2009-Chrome-GliddenTour

28th Chrome Glidden Tour

Blue Ridge Adventure June 7 - 12, 2009

The 2009 VMCCA Chrome Glidden Tour is now in the history books. The tour officially opened
Sunday, June 7, in Waynesboro, Virginia with an evening opening banquet. The weather
forecast was for rain all week. Luck was with us, however, and we only had showers at night
and one very early in the morning.

Monday morning, all 97 cars were packed and ready to begin our adventure. Following written
directions from our tour committee, we entered the Blue Ridge Parkway at Mile 0.00 and
began our tour to Cherokee, North Carolina. The views from the parkway were breathtaking.
Along the way we saw deer, turkeys, pheasants and four of us saw two bear cubs with
momma sitting in the road. The day's itinerary included a coffee break at the Montebello Fire
Department, buffet lunch at Peaks of Otter, a visit to the National D Day Memorial and Virginia
Museum of Transportation. We spent the night in Roanoke after traveling about 160 miles.

Tuesday, we returned to the parkway and enjoyed a self-guided tour at Mabry Mill and a stop
at Mt. Airy, N. C., the home of Andy Griffith. The town had the right lane of Main Street roped
off for our cars, and many of us enjoyed lunch at Snappy's and dessert at Opie's Candy Store.
We spent the night in Boone, N. C. and enjoyed dinner at the Dan'l Boone Inn. We returned to
the motel for a sing along and concert given by several VMCCA members. The total miles
driven for the day was about 198.

Wednesday, we had several choices of what to see -- Samaritan's Purse for a tour, visit
Blowing Rock or shopping at Blowing Rock and/or Tanger Outlets. Before we had driven four
miles, several area clubs treated us to a coffee stop and a chance to look at local cars. By
1:00 p.m., we returned to the Parkway and visited Grandfather Mountain and Mount Mitchell.
We then continued to our hotels in Asheville, N. C. where we stayed two nights. Total miles
driven was 127.4.

Thursday, everyone was at the Biltmore Estate by 8:30 a.m. for a group picture of our cars.
We then moved to a parking area and enjoyed a self-guided tour of the Biltmore House. At
noontime, we drove a short distance for a group lunch at Deerpark Restaurant. Afterwards,
we had time to visit the winery and the River Bend Farm. We drove less than 15 miles today.

Friday morning, we left Asheville and returned to the Parkway. We enjoyed a coffee stop at the
Cradle of Forestry Discovery Center near Brevard, N. C. By 12:30 p.m. we arrived at Harrod's
Casino Hotel in Cherokee, N. C. for our Awards Luncheon. We had a choice of several hotels
in Cherokee. In the evening, we attended the show "Unto these Hills" which concluded our
2009 Chrome Glidden Tour. The total miles driven today was 99.3.

We began our tour of the Blue Ridge Parkway at MP 00.00 and ended at MP 469.1, the end of
the Parkway. Our thanks to the Stones, Grays, Bradfields, Elliotts, Shanholtzers, Clemmers
and Jeremy Turner, the Tour Committee, who worked hard to provide us with a great tour.