Tue 28 Jun. - Lynchburg - Nashville

I found it very interesting and informative, even if i'm not
particularly interested in the product itself. Johnnie Walker black
label for me please.

We were given a time of 2.45 to be back at the bikes, ready to leave,
so that gave us an hour or so to stroll back to the old town square and
find some lunch and shop at the HD T-Shirt shop.


The afternoon ride was Lynchburg to Nashville, where we'll stay for 2
nights at the Embassy Suites. Riding was, again, over "roads less
traveled" through little towns, with very little traffic. Great
riding, temperatures in low 30's, happy days.

One more stop thgis afternoon for gas and 'bum breal' until.... about 5 miles before the end of todays trip, we met a thunderstorm, so
took shelter under the canopy of a handy gas station.



About 1/2 an hour later blue skies appeared so we set off to complete the journey, through downtown Nashville rush hour traffic to the hotel, where we park in the hotels garage - 4 bikes to a parking


About 1/2 an hour later blue skies appeared so we set off to complete the journey, through downtown Nashville rush hour traffic to the hotel, where we park in the hotels garage - 4 bikes to a parking space.


My bikes milage now shows

as it was just uner 10k on it when I picked it up on Saturday, so we've ridden about 645 miles so far.

At this hotel, until 7.30, they offer guets free drinks and nibbles,
and so we're all eager to take advantage of this offer of course.

Like a few other places in this state, when ordering alcohol, you have
to show photo id, regardless of age. It seems a bit weird to me, its no
big deal, but i can see it would be a pain if you dont have a photo
driving licence with you.

Mrs. K and I have a room on the 7th floor, and its huge... theres a
lounge bit as you come into the room, with fridge, microwave, coffee
maker, sink (no kettle but we brought our own with us from UK), off of
this there's the large bathroom, and at the back theres the bedroom
with 2 huge double beds (and another TV). Good as we're here for 2
nights.

As, by now its 7.30 we decide to order room service rather than go out
searching for a place to eat. The foods delivered by 8, and is very  good.

Here endeth the 5th day

something about this reminds me of Star Wars...

so, now, as I write n post this, it's Wed 29 June 11:20. We're on a 'rest day'in Nashville, soon to venture out and explore Nashville.

Blogs up to date now.

Tomorrow morning is an early start, loading at 7.45, starting engines at 8.15, as we have nearly 300 miles to cover , to Memphis.

keep the comments coming.

any questions send a comment.

y'all have a great day now :)

T&

Tue 28 Jun, - Lynchburg

Lynchburg...

We park up at Jack Daniels distillery in vicksburg for a guided tour

below: me & Jack...

Our group tour is no.15 and starts with a bus ride from the visitor centre , round the historic town square, and drops us at the bottom end
of the plant.


below:initial ingrediants...


From hereon in its a guided walking tour going through the barrel warehouses, the making of the charcoal thay they use for filtering, the natural spring where the water they use comes from, the
origional admin office, the stills, the fermentation vats, the carcoal
filters and finally the bottleing plant. the whole thing lasts about 90
mins and we end up back at the visitor centre.

below: charcol making...

below: the source of the water they use

below: the source of the water they use...

below: the original office ...

I found it very interesting and informative, even if i'm not
particularly interested in the product itself. Johnnie Walker black
label for me please.

Tue 28 Jun - Chattanooga to Nashville via Lynchburg....

tu 28 jun chattanooga to nashville via lynchburg

A bit later setting of today, loading at 8.30 ...

rider briefing at 8.45...

and leaving at 9

After a little while we hake a fuel stop.

This gas station is remarkable for ...

...selling  Fireworks...

and did you ever see 'sparklers' that were 4 foot long?

At this point we've traversed into another time zone, so watches go back 1 hour (making us 6 hours behind the UK).




Not tried this stuff... yet ....

Morning coffee stop (no espresso, sadly) at the mall town of Cowan TN..

