The 2023 356 Registry East Coast Holiday was held at the beautiful Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock, North Carolina from Sept 20-24.
What a great venue situated right near the Blue Ridge Parkway. The weather was outstanding with a bit of a chill on Saturday
from the remnants of the tropical storm that was making it’s way up along the Carolina Coastline. Daryle Higginbotham and Don Trexler
were the event co-chairs, and with the the help of a large group of committee volunteers pulled off one of the best 356 Holidays that I have attended.
The DSG was well represented. Making the trip were Peter Boettcher and friend Kathy Marshalek, Stan, Nancy and Lauren Yarrish,
Tom and Ada Oerther, Gary and Jan Dunbar, Russell Clarke and Lynda Hall, Ted and Kathy Hunter, and Glenn Patterson and Becky Mitchell.
The downtown of Blowing Rock was full of interesting shops and restaurants. The mountain vistas were everywhere and especially
the at lookout at the famous Blowing Rock on the outskirts of town.
There was ample time in the event schedule to explore the area on your own. Thursday’s highlight drive took us 42 miles on the
Blue Ridge Parkway to a quaint stop to the Little Switzerland Restaurant and Village Shops. Great drive with many scenic
overlooks along the way. The Welcome reception was held in the evening outside in a huge party tent!
Friday’s agenda was full. Optional drive on historic Highway 221 ending the Blowing Rock historic site attraction. The 356 Tech Quiz
was held in the afternoon, followed by a fabulous evening at Chip Perry’s Car Barn to have drinks and heavy Hors D’oeuvres surrounded
by one of the most significant Porsche and British car collections ever. This building was no barn. It was the most elegant car collection
building that I have ever had the pleasure of entering. Fabulous place!
Saturday dawned a bit breezy with a slight mist from the outer bands of the tropical storm making it’s way up the Carolina coast.
That didn’t stop over 125 356’s from taking their rightful places on the Concours fields. The 356’s were all arranged by model, e.g.
Pre A, A,B,C, Speedster, and Outlaw. It was a very cool setting around the Chetola lakeside. Tech Sessions were held in the afternoon
covering techniques for “Photographing Cars with your Cell Phone” from an established professional car event photographer Dom Miliano.
The second Tech Session covered “Condition, Originality, Authenticity, and Value of Your 356” presented by Pete Bartelli and
Ray Morgan. A really helpful discussion on this sometimes contentious topic.
The evening was capped off with the Celebration Banquet at the Chetola Event tent. What a great evening with plenty of good food and drinks.
Numerous door prizes were handed out from the Registry sponsors and a from some downtown Blowing Rock businesses.
The Class awards were handed out and two DSG’ers took home an award. Stan and Nancy Yarrish, 1st Place in the “A” Closed Class,
and Gary and Jan Dunbar, 2nd Place in the “C” Open Class. Congrats to the winners, but everyone won by just taking part
in this notable 356 event.
Sunday had everyone packing up and taking the drive back to Cincinnati.
The first photo album below are some professional photos taken by the ECH photographer Dave Witty.
Dave Witty has graciously provide the link below to his SmugMug account where everyone can have
free digital downloads of the event photos he took during the holiday.
Dave wants to emphasize that you do not have to buy anything, just right click on the image
and “Save Image to Downloads” on your computer.
https://davidkwitty.smugmug.com/356-Holiday-Blowing-Rock
The middle photo album is a collection of photos taken by DSG members..
The bottom photo album are shots taken by Ted Hunter, a well known Cincinnati expert photographer. Enjoy all the photos…