Are you up for driving
more of the best mountain roads in the world? Then join us for the
Second Cayman Club Rock'n'Croc Rally, to be held Friday thru Saturday morning Oct 19-20, 2007 (that is, if you can't make it to
Croctoberfest, which will be held in Las Vegas that same weekend). For those of you who missed the first Rock'n'Croc in May, go to
this thread or
this one and
this one to get an idea of what this is all about. This time our route will take us on the superb roads of the Blue Ridge through Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, on our way to the
Euro Auto Festival at the BMW plant and Zentrum museum near Spartanburg,
SC.
The Euro Auto Festival is an outstanding car show of European marques that's been held annually there for the past 12 years. People bring lots of amazing cars, and ours will fit right in! They put all the cars of each marque together in rows on the lawn in front of the Zentrum (which, by the way, is worth a visit all by itself).
We'll be attacking 6 intense mountain driving runs in a full day and the following morning before getting to the car show. These are some of the best twisties up there, sequenced to maximize the fun (avoiding traffic, fatigue, tickets, etc.). In addition to the "special stages", we'll also visit a couple more waterfalls, all the while zooming through some of the best Fall foliage you'll ever see.
(A word to the wise here. If you're thinking of bringing a passenger, be sure they have a "hearty constitution". These are very twisty routes that, when taken at speed, can be nausea-inducing for those in the passenger seat.)
While we'll eat and stay at some nice spots, there won't be any catering, presentations, tours, etc. This one is just about driving - "spirited" driving. (That's not to say you won't make a few new friends, and maybe even score some goodies from Cayman Club and/or other sponsors). There's no fee for the event. Everyone will be responsible for making their own lodging reservations (links below), paying for their own meals, etc.
We'll start early Friday morning from the
James F. Martin Inn in Clemson,
SC (near Greenville off of I-85 in the northwest corner of the state). The first run will be up NC 28 from Mountain Rest
SC to Highlands NC. During the run up 28, we'll take a short jaunt into Georgia on War Woman Road, which goes off to the left about halfway up the twisty section of 28. We'll also make a stop at Lower Satulah Falls which is about 3 miles south of Highlands.
From Highlands we'll head east on 64 to 178 down to 11, east on 11 to Caesar's Head (this was our first run during May's Rock'n'Croc - remember "happiness isn't just around the corner, happiness
is the corner"). We'll turn around at the State Park building and go back down Caesar's Head to 11 east to do Old Hwy 25, then get to 176 for the historic Saluda grade.
After a stop for lunch in Saluda, we'll get on I-26 north to I-40 west to do the run up 151 (Candler Mtn. Road - this was the one we did in May just before getting to the Pisgah Inn) to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Then we'll head down from the Parkway on 276 with a stop for Looking Glass Falls. Next we'll head across 280 east, briefly onto I-26 south, getting off near Hendersonville and taking 64 east up to 9 and spending Friday night at the
Monte Vista Hotel in Black Mountain, NC. Then an early AM start on Saturday to take the road from Old Fort to Bat Cave, then onto 64 to I-26 south, to get to the car show mid-morning.
As I mentioned before, each of us will be responsible for making our own room reservations - at the James F. Martin Inn on Thursday 10/18, and the Monte Vista Hotel on Friday 10/19. Right now there are plenty of rooms available for Thursday night, but the Monte Vista is already pretty booked up on Friday. (There are also some nice bed & breakfast places in Black Mountain, but they're probably also pretty full for that date, as it's during the Fall foliage season. There's also a
Comfort Inn and a few other motels there.)
Feel free to ask any questions about the trip. However, I'm leaving on a two-week road trip to Canada in the CS (woohoo!) on July 6, so after that date it may be a little while before I can respond. I wanted to get the word out now as there may not be many rooms available for Friday 10/19 before long.
If you're planning on joining us for Rock'n'Croc 2, please PM me with your name, e-mail address and cell phone number. It'd also be helpful if you can let me know where you'll be coming from, and the color, year, model, and any mods on your car.
I'll send out further specific info to event participants. It should be another great time!
Bill Koff
Wilmington, NC
Until 
