11 minute read
PORSCHE PARADE
WRITTEN & PHOTOGRAPHED BY: ERIC SMITH
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PORSCHES AND PARADE IN THE POCONOS
As a Porsche enthusiast, close your eyes and picture this: embarking on a road trip with PCA friends in your trusty ride from Zuffenhausen that would cover just over 1800 miles (each way), traveling through ten states, ending in a resort nestled in the Poconos mountains where you join 3000 other PCA members from across the United States, and 1000 of their cars for a week of pure Porsche immersion. This is PCA Parade, and just like other Parades we have attended in the past, this one did not disappoint.
GETTING THERE IS HALF THE FUN
Perhaps one of the most enjoyable parts of Parade is actually taking the trip to get there. We had the pleasure of traveling to Parade this year with fellow LSRPCA members (and region secretary), Dave and Debbie Baxter. We departed on June 9th and traveled through Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and into Alabama, where we stayed overnight. The next morning we headed north, traveling through more of Alabama and into Georgia, North Carolina and most of Virginia, where we spent our second night. Along the way, we saw some incredible parts of the country. Our last leg was shorter, traveling from Virginia and into Pennsylvania and up through the Poconos to the Kalahari Resort, the site of the 2022 PCA Parade.
Along the way, we were determined to enjoy nothing but local fares when it came time to dine. As we progressed, co-pilots from both vehicles would search for food options that came with great reviews and were locally known. While we were users of Yelp and TripAdvisor, we also consulted with staff at our hotels for local recommendations. None of our options disappointed us as we enjoyed a bit of Cajun at Crawfish Town, USA, to some fantastic local home cooking at The Local Goat in Alabama, along with a range of other great and tasty venues.
On our way, we couldn't help but make one other stop – The Hershey Chocolate Factory in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Dave and Debbie had visited there a number of years before. However, I had no idea what to expect. It is a bit of a challenge to describe, as it is an entire city dedicated to the world of chocolate. We took some time and visited the museum and toured the process of creating some of the most well-known delicacies in the world. I'll again reiterate that the entire town is dedicated to the world of chocolate. Even the tops of the streetlamps through many portions of town are shaped like a Hershey's Kiss. From there, we departed for our final destination – the Kalahari Resort and Parade.
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ABOUT PARADE
If you have never been to a Parade before, it is an event that is hard to imagine as a Porsche enthusiast. Hosted at a resort, it is a full week of competitive events, banquets, seminars, local drives, tours, and of course, many, many Porsches. There is an event or a track for everyone, including a broad range of activities for kids. If seeing local attractions, enjoying a bit of wine tasting, and enjoying some self-guided driving excursions are your thing, there are a wealth of options at Parade. Perhaps you have a bit of a competitive bent. If so, there are the Concours, autocross, Time Distance Speed rally and Gimmick rally. Regardless of the events you participate in during the day, most evenings bring a happy hour and a banquet providing you an opportunity to both meet new friends and share your day's experiences. Most importantly, the entire event is run by volunteers. Volunteering at events or even the PCA Parade store is one of the more enjoyable parts of Parade, as you get to meet so many great people from all over, all with the same passion for PCA and Porsche.
THE EVENTS
We arrived at the Kalahari Resort, checked in, and went right to the car wash station to get 1,700 miles of road grime off as the first step in preparing for the Concours on Monday morning. While Parade officially did not start until Sunday morning, many competing in the Concours had arrived as early as Thursday night to begin the detailing ritual. While you have to be very focused on all of the details to get your own car prepared, you can't help but take a break and wander around to take in some of the most incredible Porsche vehicles, all assembled in one location. The level of painstaking work that is put into preparation is impressive. One of the more impressive vehicles there was presented by LSRPCA members Robert and Susie Schneider. They had just completed the restoration of a beautiful 1965 356C and took the opportunity to compete – and took 2nd place in their class! Concours is always something we have enjoyed, and this year at Parade, we competed our 2018 991.2 GTS Convertible. Our class was pretty competitive (as they all are), and while we didn't fare as well in the judging as the Schneider's, we learned a number of things to prepare us for the next Concours event. As the pictures indicate, there was a broad range of Porsche vehicles, from some of the rarest to wildly colorful, rally-inspired and off-road-focused examples to see.
The next day we enjoyed a driving tour to Jim Thorpe and a ride on the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway. The 56-mile drive took us through some fantastic scenery, ending up in the town of Jim Thorpe, where we boarded an open-air railcar and took a ride through the Lehigh Gorge. While we love our Porsche vehicles and the sounds they produce, there is something incredibly relaxing about riding on a train, and this tour was no exception. The scenery was incredible, and of course, it was great to enjoy it with PCA members from all parts of the country.
Our next adventure was a tour, tasting and lunch at the Mountain View Vineyard. While noted as a vineyard, it was actually much more. In addition to wine, they are also a distillery and a brewery, and as part of the tour, a wide range of tastings was available. Lunch was served and offered fantastic views of the vineyard along with some amazing weather to enjoy. We had the chance to meet a number of PCAers and created new friendships with folks from Colorado, Arizona, and Virginia.
The next day brought on the Gimmick Rally, one of the favorites of Parade. Despite some rainy, foggy weather, the team putting on the Rally did a fantastic job of taking the participants across many parts of the area and collecting clues to fill out the scoring sheet. But most importantly, we got to see the sites and get the opportunity to be exposed to areas that you might normally miss. Each stop had an activity or a clue to capture, with the focus being on the completeness of your adventure as well as scoring each event stop (who would have thought putt-putt would have been that difficult?). The Gimmick Rally took us to Big Pocono State Park, which afforded some fantastic views from the top of the mountain to the Dingman Falls area, where we enjoyed some waterfalls, and on to Shawnee Mountain Ski Resort. A wonderful day of driving and seeing the sites.
We ventured out on our own Friday and visited Bushkill Falls, a little over an hour away. It was a fantastic drive, and we spent a good portion of the day hiking through the park and enjoying the various waterfalls and the never-ending sounds of rushing water making its way through the lush landscape. While the hiking was intense, we took a number of pauses to enjoy the scenery and the opportunity to enjoy the wonderful weather.
The last major event at Parade is the Parade of Porsches. The Parade of Porsches this year took us on a roughly 24-mile, police-escorted route through the area and ended with a lap on the Pocono Raceway. I don't know if I was able to capture a total count, but there were easily 150+ cars that participated in the Parade of Porsches. An incredible site indeed to see them driving together and doing a lap on the speedway. The end of the Parade of Porsches culminated with an assembly of colorful versions of vehicles assembled for an aerial shot celebrating 70 years of Porsche clubs.
HEADING BACK TO HOUSTON
We departed on Sunday morning for our trip back to Texas. Our route back took us north through the western part of Pennsylvania and into Ohio, where we stayed the first night. On our second day, we took a side trip and stopped by the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. While a couple of German-made vehicles might have stood out a bit in the parking lot, the tour was very interesting, with a lot of history about the cars and the sinkhole that consumed a number of rare vehicles back in 2014. The museum has embraced the event, providing a lot of detail on the cause, the work done to restore a number of the Corvettes impacted by the collapse, and what they have done to prevent something like that from happening again. Overall, a stop is well worth the time should you find yourself in that part of the country. Our drive took us down through Tennessee and into Arkansas, where we spent the last night of our road trip in Little Rock. We had dinner at the Capital Hotel restaurant, across the street from where we were staying in the downtown area of Little Rock, capping off a fantastic trip. In the morning, we departed Little Rock, landing in the Houston area in the early afternoon.J
THE NEXT PARADE IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER
