Drive And Dine – The Dragon & Tapoco Lodge – 2016
On August 6th Adam Bolling and I led our first drive out for the Club through the Tail of the Dragon to Tapoco Lodge for lunch. The morning greeted us with a threat of rain which thankfully never materialized, nor did it deter any of our 15 registered participants; many of whom were either joining us for the first time or for the first time in a long time. It was both refreshing and encouraging to see so many new faces! After allowing time to fuel up on petrol and a donut or two, we held our drivers meeting and then our group of predominately gray Porsches, offset with a splash of red, white and blue, set off on our journey to Tapoco Lodge.
The overcast skies provided a welcome relief from the morning heat and was appreciated by those driving their 911 Cabs and Boxsters who took advantage of the cooler temps to drive al fresco. We took in the scenery and the curves as we traveled 321 to 95, picking up Peter and Paula Lepir along the way. After a brief stint on 411 we turned onto 72 as we made our way to the final leg of the tour.
We arrived at our scheduled pit stop to stretch our legs, get some water, socialize and take some photos before entering the “Dragon.” As we reassembled to continue the tour, we separated into 2 staggered run groups in order to provide a more pleasurable driving experience through the Dragon. This dynamic worked well and helped to minimize the dreaded “slinky effect.”
A “Welcome Porsche” banner greeted us upon our arrival at Tapoco Lodge, and after gathering for a group photo in front of the nostalgic gas pumps, we headed down to the grill to enjoy our lunch by the Cheoah River. Marc Woontner and his wife Bonnie, PCA members of the Everglades Region who summer in NC, met us for lunch as they had seen the event posted on our Region website and wanted to capitalize on the opportunity to meet some PCA members local to the area. It was certainly nice to see our events attracting the attention of members outside of our Region. After sharing stories and nourishing our bodies with food and beverage, the event came to an end as members branched out to explore the area and take their choice of routes back home.
Thank you to all those who participated and special thanks to Frank Prout who provided some stunning shots of the cars, the surroundings and our members, as well as Clyde Peery for stepping in to run final sweep on the Dragon for the group.