Lynchburg

Mon. 27 Jun. - Gatlinburg to Chattanooga

Todays final destination is Chattanooga Tennesee where we are booked into a downtown, the Hampton Inn.

Today we'res up at 5.45, breakfast at the hotel at 7, load up at 8, saddle up and on the road for 8.30.


Leaving Gatlinburg, we ride back down the main street, no need to gas
up as we all did that last thing yesterday before we reached the hotel.

Todays ride is one that I've been looking forward to, as it takes in
several great motorcycling roads, including the Dragons Tail (google
it) and the Cherohala Skyway.

Very scenic riding, along the edge of the Smoky Mountains national park.

We stop for a 'bum break' and a drink of water...

... before moving on to tackle the Dragon.

Tail of the Dragon is a famous road...

...famous for its "318 turns in 11  miles" and vey popular with bikers. The only clue to it's start is the warning sign that says ...

Towards the end of the TotD is Deals Gap, where there's a small biker
motel, cafe...




... inevitable gift/T-shirt shop. We stop there for 45 mins,
for coffee, rest and a few photos....

Now that i've 'slayed the dragon' i treat myself to a "Dragon US129" sew on for my summer jacket.

For lunch today we stop at Tellicafe at Tellico Plains.  128 Bank St.

Good stop, good
service, very tasty Apple pie & Ice cream.
There's a copuple of other Harleys outside with remarkable paint jobs...



Leaving Tellico Plans, TN, and after gassing up again,...
(gas station complete with 'beer cave' !


...our afternoon ride remains scenic, riding south down through Tennessee on 68. At Ducktown we change onto US route 64 heading West towards Chattanooga.

Tonight's hotel, just for one night,  is the Hilton Garden Inn 311 Chestnut St. Chattanooga, TN 37402 Room 425 in downtown Chattanooga. Being a Monday, some restaurants are closed. Jan gives us each a 10% off coupon for "Big River Crille & Brewing Works" but Mrs. K and I aren't over hungry but we find our fill at "Panera Bread" just 1 block from the hotel. Panera bread is an American chain that operates throughout the US and Canada billed as "Bakery-Cafe Fast-Casual". We liked.

Sun. 26 Jun. - Marietta to Gatlinburg pt. 2 ...

I enjoyed the coffee, and eventually we leave,re  fill up the bikes with Gas and make our way north towards Highlands where we'll have our lunch stop.

Along the way we leave Georgia (GA) and enter NC (Nort Carolina).

The road is now "much less travelled", scenic, and we're getting up towards the smoky mountains.

We're in the Nantahala National Forest now, and at the Bridal Veil Falls (Google it) we  make a brief stop for photos...

Futher up the road, in the town of Cheokee, theres the "retail therapy" stop at the local Harley Davidson merchandise store. Mrs. K and I buy ourselves a Tee shirt each.

Just as we're leaving Cherokee, bound for the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, the heavens open (innevitably). Fortunately we're able to pull over to a picnic shelter and take cover there whilst the thunder and lightnig passes over.

20mins, though still raing, the worst of the storm has passed, so we get going (by now we've donbned waterproof jackest/trousers.

As we go, the rain coninues to ease up, and after just a few miles the roads are bone dry, and dry so it is, from there, all the way into our overnight stop at the Two Rivers Best Western Motel in Gatlinburg.

Being a motel, we can park the bikes right outside our rooms, so convienient for bags and so on.

Our room, 484,  is double sided in that it has a front door on two dides - one side being right over the river, the other doior where the bikes are parked.

Chatanooga is very touristy. The tour guide described it as "a bit like Blacpool in it's heyday", and the main strip has more than its fare share of tacky tat shops. We're only here for tonight, and its quite late by the time we get out, so Mrs. K and I just grab a quick snack and explore the shops until we;re tired of it. Even though it's a Sunday most places are still open 'till 10pm.

There's 2 or 3 (at least) "moonshine" places, and quite a few selling Guns and Ammo and big knives and stuff. Why?