Porsche Experience Center, Kimpton Overland, Sasquatch Museum and the Blue Ridge Mountains

My husband finally got to experience his Christmas 2019 gift and we also got to take our delayed 25th Anniversary trip last week, and it was great! Christmas 2019 I had given him a trip to the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta, Georgia, with the option of choosing the driving experience of his choice. He didn't get to go last year so we then planned to go this summer for our anniversary. That didn't happen either so, now, we finally got our trip.

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

We drove down to Atlanta to stay at the Kimpton Overland Hotel. The hotel is literally right next to the Porsche Experience Center; you don't even have to cross a street to get to it. I used two IHG free night certificates to book our room. I knew I'd be eligible for a room upgrade with my Platinum Elite status so I let them know that we were staying there because we were going to the Porsche Experience Center and asked for a room with a view of the track, knowing that they had Track View Suites available those nights. I also mentioned we were there to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary. Then it was fingers crossed until check in.

Kimpton sometimes runs a "secret password" promotion where mentioning the secret password will also get you some goodies. They had had one over the summer that I had planned to use on our original anniversary trip, but since we had to reschedule, the password expired on September 6th. I had read though that some hotels will honor expired passwords so I was going to bring that up when I checked in too.

So, I go to check in. The front desk girl takes my ID, then goes around the corner and is gone for a long time. She then comes back with a bag with a bottle of chilled chardonnay and two wine glasses, tells me "Happy Anniversary" and also comps my parking for our stay. Plus, we got the Track View Suite. Never mind about even mentioning a secret password. I was thrilled.

Cash price for two nights in a Track View Suite was $766.54 and parking was $22 a night so we saved $810.54 on an AWESOME place to stay.

sitting area

We had views of the Porsche track as well as the airport from our room. The room also had sound deadening windows so it was surprisingly quiet.

bedroom

view from bed

We could have watched cars and airplanes all day!

Thursday, September 23, 2021

We walked over to the Porsche Experience Center at 8:30 am to meet our driving instructor Ross.

Clark and Ross

Clark had decided to do the Mid vs Rear Engine Experience which featured a 718 Cayman as the mid-engine car and the 911 Carrera S as the rear engine car. The driving experiences are 90 minutes long. You ride with an instructor and drive various parts of the course. 

The kick plate was his favorite. He could have played on it all day!

I took photos and video while Clark drove. After driving both vehicles we looked around inside. There was a museum as well as active work bays.

All in all a very fun day!

Friday September 24, 2021

We went up to the Rooftop Lounge in the morning to take a couple more pictures of the track before checking out of the Kimpton and heading to Blue Ridge, Georgia, to meet our friends Pam and Michael.

Views from the Rooftop Lounge

 On the way to Blue Ridge, Clark spotted the Sasquatch Museum so we pulled over for a quick stop.

We met Pam and Michael for lunch at the Cantaberry Restaurant. After lunch we headed over to Mercier Orchards to pick up some fried pies, apple butter and jam.

All the pies got eaten!

Final stop was the grocery store before heading to the cabin that our friends had reserved for the weekend. We had dinner by the outdoor fireplace, then I collapsed into bed. I woke to a beautiful sunrise the next morning. I took some photos and went back to bed...

We had a leisurely late breakfast before driving home. All in all it was the perfect short get away.