I Fell in Love With a Cayman S on the Blue Ridge Parkway
A few years ago when the members of our upper level government couldn’t manage to remove their heads from their posteriors, we ended up with a “government shutdown.” This meant that lots of wonderful places like national parks were closed and couldn’t be visited. On the casualty list of places that were closed to the public was the Blue Ridge Parkway, one of the most beautiful and entertaining pieces of road in this entire country.
In the world’s most annoying twist of fate, I found myself holding the keys to a 2014 Porsche Cayman S, and I couldn’t drive it on the one road I wanted to. I was headed to Raleigh, North Carolina to enjoy the sights of a special Porsche Design exhibit, and I wanted to take the Parkway on the way down, just to make the trip that much more enjoyable.
I sucked up my disappointment and moved on with life, and took a different set of enjoyable roads down to the museum. On the way back the wife and I decided that it would be nice to stop in Asheville for the morning to get some breakfast. As we sat there enjoying a meal together, the news came through: the government shutdown was over, and all closed facilities were open immediately. Here I was, mere miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway, and it was now open. We paid and got underway. What happened next turned out to be one of the best driving days I have ever experienced.
Thanks to the shutdown, the Blue Ridge Parkway was essentially empty. I had a full tank of gas, and the power of a Porsche flat-six at my back. I dropped through the cogs and tore up that mountain at a pace that would defy physics and reason. And likely get me sent to prison too. Mile after empty mile I hammered on the Porsche like neither of us would live to see the next morning. It was sunset as I got close to the end of the road, and fog started to creep in. It was getting hard to see, but I couldn’t stop, I couldn’t slow down. I was possessed by the sensation, the performance, the total overwhelming exhilaration.
They say Porsches are built with something a little special baked in. That every one you drive feels a little magical. After that day on the Parkway with the Cayman S, I can say that it’s completely true.
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