GCR North Carolina Tour

GCR Trip to Little Switzerland, North Carolina and Shadow’s Return to the Mountain Roads

Article by Christy Spangler Photos by Cynthia Diaz, Carolyn Ditrichs, and Lisa Edwards

During the years 1996-2002, my late husband, Frank and I lived in Johnson City in northeast Tennessee. Frank’s father, who had owned a 1985 944 for several years, passed the 944 I named “Shadow” down to Frank. We drove Shadow everywhere, for travel, for errands, and for the next several years we drove it to the 24 hours of Daytona (now known as the Rolex 24 at Daytona). At that time, Interstate 26 was not completed in western North Carolina and we had to traverse the Sams Gap Mountain Pass (US 23) that consists of steep, winding mountain roads from Johnson City to Asheville to access I-26. Even though it was fun driving Shadow on these roads, we never thought of it as a pleasure drive, but as a necessity to get from point A to point B. We did not know that there were places like the Diamond Back or the Tail of the Dragon nearby where people would come to drive for fun. We even avoided the Blue Ridge Parkway due to the amount of tourist traffic. When I signed up for the Little Switzerland, North Carolina trip and looked at the map, I saw how close we would be to where Frank and I had lived and decided to take Shadow back to the mountain roads.

On the first day of the trip, I met up with GCR members Cynthia and Jay to caravan to Savannah, Georgia and spend the night. We enjoyed the evening by strolling among the beautiful southern live oak trees with the Spanish moss hanging from them. The next morning, we headed into North Carolina and met up with other GCR members in Chimney Rock at the Burnt Shirt Vineyards Tasting Room and Bistro that overlooks Chimney Rock mountain for lunch. After lunch, a few of us walked across the street to take in the sights by the river and I could not resist dipping my toes into the beautiful clear,

Southern Live Oak trees in Savannah

cold water. We made a stop in Hendersonville and picked up some treats at the McFarlan Bake Shop then continued on to Little Switzerland, driving part of the Diamond Back to get there. As we were starting a trek up the mountain road, a road crew pulled out in front of us and stopped on a very steep portion of the narrow two-lane road to pick up cones. I’m sure many of you can appreciate how difficult it is to be driving a stick shift in first gear, in stop-and-go mode at two miles per hour up a mountain road. Finally there was a pass where we could get around the road crew - whew! We made it to the Switzerland Inn and Shadow drove great the whole way there. My longtime friend, Lisa, who lives in Charlotte, drove in to spend the weekend with me and joined our group that night for dinner.

The next day we started the drive on the Diamond Back and a group of us then headed to Asheville for lunch at Luella’s Bar-B-Que. Afterwards we headed to the New Belgium Brewery to enjoy a beer while relaxing in their beer garden. We took the Blue Ridge Parkway from Asheville back to the Switzerland Inn, stopping at a few scenic spots along the way. I was really enjoying the scenic drives and the way the Shadow handled the roads.

On the fourth day, the group took the Blue Ridge Parkway to Crabtree Falls. We parked and traversed the mile and a half hike to the falls. Parts of the hike were a little tricky, but well worth it. The falls were beautiful. We hiked back to the cars and headed to the Linville Falls Winery for wine tasting and lunch. They had a very large patio area for seating with beautiful views of the grape vines and Christmas tree farm.

Things can be unpredictable with a 35-year-old car and when we got back to the Switzerland Inn, coolant began pouring out of Shadow. Well, this is a problem

River side with Carolyn, Cynthia and Jay

and Shadow is the reason I subscribe to the premier tier of AAA. Kyle was on the trip and I appreciated his advice on what to do with the car. Jay researched and found a shop specializing in Porsches and foreign cars in Charlotte and I made plans to extend my trip and stay with Lisa.

On Sunday, the AAA tow truck was there first thing in the morning to hook up Shadow for the 126-mile tow to Charlotte. The tow driver said that the top two cars he tows from the Blue Ridge Parkway are Porsches and Corvettes. Lisa and I met the tow driver at Touring Car Inc. in Charlotte to drop it off.

I touched base with the shop owner, Dan Middleton, first thing Monday morn-

By the riverside in Chimney Rock

ing to explain my predicament. He was very nice and sympathetic to my situation. It turned out to be a leak in the radiator and they had the needed parts on hand. Fortunately, it was an easy fix and by the afternoon, they had Shadow patched up and road ready.

Shadow in the mountains

On Tuesday morning, I began my trek home to Florida with an overnight stay with a longtime friend in Jacksonville. The next morning, I was finally homeward

Crabtree Falls

Blue Ridge Parkway colorful fall scenery

bound with a stop in Stuart to have lunch with my folks and pick up my dog, Titan. It was nice to finally get back home.

Even with the radiator leak hiccup, this was a wonderful trip that Ed Blair organized. It was nice to see and get to know some GCR members and catch up with a couple of longtime friends. Little Switzerland is a cute place that consists of

Mountain sunrise at Switzerland Inn

shops that are connected with the Switzerland Inn and a few nearby residences and a general store. The Switzerland Inn was beautiful with an amazing vista of the Blue Ridge mountains. Returning with Shadow to the mountain roads gave me a completely different perspective from a time when I considered these roads a

Switzerland Inn main lodge

In the moment Blue Ridge drive

necessity to get to where I needed to go. The pleasure drives brought back memories and allowed me to enjoy driving the mountain roads with the amazing fall

scenery and to just be in the moment.