Road Trip Time taking the 996 to Blue Rudge

It's that time again From West Palm Beach to Somewhere North of Asheville Maybe get on the Auto train at Sanford , go to DC then drive back the Skyline, Blue Ridge Parkway, Great Smokeys Anybody else doing this ? any experience with autotrain ? Favorite hotels ?

"Autotrain"...what's that? Two or more 911s caravaning? Hey, drive both ways and double your pleasure. relinuca

Sounds like a great ride. Enjoy!

Greetings! Yes, we have done the Asheville trip several times, but we drove from our place, which is about 2 hours north of your location. We have not taken the Autotrain, yet! We are scheduled to do that shortly for a trip in the NorthEast. If you drive, South Carolina's I95 is a crumby road. Once you turn west to go to Asheville it gets much better. Beware of rocks. We got a nasty chip on the first trip. Asheville is extraordinary. There is a great bed and breakfast called the Biltmore Village Inn. Highly recommended. Driving the Blue Ridge is great. The area is wonderfully paved, but the minivans and SUVs can spoil a lot of the drive. People drive very slow, relatively speaking. Even the back roads can be a crawl as there are few places to pass. However, the scenery and area will quickly dispel any driving headaches and there will be some open road to enjoy. On one of our return trips down the mountain passes we rounded a blind rock cliff corner only to see the flash of a photographer's camera as we came into view. We had passed him on the way up and I guess on the return trip the sound of the engine tipped him off that we were coming and he was ready. My girlfriend said we should have stopped and asked for a copy of the picture. It was a good laugh, anyway. All in all, both of our trips were really great. I can't speak about the Autotrain, but as soon as we do that I will be glad to post pictures and a writeup on that journey. Enjoy your trip!

Get off the Parkway at Little Switzerland, NC. It is a great lunch or dinner stop with an amazing view from the hotel restaurant's deck. Then do a loop of NC 226A - The Diamondback. http://tailofthedragon.com/Diamondback/ Another great road - known mostly to locals - is NC 151 just south of Asheville. It is a two mile roller coaster off the west side of the Parkway. Hit the bottom and turn around to go right back up.

Thanks for the replys I'm going ahead with the auto train because I don't want To drive the blue ridge both ways and I-95 looks pretty boring going north

My family has a house in Pigeon Forge and I took my 996 up just after I bought it. Felt kinda out of place. My kids noticed how many trucks there were and I told them that this is truck mecca where they all come to worship.

Enjoy your drive and take a few pictures

The Crown Region in Jacksonville, is having a road trip to the Smokeys, on the 16th, ret. on the 19th, some 30 cars are going. I am in the Suncoast region , leaving T Springs . The 1st stop is in Hendersonville NC. But if you get on their web site Crown region , you should find all the info.

And I might even camp In the great smokey. National Park

You have to hit hwy 129 (The Dragon - 318 turns in 11 miles), it's about 50 miles from Ashland. I have been there 5 times on my bike and you won't be disappointed. Also hwy 28 is a great ride, Ok actually any of the roads in that area are great. You can look up either the dragon or Deals Gap for info. I stayed at Fontana Village (hotel and cabins). Enjoy

We camped at the Fontana Village camping grounds next to the dam, that was cool , when I drove the 84 Carrera a few years back.

Quotes source post: 10665349

thanks for your reply

Continuing in my role as Zanzibar's personal imageshack hoster, here's a photo he sent me from his trip:

Quotes source post: 10676980

And don't think, I don't appreciate. It. This picture was taken on 8/9/13 The trip was not a camping trip Because of all the rain but, Being at Ein Der Bergen Porsche meet in Waynsville was a great time