Blue Ridge Country - March/April 2015 - 21

North Carolina: Dragon Tail,
Parkway Trails

In West Knoxville, the East Tennessee Mini
Motoring Club (etmmc.org) is all about touring
regional scenic byways like the Cherohala Skyway.
Claiming the most active Mini Cooper club in the
country, it holds regular driving rallies to meet new
people. Membership is free. Knoxville abounds in
places to play and explore, such as the Knoxville Zoo
and the Knoxville Museum of Art. The Children's
Museum of Oak Ridge is nearby. Connors Steak &

SKIP BARBER RACING SCHOOL

Tennessee: NASCAR and Your Car

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DRAGONHILLCLIMB.COM

Considered to be one of the nation's most challenging
motorcycle courses, The Tail of the Dragon (tailofthedragon.com) near Robbinsville packs 318 curvaceous "twisties" into 11 miles of cork-twisting
roadway, attracting riders and sports car owners from
around the world. The nearby Chasing the Dragon
Hillclimb, a two-mile timed ascent, is an annual
Sports Car Club of America event held each fall
(2015 dates were open at press time). If your tastes
run to the somewhat muffled, the Stecoah Valley
Cultural Arts Center (stecoahvalleycenter.com) in
Robbinsville has a summer concert series and more.
The Land Rover Experience Driving School in
Asheville trains beginners and advanced students on
Biltmore Estate terrain via steep ascents, side tilts, log
crossings and rock crawls. Graduates move on to trails
whose challenges provide advanced learning opportunities like expedition planning. Full-day experiences intensify the learning and the fun. Or, if you'd
rather, just ride along with an expert driver. Nearby
downtown Asheville is one of the South's premier food
and shop-local destinations.
At 469 miles, the Blue Ridge Parkway through
North Carolina and Virginia is the country's most
visited unit of the National Park System. Starting in
Cherokee in the Great Smoky Mountains, the parkway travels north over the Linn Cove Viaduct and
terminates at Shenandoah National Park, passing
miles upon miles of hiking trails along the way. A good
overnight stop is the Green Park Inn Hotel (greenparkinn.com) in Blowing Rock, with supper at the
Best Cellar. Start your night with a pint at Blowing
Rock Brewing Co.
Moonshine running in Wilkesboro was instrumental in creating what is now NASCAR racing, and
the legacy lives on (in tamer form) at Wilkesboro
Raceway (wilkesborodragway.com), a drag strip
where hot rods with hemis pair up to blast across a
ribbon of asphalt most every Saturday afternoon.

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1. Robbinsville, North Carolina's Stecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center offers a
complement to the nearby Chasing the Dragon Hillclimb (2).
3. A visit to the Skip Barber Racing School can be accompanied by one to
Chateau Elan Winery & Resort in Braselton, Georgia.

MARCH/APRIL 2015 | 21

http://www.tailofthedragon.com http://www.tailofthedragon.com http://www.stecoahvalleycenter.com http://www.DRAGONHILLCLIMB.COM http://www.greenparkinn.com http://www.greenparkinn.com http://www.wilkesborodragway.com http://www.etmmc.org

Blue Ridge Country - March/April 2015

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