In my experience when it comes to trip planning and hospitality, Volkswagen is unmatched. So traveling with VW is always one of my favorite work “things” I get to do. The trips may be quick but it’s always an organized, new and exciting experience. I have lots in my backlog (remember I’m working on that) to share about my VW travels. I’m starting off with my last trip to Tennessee for no real reason in particular.

Each trip usually centers around a specific car in the VW range. This trip was for the 2019 Jetta GLI and it took us to Knoxville, Tennessee. I flew in that afternoon and had a couple of hours of free time before dinner. Not enough time to really get into anything but enough for a nice nap. I went shopping lol. We stayed at The Oliver Hotel which happens to be directly across the street from an Urban Outfitters so I had to. I found one of my favorite tops at the moment and ended up wearing it to dinner.

Dinner at The Oliver was quite tasty and we got the rundown on the car and what we could expect from tomorrow’s drive. Dinner is also a great way to pick your driving partner for the next day. Before I could blink, it was 8am the next day and go time for our Tail of the Dragon drive. Tail of the Dragon is considered by many as one of the world’s foremost motorcycling and sports car touring roads. It has more than 300 curves in 11 miles. Whew. This curvy stretch of highway is also considered one of the most dangerous. Lucky for us we’d be taking on Tail of the Dragon in the Jetta GLI, a car that handles beautifully. We did both automatic and stick (Jeana was all about that stick) on the trail and loved it.

With 228hp, the newest Jetta GLI has some serious kick. It’s really adaptive and high performance. You know I’m not going to get into car talk though I wish I could, but it mostly sounds like another language to me. I’m here for the look and feel. These cars never fail to catch my eye on the road. Inside they’re sporty, roomy, fun (hello ambient lighting), and modern (interface stuff). I love that you can get one fully loaded for under $30k.

I didn’t take as many pictures as I normally do on this trip because we were so focused on the drive. I wore a two piece sweater set from Boohoo as I thought it was a good balance of cute, comfy, and warm. VW hooked us up with breakfast, a coffee stop on the way to Trail of the Dragon. Lunch at Tapoco Lodge which is where we took these shots. The sound of the water there was my absolute favorite and all the reason you need to stay there forever. My flight was delayed on the way home, congrats on being consistently terrible AA. VW made sure my car didn’t leave for the airport until the plane was actually there.

You can check out my Instagram Highlights to see my stories from the trip. I’ve included some of the pieces I wore on this trip below, as well as similar stuff and a load of dreamy slingback style shoes. Thanks to Volkswagen as always for having me and congrats on producing 35 years of “cool girl” Jettas.

Drive Like Ria Jetta GLI Knoxville Tail of the Dragon Tennessee The Oliver Hotel Urban Outfitters Volkswagen