As some of you may know, I took a few days of vacation last week to participate in the
Blue Ridge Boxster Summit (BRBS) in Blowing Rock, NC. This year’s event was from June 3 – 6. I went into this thinking my primary goal would be to drive my car on the twisties of NC. I came back from the summit with many new friends, and the driving was just icing on the cake.
First, a little history... BRBS started in 1999 by a handful of Boxster enthusiasts/friends and has since grown into a annual pilgrimage of many (past, present and future) Boxster owners. So, despite continued use of "Boxster" in the name, just about anyone is welcomed. You can learn more about BRBS from their website. By the way, the organizers have this event pretty much down to a well oiled machine, with fun filled agenda that the entire family can enjoy. The registration fee this year goes towards two lunches and dinners, event trinkets (got an engraved coaster, t-shirt). More importantly, part of that fee is donated to local charities like the Hunger and Health Coalition and the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation.
June 1 – 2: My fiancée, Nina, and I left Ft Lauderdale on June 1 to make the 850mi trek from Ft Lauderdale to Blowing Rock. If you think that’s a long drive from Florida, we had one participant drove out from Colorado and another one drove out from New Mexico – that’s 1500mi each way! And couple of folks from Quebec Canada.
Our first and only over-night stop was in Savannah, GA. We left Ft Lauderdale around 11:30am (late start) and we spent the early evening checking out the historic district of Savannah, including Forsyth Park. The next morning, we made a quick trip to Tybee Island where enjoyed the walk on the beach and had lunch at a local sandwich shop (thanks to recommendations on Yelp). We then drove the rest of the way to Blowing Rock, arriving just before sun down.
June 3: Thursday was the pre-event for anyone who wanted to get the most out of the Summit. About 50+ cars met at the Meadowbrook Inn parking lot and headed out for a trip to the Appalachian glass blowing shop tour. After the tour, the caravan went to Jackalope’s View for lunch, overlooking Elk Valley & Sugar Mountain. You can check out the caravan footage in the video (sorry, had the wrong title in the video).
Thursday morning parking lot:
As mentioned earlier BRBS welcomes just about anyone. This year was no different. In addition to the sea of Boxsters of various years and modifications, there were also a number of Caymans, 997.1 GT3 RS, 997.1 GT3, 997TT, 997 & 996s, VW GTI, and a 350Z.
June 4: Friday started with a Show & Shine, giving everyone an opportunity to make new friends and chat about cars on display. After Show & Shine, the group broke out into smaller groups for the Fun Run – a simple planned route for all the groups to caravan and take pictures of various interesting sites around the Blue Ridge area. E.g., one of the tasks was to have a team picture with the Big Wheel, and another was a team picture at the kettle corn stand.
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Friday night dinner was simply awesome! The group caravanned to
The Eagles Nest for a private event, with an evening of good food (BBQ chicken & pork), outdoor activities (archery, ping pong) and live music in an amphitheater.
June 5th: Saturday is a free day for everyone to explore the local area. I woke up early in the morning for a quicker drive through the twisties with a couple of new friends (check out the 2nd part of the video). Later that morning, Nina and I drove over to Johnson City, TN to visit some relatives before returning for dinner and closing ceremony.
After dinner, there were closing remarks by the organizers, followed by raffle of goodies, like a K40 radar detector, hats, clothing appeals, travel kits, gift certificates, etc. All donated by event sponsors (Bert Smith Porsche, Pedro’s Garage, Amex, and others). I did win a pair of Porsche shorts, which I gave away to a new friend since they were about 6 sizes too big. The grand prize (IMO) raffle was for a carbon fiber center console, open to owners of 987/997s. I was off my just 2 numbers – dang it!
June 6: Nina and I left Blowing Rock at around 7:30 in the morning to make our drive back to Ft Lauderdale. We weren’t sure about driving straight-through, since google maps says it is suppose to take about 13hrs to cover the 850 miles. Including the 30 min for lunch and 3 stop & go for fuel, we made it home in under 12 hours. Here are some statistics for this trip: I put on 2300 miles. Avg. 194mi between fill-ups @ 21.1 mpg, avg, $26.24 per fill-up @ $2.95/gal, and burned a total 97.6 gal of premium unleaded.
Anyways, I just want to share this trip with everyone here. Nina and I are already looking forward to the event next year. BTW, if you are interested in attending next year’s event, it will be on June 2 – 5, 2011. Hope to see you there!
Since I can't embed vimeo videos, you'll have to click on the link to watch the video.
Enjoy!
Cris
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