Tail Of The Dragon - Meet/Road Trip, August 17th & 18th 2019 Options

[Box]

BK has the vegan burger now.

Is it vegan if they cook it on the same grill as the beef?

Technically not even vegetarian at that point either, though I guess the transfer on a grated grill would be minimal versus a griddle.

[Bitter]

People, check your spare tires before this long trip. Mine was completely flat, I know I put air in 5 years ago!

[narly_charley]

People, check your spare tires before this long trip. Mine was completely flat, I know I put air in 5 years ago!

Good advice. I've been lucky enough to never have to use one. I do check mine every time I change my oil (which is when I rotate my tires). Checking your spare is a good habit to get in to.

[Box]

Or chunk it, especially if 10+ years old, for a plugging kit and 12V compressor. Weight reduction, and can service multiple tires if need be. In fact I think that's what most new cars are doing anyway.

Which in the instance of my mom's Challenger it seems moot from the weight reduction standpoint, but still servicing multiple tires is nice.

[NetsToy]

I added the lunch time info! SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS!

Hey All!

It's one month until the Tail of the Dragon meet and I've just put together all the details for the trip.

I believe there are going to be around 8-10 cars according to the Facebook event, but with the non Facebook people, we may have higher numbers then that.

I'm really excited for this trip and I look forward to hanging out with everyone. Also, if you're driving down from Chicago on Friday and want to meet up with me in Indianapolis, I'm happy to caravan down to the Dragon together.

Annette



Tail Of The Dragon
Celica + Friends Meet 2019

Friday August 16th
- Drive to Tail Of The Dragon
- Accommodations:
Fontana Village Resort
300 Woods Rd.
Fontana Dam, NC 28733
1-828-498-2211

Saturday August 17th
- 9:30AM - All Cars Assemble: say hello, take photos, shop souvenirs
Tail of Dragon Store
17555 Tapoco Road
Robbinsville, NC 28771
1-800-768-7129

*It’s on 129 just north of 28, across the street from the Deals Gap Motorcycle resort. You’ll see the big dragon statue, like in this event’s banner photo.

- 11:00AM - Drive the Tail of the Dragon: cruise
**Staying together: One rule that we've always had: When caravanning, you are responsible for the car behind you. If you are driving down a road and the car behind disappears, if the group turns off the road, you are obligated to wait there until the car/cars behind you catch up. Don't worry about losing the group, because the person in front of you will have to wait for you to catch up---
**DO NOT PASS DOUBLE YELLOW CENTER LINE! There are lots of motorcycles, and crossing the center line may cause an accident, or even worse kill someone!
**HAVE FUN & BE SAFE

- 12:30PM - Lunch at:
Lynn’s Place
237 E Main St, across from the courthouse
Robbinsville, NC 28771
*American food, Vegetarian Friendly, Vegan Options, Gluten Free Options
*Ranked as #3 Best Restaurant in the area

- 2:00 Drive to: hike, visit, take photos
Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forrest
1133 Massey Branch Rd
Robbinsville, NC 28771
*I’m open to trail suggestions, if anyone knows the area

- 7:00 Dinner at:
Tapoco Tavern
14981 Tapoco Rd
Robinsville, NC 28771
*American Pizza & Bar, Vegetarian Friendly, Vegan Options, Gluten free options
*Perched on banks of Cheoah River (can dine outside), will take reservations for big groups. CALL FOR RESERVATION: 828.498.2800
*Ranked as #2 Best Restaurant in the area
**Tavern closes at 10:00, after that everyone is on their own
- 10:00 Drive back to Fontana for sleeps

Sunday August 18th
- Drive home from TOTD

NOTES:
**There is no cell service in the mountains, BRING WALKIE TALKIES!
**Bring GPS as cell phones wont work/no service area
print out maps ahead of time, so you’re not relying on your phone for navigation
**Nearest Gas Station is in Robinsville

Quoting so it's not buried.

Friday plans for anyone coming from Chicago area are...

Circle K off of 74. Exit 96
3801 S Post Road
Indianapolis, IN
At 9:30AM on Friday morning.
There's a McDonalds right near it so anyone who's hungry can eat something before moving on.

Lunch/Gas Fill Up at 11:15AM - Just south of Cinci on 71, at the Florence Y'all water tower Exit 181. (We are meeting with Rob at this location to add to our convoy)
BP
8039 Burlington Pike
Florence, KY

Friday night dinner
Outback Steak House
314 Merchant Dr, Knoxville, TN 37912
However there's a BUNCH of options in that area if there's something else. There's a few good BBQ places near by, going south of there the next place to eat would be in Maryville, if there's people coming from south that would prefer to eat down there we can adjust accordingly.

[NetsToy]

For dinner in Knoxville, TN I would like to suggest Stock & Barrel. I'd like to try something local to the area, that I can't find here at home.

Let me know Lindsay & Bitter if this place looks good to you!

