Porsche Palooza
Approximately 46 St. Louis Region members attended the Porsche Palooza in Eureka Springs, AR on Nov. 5th through the 9th. Eureka Springs is a quirky, touristy town that grew up around several hot springs discovered back in the 1800’s. It has a lot of character with interesting shops, plenty of restaurants, great driving roads and a haunted hotel thrown in for good measure. There are many overnight options including small motels, B&B’s, tree houses and lodges to fit every budget and desire.
We really lucked out with the weather this year. Cool mornings transitioned into the low 70’s every day, and the Fall Colors were brilliant. This event is jointly sponsored by three PCA Regions, the Ozark, White River and Cimarron Regions. The main flavor of the Palooza are the 20 to 30 different tours of various lengths that are held on Thurs- day, Friday and Saturday. The tours are spread all over the Ozark mountains and valleys, starting in the morning and ending in the early afternoon.
Another interesting feature I like is a “Tour Board” that is displayed in the lobby of the host hotel Conference Center. At a glance, you can see the route and length, and how much of the day a certain tour would take, in between all the other sightseeing you want to plan. There is a QR code on the board, which allows you to download a Google map. I thought that was a nice touch, since we all have smart phones nowadays.
There were over 450 cars registered for this year’s Palooza, and they seemed to come from all over the US. Bedsides spotting the usual license plates you would expect to see at a mid-west event, like Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Kansas and Texas, I saw several other plates from further away like Ohio, Iowa and even New York.
We went on a Pancakes and Candy tour Friday morning. After an early scenic drive, we stopped at Jaclyn’s Kitchen for breakfast. A nice, quaint family place that were waiting for us. Then we continued the drive to Martin Greer’s Candy factory, where they have been making candy and chocolate since 1920. Of course, we had to sample their selection of chocolates and fudge, then made our way back to Eureka Springs.
Later that day, there was an organized Parade of Porsches that wiggles through the center of town, with quite a lot of both old and newer Porsches in attendance. Everyone in town lines the streets to watch us drive by...at 1 mile an hour. I needed to give my clutch leg a rest after that one!
Saturday, we joined another morning tour, stopping at the Back Porch Restaurant for breakfast. After that we visited Castle Rogue’s Manor - a truly unique fairy-tale style home built by a local restaurateur. This semi- medieval structure took him seven years to build. He started building without any blue- prints, just a vision, and simply designing as he went. Now it is used as a wedding venue and the like. A truly interesting structure to say the least.
A Show-and-Shine car show was held on Saturday afternoon. where every age of Porsche was well represented in large numbers. Everyone in attendance voted for their favorite Porsche via a phone app, which seems to be most common now. At the end of the day, I was surprised to learn that my 2002 996TT was chosen as a People’s Favorite in the 996 Turbo Class!
We met Phil and Denise Warnken from our Region, who also came to Palooza. It really is a family affair with them, as their kids, Kenny and Wendy Kvam, and their children come along and bring no less than seven Porsches. One of their cars, a beautiful Ruby Red Cayman, received top honors in the very crowded 987 class.
Sunday morning dawned and brought along some very chilly weather. However, it was fortunate that it waited this long to arrive, as we said goodbye to friends old and new, and made our way back home. The Palooza is a fun event, and you can do as little or as much as you want in the low-key setting surrounded by great roads. Wish I could attend it more often.