat bridge in amazingly good time. The only harrowing moment was when a ninja bike passed me with both of us in the same lane! I chose to believe that he had supreme confidence in my ability to keep the right-side tires on the white line. I suppose an alternate explanation could be that he thought I had stopped on the road.
The second leg of the day’s ride was the fifty miles of the Cherohala Skyway that David Price had suggested as a more scenic drive. It was, but with a dearth of shade and temperatures in the mid-nineties, the air-conditioner felt mighty good. We ascended from 880 feet above sea level at Tellico Plains, to an elevation of 5,390 as we crossed back into North Carolina and began the descent.
Our last stop of the day was the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. The recent tornados had taken their toll on the old growth pine trees, but the 400 year-old yellow poplars were still standing majestically 100 feet from ground to crown. Robbinsville was just a few more miles down the road, and I had read of a BBQ place there. The western North Carolina style sauce is my favorite and I had my mouth ready to sample some, but we couldn’t find it. I stopped to ask for directions at a garden supply shop and was told that Sweetwater BBQ had gone out of business, but they recommended the Carolina Kitchen for supper. It was good advice. I really wasn’t expecting too much when I ordered the pulled pork BBQ sandwich, but they had the vinegar-based sauce that made it surprisingly good.
On the way back to the Fontana Lodge just past the Deal’s Gap Motorcycle Resort, we spotted a wild turkey that flew ahead of us for several yards before trotting up into the woods.
Thursday morning we checked-out of the lodge and were back on the road home by 8:30. Rather than retrace our tracks again through Robbinsville, we decided to follow NC 28E toward Bryson City where we intersected US 19 again as it follows the Nanahala River. This is part of Highway 28, also known as The “Bootlegger 28” and is less travelled and partially four-lane, but still a very pretty drive.
US 19 south of Bryson City is the mecca for canoers, kayakers, and tubers down the Nanahala with outfitters all along the way. The overlook at “Patton’s Run” was especially nice. We had a late breakfast and topped off the petrol in Andrews NC, then took US 64W at Murphy, crossing over into Tennessee for a few miles, then south on TN 68/GA 5 to I-575 and 75, around I-285 and back home again.
My dragon sticker is on the rear glass of the MINI now, so its an official dragon slayer now.
Links:
Tail of the Dragon Map with mile markers and corner names
Still shots on the Fontana Dam/Tail of the Dragon/Cherohala Skyway/Kilmer Forest/Bootlegger’s Highway/Nanahala
Video of a few minutes on the “Tail of the Dragon” (The clacking sounds are not me going through unsynchronized gears, it’s ice in the drink box in the back seat that served as my G-force monitor.)