Stock & Barrel
35 Market Square
Knoxville, TN 37902

https://thestockandbarrel.com/?fbclid=IwAR2...auWwelCvyENm3qM

[Bitter]

Or chunk it, especially if 10+ years old, for a plugging kit and 12V compressor. Weight reduction, and can service multiple tires if need be. In fact I think that's what most new cars are doing anyway.

Which in the instance of my mom's Challenger it seems moot from the weight reduction standpoint, but still servicing multiple tires is nice.

Inflator kit only helps with a small puncture or leak, not with a gaping hole punched by a big bolt or something else. I'd rather have a spare.

[Box]

I personally don't trust doughnut spares once they're over 10 years old so for me it's just easier and cheaper to replace it with a plugging kit and compressor than trying to hunt down a newer spare I would trust. All assuming that such an event either is even needed. Not sure if by sheer dumb luck, but my brother that does at least 20K miles a year has only had 1 flat since driving and it was from a nail so the tire was easily plugged. Now if you have a full size spare that gets replaced with each set of tires that's another story, but I don't think many cars past the 80's had such.

[Bitter]

Spares are built of different stuff than normal tires and have a much longer service life, but yea around the 10 year mark is the designed life span. I've used mine a once and it's noisy as hell. There's no cracks and the rubber feels supple so I'm not too worried about it, you can buy brand new spare tires but they're not cheap for some reason, supply and demand I suppose.

[2KGTS]

For dinner in Knoxville, TN I would like to suggest Stock & Barrel. I'd like to try something local to the area, that I can't find here at home.

Let me know Lindsay & Bitter if this place looks good to you!

Stock & Barrel
35 Market Square
Knoxville, TN 37902

https://thestockandbarrel.com/?fbclid=IwAR2...auWwelCvyENm3qM

Excellent! Not that I've been there, but some local flavor's cool!

I promise I'll find a good exit as we go by/through Cincy.

Did you say something about meeting folks as we go through that area? Is there a meeting spot set yet?

[Box]

Well the issue with the Firebird is it's 5x120.65 which isn't used anymore(and was only GM towards the end for the longest time), except for the C7 Vette which is one of those cars that don't come with a spare(and isn't even being made now, and I doubt the C8 sticks with the pattern or will even have a spare either). So yeah... Much rather take chances on a plug kit and compressor versus a 23+ year old doughnut spare. Maybe someone out there makes new spares in said bolt pattern, but I wouldn't be surprised if they don't.

That's ok though, I'll be getting a car that's either 5x114.3 or 4x100 and those are the most common patterns out there. I'll still go with plugging kit and compressor.

This post has been edited by Box: Aug 13, 2019 - 10:04 PM

[Bitter]

My mom says Market Square in Knoxville on a Friday is going to be hell to park, at least an hour wait to just get a table there IF they're not already got a full queue for the night, and then the service might be slow. She's been there a few times and anytime on Friday or Saturday evening they've been turned away or told the wait was over an hour except once. So a group is going to be hard to get in there.

She suggested Buddy's BBQ on Emory road, it's an indoor sit down and it's super easy to get to off the highway and get back on.
https://goo.gl/maps/v5TtJp8cM9CCqADF7
I'm down for some BBQ.

[2KGTS]

It's about six hours or less to get to Maryville, TN from Indy. If we meet in Indy at 9:30am, perhaps get rolling by 10 or 10:30am, that still puts us in Maryville for an early dinner (Calhoun's is a local place there that may be good). It's another hour and a half to get to Fontana Village where food is very limited with much of it closing by 8pm from what I've been able to find.

So the current thinking seems to be that we'll gas up in Indy, perhaps get some road snacks/food (deli-type sandwich or whatever you like) and just journey on towards Maryville. We can figure out gas stops and where to eat in/around Maryville while on the road.

Welcome to any other input or ideas! Otherwise, see you at 9:30 or so in Indy on Friday!

[2KGTS]

Well, nevermind me. My Friday schedule's been forced to change. I won't be able to leave before 7:45-8a and it's a 10 hour drive (without gas or other stops) to get to Fontana Village. I'm hoping to get there by 7:30. Sorry I'll miss the caravan!

[Bitter]

Idiot here decided he had time to sleep in a little bit forgot about the timezones change, I needed the extra sleep though so whatever. Not sure if I'll miss dinner but I'll try to stay in touch with the group.

[Box]

Have fun everyone!

[CelicaSlowboi]

Just to make sure, the official meet spot for 9:30 Saturday is the TOTD store? I’ll be coming up in my 6gc and my brother will be in his 7th gen.

[Bitter]

Got here round 7:30. Good night.

[Bitter]

https://www.photoreflect.com/store/ThumbPag...mp;g=04RK03K90B KillBoy
https://www.photoreflect.com/store/ThumbPag...mp;g=0QAK03G803 129photos

Moonshine is harder to link, just google them yourself and 129slayer is also hard to link so google that one. Those two didn't categorize us into our own group so...

[enderswift]

Photos look awesome! Really wish I could have joined