More to do on the way home!

Friday, June 14, 2013

On the way home, we stopped at the Wheels Through Time museum in Maggie Valley, NC.  It just happened that there was a big event in town for Can-Am motorcycle and there were hundreds of them in and around town.  It must have been Can-Am day at the museum as there were many parked there.  The museum has hundreds of vintage motorcycles and a few cars.  It is interesting as most of the motorcycles and  cars on display are not in pristine, restored condition.  Although almost all the vehicles there run and are drivable, most are in "used" condition.  The museum is laid out with very nice "vignettes" of vintage motorcycle shops, races, etc.  We also saw the Spohn-bodied Veritas that was recently on Wayne Carini's "Chasing Classic Cars" show.  This is supposed to be a one-of-a-kind, valuable car.  But, its about the ugliest vehicle I've ever seen! 

Motorcycle day at the museum.

One of the displays - an old cycle shop.

The Veritas - yes, it runs.

An overhead view of part of the museum.

BMW engine in the Veritas.

After spending some time at the museum, it was time to hit the road again.  We got on the Blue Ridge Parkway and headed to Dillsboro, NC.  From there, we headed to Franklin, NC where we stopped for lunch at the Caffe REL.  We have eaten here before and stopped for lunch today.  We got there after the lunch crowd so it was not crowded.  This is a unique place because it is located behind a convenience store!  But, the food is definitely not roller food.  This is a sit-down restaurant and very good.  Chef Richard Long was at the Greenbriar Hotel in West Virginia before coming to Franklin 10 years ago.  Not only is the food good, but the desserts are home-made and wonderful. It's worth looking for if you are in the area.

Caffe REL, behind the Hot Spot convenience store!

After lunch, we finally were on the last leg of the trip home.  We got home, unpacked, ate a light dinner, watched a movie and went to bed.  This is the last car trip for a few months, so stay tuned!!

Side trip to Ft. Jackson, SC

Thurs., June 13, 2013

Today is the big day for Kyle.  He graduates from basic training and we got up very early to drive to Columbia for the ceremony.  It was a rental car and a trip down the Interstate today - no MG.  The A/C was nice because it was very hot today - over 90 for the high.  Once we got to Columbia, there was very good signage directing us to the base.  Once on the base, there was a blue stripe on the roadway that you followed to the field where the ceremony took place.  Luckily, the bleachers had a roof that provided some shade, and luckily, the ceremony was relatively brief.  The Army band played, 3 companies marched to the field and after some words from the commander, we got to see Kyle for the first time in about 10 weeks.

E Company, 2-39 Inf. Reg.

Spc. Orkin

We got a partial tour of the base with Kyle as our guide, then took him off base to eat.  He said he wanted seafood, so we found The Blue Marlin downtown and it was delicious.  Then next door for dessert where he got some peanut butter and chocolate candy.  His first sweets in 10 weeks!  It was then back to the base to drop Kyle off and return to Asheville for the awards banquet.  Kyle will remain at Ft. Jackson for another 8 weeks for his Advanced Individual Training in Finance.  After that, he gets deployed where they need him.  He is hoping to get assigned to Europe somewhere - Belgium, Germany, Italy??

We then hopped back on the Interstate and drove back to Asheville, hitting rain just south of Asheville.  We returned the car and then went back to the hotel for the awards banquet.  We didn't bring home any hardware, but met some nice people and had lots of fun.  We really enjoyed Asheville.  Tomorrow, we head home.

Showtime

Wed., June 12, 2013

After breakfast at the hotel, we drove to the show field along the golf course and zip line, and got the car ready.  Since this is the national get-together for the MGA, all other British cars were put in a separate "other British" class.  There was a mix, including some MGBs, a Riley Elf, Midgets, MGTs, an MGC, etc.  I never heard how many cars were registered, but it looked like about 150 MGAs, plus 14 Magnettes (also in this registry.  They are basically an MGA chassis with a different body).  It was clear and hot!

 

 

Part of the field of MGAs

A zip line went almost over the field.  Here a rider goes by with the British flag!

