For many years, we held Sping Ride at the Little Switzerland Inn. It was ideally located: right at 226, 226-A, and the Blue Ridge Parkway. The town of Spruce Pines was only a couple miles down the road, and the Wal-Mart with a gas station is about the first thing you come to.
This was a quirky place. It had several levels, and no two rooms were exactly the same. There was one bathroom in particular that was hard to use: it was tight and nearly impossible to get into the room and close the door and get to the toilet. And another room was right above the kitchen and always smelled like it.
On the plus side, it had some weird and extra-wde hallways, one of which was furnished. This made a perfect gathering spot inside. Also, hotel parking was in back, which meant we could park all the bikes out of sight, and also bring our chairs into the parking lot for another gathering spot. The hotel had a dining room, which was slow but convenient. Even better: they also had the local liquor store. This meant we could watch the locals all night long from the front room balconies.
And let's face it, we like quirky and were perfectly willing to gripe good-naturedly to each other about the weirdnesses and thoroughly enjoy ourselves the whole time.
However, all good things must come to an end. For Spring Ride XIII, the hotel was temporarily shut down. (Water problems, the owners were interested in selling, etc.) So we had to fine a new venue. We moved down the street a few miels into Spruce Pine proper. This was a nice enough place. Nice rooms, usable bathrooms. But no real gathering space except for outside, and it gets chilly (and sometimes downright cold) in the evenings up there in early May. And there's always a good chance that it will rain at least one day/night while we're there. There were a couple of larger suites that became gathering spots, but it was harder to be all one group together. There was also no good right there: we had to travel to eat. Worst, perhaps, is that it was on the main drag through Spruce Pine. It was very hard to turn left, which was where the BRP was, especially in groups of 2 or more. Finally, it was nice but unremarkable. Just didn't really float our boat.
We used that place to two years, they for Spring Ride X, we moved to another venue: the Big Lynn Lodge. And we have found our new home.
It's more expensive by quite a bit than the other two places. But then, we're all older and can afford it now. And this place has it all. It's just a couple miles down 226-A from our original hotel. Easy to get in and out of. Still perfectly situated road-wise. The owners were really friendly and welcoming. They want us to come back every year. The rooms are comfortable, and there are many of them. They have a kitchen and dining room with good food.
For me, this was a slightly abbreviated Spring Ride. Tom and I went early, like we usually do, but I had a scheduling conflict: I was going to a conference in Seattle that started right after Spring Ride. So instead of riding a bit on Sunday (which was a gorgeous day) and then going home, Tom and I had to get up very early in the morning and drive to airport an hour away. I flew to Seattle from Asheville, and he returned to ride some and then go home by himself. It worked out fine, but I would prefer not to do that in the future.