Sometimes you have to suspect that a romantic snuck into a job with the Department of Public Works. How else to explain the 318 turns in 11 miles that bless US 129, an otherwise sleepy route through the Smoky Mountains? Given a mountain pass through which they could quite reasonably have blasted a straight line; there are hairpins, cambered esses and right-over-crest-into-off-camber-sweepers that drop into tree-lined straights.
The road is used by locals to shuttle between the small towns of Robbinsville, North Carolina, and Maryville, Tennessee, but for every vehicle that traverses the mountains to bring Grandma to her doctor’s appointment, there are 10 for whom the road is the destination. Like any object of affection, the 11-mile stretch of the US 129 has pet names, including Deals Gap, Tail of the Dragon or, simply, The Dragon.
This week, Robbinsville will be invaded by Mazda Miatas from all over the country. They are like pilgrims travelling to this Mecca of twisted tarmac. Everyone will be here for the same reason: acceleration, be it lateral or longitudinal and, for an unfortunate few, vertical. We look forward to seeing are old friends and meeting a few new ones at Blue Waters Mountain Lodge as they all embrace the challenge of slaying the Dragon!
Please see our website, www.BlueWatersMtnL.com for more details.