What started with a group of 60 Miniacs from the East Coast six years ago has grown into an all-out Mini-filled weekend (more like a week), cradled in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina called "Minis on the Dragon" with over 430 Minis and growing. This year's 6th Annual Minis on the Dragon took place April 30 to May 4, 2008, in a large cabin resort called Fontana Village located off highway 28 just 11 miles east of the famed highway 129. Known as "The Dragon," highway 129 is 318 turns on 11 miles of road that winds in and out of the North Carolina and Tennessee boarders. It's a stretch of road well-known to motorcycle riders and sports-car drivers as one of the best and most exciting roads in the U.S. to drive. It's also the road that draws everyone to this event each year. Locals of the area like to call this weekend the Mini invasion.
I've planned a trip to this event since I learned about it two years ago when I was in the market for a Mini of my own. I've been among a huge international Web-based Mini Cooper community and have taken my Mini to several events across the western part of the U.S. I took part in "Mini takes the States" and been to "A Mini Vacation in Vegas" a few times. But nothing had me more excited than making it to "Minis on the Dragon" than actually driving there -- in a Mini.
I got the chance to swap my very own 2006 Mini Cooper S for Motor Trend's 2007 long-term Cooper S for the trip. Our Mini has been a staff favorite in our long-term fleet for weekend trips to our local mountains and beaches. But I was going to put this Mini on the right track to freedom and set it loose across the nation. Unlike my Mini, our traveling vehicle is an automatic with paddle shifters, the sport package, cruise control, and heated front seats. A few extra creature comforts make for an easier and more comfortable trip and less legwork for my first epic trip across eight states.
After a 2242-mile two-day drive down Interstate 40 -- thrown in with some sightseeing stops along the way -- we reached Fontana Village the day before the start of the week's events. As we pulled into the village, it was evident that the Mini Cooper community had already taken over. Minis wearing license plates from New York, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, and North Carolina lined the parking stalls around the main tent, and now we added California to that list.
Two love-struck Mini owners started off their weekend with a wedding on the hillside that featured a pair of matching His and Hers "Just Married" stickers on their blue and pink Minis.
Around the main Village area, small cabins filled the wooded hillsides with a Mini or two -- or three -- parked in front of each lot. We shared a three-bedroom cabin with a friend from Indiana. He and his wife own a Mini Cooper S and a Mini Clubman S that provided more than enough room to haul their three children with them for this Mini weekend.