Some of the "Other British" cars

After the show, Kathy went downtown and I stayed at the hotel for a tech session.  At 5:00, we went to get a rental car for tomorrow and went to the river arts district to eat.  This is an area by the river with lots of art studios and some restaurants.  We ate at the White Duck Taco Shop and it was very good.

Tomorrow, we're driving to Columbia, SC to see Kyle graduate from Basic Training at Ft. Jackson, SC.  He will then have about 8 more weeks of advanced individual training in Finance before shipping out for his duty station - unknown as of now.

Downtown Asheville

June 11, 2013

We had the morning on our own, so we went downtown to explore.  We left early and ate breakfast downtown at the Early Girl Eatery.  It was a casual, laid back place with lots of organic and natural foods that included meats.  Looked like part of the employment requirements included tattoos and/or piercings!  But, everyone was very nice and the food was quite good.

Early Girl Eatery

After that, we spent hours walking around downtown.     There are many historic buildings that have been saved and lots of historic markers.  Seems that there are many condos and apartments above the retail areas with many mini-parks scattered about.  

A dog friendly city!

An interesting sign caught our eye!

One of the beautiful buildings is the Grove Arcade.  In addition to the millionaires Vanderbuilt and Pack, Edwin Grove made a fortune selling Grove's Tasteless Chill Tonic.  He built the Grove Park Inn, and also built the Grove Arcade - a public market downtown in 1929.  It has been restored and now houses retail, offices and residences.

Grove Arcade - street view

                         The Grove Arcade - inside view.

Street art - grape vine with grape clusters made of basketballs!

More street art - cat on a pole

After some more exploring, it was lunch time. We found a small cafe, Chestnut, and it turned out to be another winner.  A little more upscale than the others (no tattoos or piercings that I could tell), but very good food.  We've either gotten lucky, or there are a lot of good restaurants in downtown Asheville!  We then had a dessert coffee from a very unique coffee bar -  the Double D.  This is not a reference to the chest size of the waitress, but rather to the double decker bus it was housed in.  It is an old London bus turned into a coffee bar!  From there we returned to the hotel for an afternoon tech session talking about building engines. After a short rest, it was time for dinner and another trip downtown.  One of the places we were looking for was out of business so we walked around and found a place that looked good - The Southern Kitchen and Bar.  The outdoor seating area was packed, but the inside was empty!  So, we ate inside and tried some unique items on the menu and both were excellent.  We walked around a little more and eventually made it back to the hotel after a long day.  Tomorrow is the big show, so will get up early to clean all the road grime off of the car.  Weather today was beautiful and tomorrow is supposed to be more of the same.  Stay tuned.

Double decker bus coffee shop (with panhandler parked in front)

On the road again!

June 10, 2013

Well, we didn't have much time to unpack and clean up the car before it was time to hit the road again.  This time, we're going with some club members to the NAMGAR (North American MGA Registry) meet in Asheville, NC. We don't have an "A", but wanted to see Asheville and decided to caravan with the others to Asheville.  We left early this morning to meet up with the others in Clayton, GA.  The weather was overcast when we left, but we were hoping that it would hold out for the drive to Asheville.  But, by the time we got to Gainesville, it started raining hard enough for us to put the top up.  We pulled into an empty gas station and put the top up, then continued to the Rabbit Hole Cafe for breakfast.  From there we continued to Clayton where we stopped at an Ingles fuel stop and filled up with gas.  We were a little early, so we checked out the Ingles (the biggest one I've ever see, and actually pretty nice inside).  It was raining pretty hard, so I decided to get out of the rain.  One advantage of the Midget - can get under grocery store overhangs!!

After we met up with the others, we continued on to Cherokee, NC going through some pretty heavy rain at times.  This didn't look good for our drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We stopped for lunch in Cherokee and while we were eating, it stopped raining and the sun came out!  We gassed up, three MGAs, and MGB and our Midget, put our tops down and got on the Parkway for a beautiful drive until we got to Hwy. 19 that took us through Maggie Valley and on into Asheville.  After we got to the hotel, got our rooms and got our packets for the event, we decided to head downtown for something to eat.  Asheville has a very vibrant downtown, with lots of restaurants and shops, (plus your usual performance artists, homeless and panhandlers).  Many of the old facades have been maintained and there are many trees planted so it looks very livable.  In fact, it appears that many people live downtown.  It also appears to be very dog friendly, as many stores have water bowls outside for the K9s.  We ate at the Laughing Seed, a vegetarian restaurant which, despite the absence of meat, was very good!  For dessert, we stopped at the French Broad Chocolate Factory where you could get a wide variety of items, all made with chocolate!  Very good!  From there we finally made it back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.  More to do tomorrow.

