Springtime in the Smokies - Townsend, TN

 May 11, 2023

Since the show in Columbia/Cayce, SC, we have been to Pensacola for Brits by the Bay and Gainesville, FL for the GOF South.  Maybe I'll fill in later with an update and pictures.  For now, we are on our way to the Smoky Mountains for the show in Townsend, TN.  We decided to split the drive up and stop in Cartersville, GA and visit the Savoy Automobile Museum.

On the way out of Atlanta, we passed this interesting castle house in the Milton area.  This is a private residence so no tours!

 After  arriving in Cartersville, we stopped by the hotel, then  had a very good lunch at the Main Street Coastal Cuisine Cafe, and then headed to the museum.  The Savoy is an outstanding new museum that is run by the same people that run the Booth Western Museum and the Tellus Science Museum, both also in Cartersville, GA and both also first class facilities.  Along with their permanent display, the Savoy has rotating displays and the current one is British cars.  The Savoy is a beautiful, first class facility.  Even the building is a work of art!

Wonder where they got the name?  Well, when they were clearing the field, they came across this 1954 Plymouth Savoy.  They were looking for a name representing the superlative quality that the museum would be and Savoy fit the bill.  Thus, the Savoy Automobile Museum was born!

There was a room with cars from the Savoy's permanent collection as well as a room with a temporary collection of Porsche cars.  While they were all very nice, we were interested in the temporary display of  British cars.  Here are a few examples:

Wayne Carini's 1952 Allard J2

1952 Arnolt MG

1954 Arnolt Bristol Bolide

1964 AC Ace - drop a small Ford V-8 and, voila, you have a Shelby Cobra!

There were a lot of very nice, rare cars and the displays were very well done.  Later we had dinner downtown at the Appalachian Grill.  We were surprised at how nice and busy the downtown was on Thursday night.  

After dinner, we drove back to the hotel and put the top up, as there is a high chance of rain in the morning.  Tomorrow we will head to Townsend, TN.  Unfortunately, there is a high chance of rain the rest of the weekend.  Hopefully, it won't be as bad as predicted!