Home at last!

After 1217 miles, we're finally home.  Before we went to bed last night, it started raining and the heavens just opened up for about 30 minutes.  I mean, it was raining like a cow pissing on a flat rock.  Even though the top was up, I figured I'd have to pump water out of it this morning.  I also thought it would finally be clear and sunny.  No such luck.  It was partly cloudy and partly sunny, but at least it was cool.  And, surprisingly, the car was fairly dry inside.  So, the top went down and we left Farragut, TN heading home.  Was nice and cool and mostly overcast until we got to Georgia, but wasn't terrible.  A dark cloud followed us all the way but had no rain.  Looking forward to our own bed tonight and a thorough car washing tomorrow!  We'll be going to Asheville, NC in two weeks, so stay tuned!

Going to Paris today (KY)

War Front - $80,000 stud fee

Woke up this morning and thought it was going to be clear and sunny, but was dark, overcast and cool.  But, was not raining and I thought it would clear as the sun came up.  After breakfast, packed the car and put the top down and we headed to Paris, KY, home of Claiborne Farm.  I was a nice, cool drive about two hours. The scenery was quite nice, with many horse farms, with wood fences and green pastures that looked like lawns.  There were also many stone fences lining the road.  Once we got to Claiborne Farm, we waited a few minutes for everyone to get there and a groom took us on a walking tour of stalls, breeding barn and the cemetary.  It was very educational and interesting.  The farm is 3100 acres with 300 mares and 11 stallions.

Some of the horses that were housed in this stall.

Entrance to Claiborne Farm

From there, we headed south on Hwy. 25 through more beautiful country side, passing through the cute town of Berea and stopping in Williamsburg, KY for gas, where it started raining and we had to put the top up.  Of course, putting the top up caused it to stop raining within a couple of miles, but it did sprinkle on and off for awhile.  We continued on to Farragut, TN, just outside Knoxville for the night.  We walked across the street to eat and when we got back to the room, it started raining hard again!  Maybe tomorrow it will be nice for the ride home??

British Bash 2013

Today did not start out very well.  It was raining lightly with the possibility of heavier storms.  But, we'd come all this way, so we were going regardless.  We left the hotel and made our way to the site, thinking the lawn would be underwater, or at least very soggy.  The rain had stopped by the time we got to the site and the lawn was remarkably firm.  There was only occasional light rain during the morning and by afternoon, it had stopped.  However, the weather kept many people away and the turnout was light.  But, the cars that were there were nice and the people friendly and well organized.  We saw some old friends and met some new ones.  

View of British Bash 2013

This year's show was very exciting!

The MG race car owned and raced by Denver Cornett, brought to the show by his son.
Cornett's Stone Bridge at Watkins Glen is named for Denver.

After the show, we decided to check out French Lick, IN, site of MG2014.  It is only about 58 miles from Louisville, about an hour and 15 min.  Before we got out of town, it started raining again and we had to stop and put the top up.  Good thing, because it started raining harder for about the next 20 miles but by the time we got to French Lick, it had stopped.  We stopped for gas and coffee in French Lick and found a pump with recreational gas - no ethanol.  I figured driving the MG is recreational, so I filled up!  We then went to the French Lick resort, which reminded me of the Grand Hotel in the movie Somewhere In Time.  There is a large porch with rocking chairs and a Dixieland band playing.  It's a very large hotel where you need a map to find your way around!  A casino next door is connected to the hotel.  I think this setting will be great for MG2014 and we're looking forward to coming up next year.  After checking out the hotel, we drove back to Louisville, got some Skyline Chili for dinner and went back to the hotel.

We will start the trip home tomorrow via Paris (KY, not France) where we will pay our respects to Secretariat at Claiborne Farm.