Smoking Big House Tour Recap

Day 1: Off We Go!

We left the dealer at 7:30 as expected with 22 Bikes and one SUV.  We rode down 55 to our first stop in Perryville.  We picked up our last two riders there and left with 23 bikes and headed south on 55.  We crossed the Mississippi on Hwy 74 in Cape Girardeau and rode into Illinois.  We picked up Route 3 and continued south.  We crossed the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois and rode into Wickliffe, Kentucky.  We took Hwy 121 and rode through beautiful farmlands to Mayfield, Kentucky.  After stopping for fuel at BP in Mayfield, we road another 3 miles to lunch.  

Our original lunch stop was changed to Majestic Family Restaurant due to shortages.  We were all able to park in the back at Majestic and they had a room ready for us in the back.  Good food with great friends.

We left lunch and headed through the “Land Between the Lakes,” a very scenic drive through the Kentucky countryside.  We crossed into Tennessee and had another fuel stop in Clarksville.  Traffic picked up as we headed on Rt 24 toward Nashville.  We took the Briley Parkway to avoid having to drive through Rt 24 in Nashville.  Traffic on the Briley was steady and sometimes heavy but much better than Rt 24.  We took surface roads once we passed the Nashville Airport.  Unfortunately, this was “Stop Light Hell.”  Seemed like we hit all the red lights.

Once we passed the Nashville area, we got back on Hwy 24 toward Murfreesboro, TN.  We finally arrived in Murfreesboro and filled up on last time for the day.  Our hotel was across the parking lot from the gas stop.  Most of us walked over to Cracker Barrel for dinner. Day 1 in the books, more than 370 miles.

Day 2: Scenic Drive 

Kick Stands Up at 7:30. We departed the Clarion Hotel and headed east.  The goal for today was to travel more scenic roads through the Smokey Mountains, and did we ever!  We traveled through mountain roads most of the day.  Seemed like we had a river or lake on one side of the road or the other.  Even a few miles of tree canopies over the road.  At one point, someone came on the CB with “and there’s our requisite river!”  Our first planned gas stop did not get their promised high test gas delivery.  So, we headed out to the next stop.  Once again, their promised delivery had not arrived.  Low on fuel, we all filled up with regular.  Most had the octane booster to add to their tanks.  Lunch was at Chevelle’s 66 Restaurant.  Both the food and service were awesome.

As we left our lunch stop the roads continued to be very scenic and started to get more twisty as we were moving through the Smokey Mountains.  After two more fuel stops, we arrived at the Comfort Suites.  They had a small section of their parking lot reserved for us.  Dinner was more scattered since there were no large restaurants close by.  Day 2 completed, over 300 miles today. 

Day 3, The Biltmore:

We all got to sleep in this morning.  Kick Stands Up was at 9:45. After a short drive, we arrived at the Biltmore.  Our GPS routed us, unfortunately, to one of the service entrances, apparently a common occurrence.  Steve Sweeney knew the way and took over the lead getting us to the Main entrance.  They were expecting us.  After picking up our tickets they took us to a special parking location reserved just for us.  Once we got to the main entrance, the group split up and went on their own.  The mansion and grounds are quite magnificent.  After hours of visiting the ground, most had lunch at one of the various restaurants.  The food and service were excellent!  The Biltmore Mansion is a definite a “Must-See.” 

After lunch we were back on the road.  Once again following mountain roads with excellent scenery, including our requisite rivers and streams.  We drove some 50 miles to our fuel stop for the day in Cherokee, NC., and yes they had premium.  After topping off, we drove another mile and stopped at our first Harley dealer of the trip, Cherokee HD.  It was a welcome break and they were expecting us.  After spending our money on tee shirts, poker chips, etc., we were back on the road.  Another 50 miles to the hotel in Robinsville, NC.  

Our hotel was just a few miles from the Tail of the Dragon and cattered to motorcycles.  Motorcycle parking spots were right out front of the hotel.  For dinner, most of us walked uphill to Lynn’s Place.  Another small restaurant for home style cooking.  The walk down to the hotel was much easier, even with full stomachs.  When we arrived back at the hotel, we had a surprise birthday cake for Michelle and Barb!  Day 3 was now in the book with another 100 plus miles riden.

Day 4: Day of Twisties

Up and out, KSU at 8:00.  We had a short hop to Skyway Convenience Store to top off our tanks.  Then it was off to the Cherohala Skyway.  A 43 mile curvey road along ridge after ridge of forested mountainside with sweeping mountain views as far as the eyes can see.   We stopped at the Tellico Plains Lookout to take in the magnificent view.
After a short break, we were back on the road to our first dealer stop for the day, Cherohala Skyway HD.  Another round of Tee Shirts, Poker Chips, etc. to fill our luggage spaces.  We drove another 20 minutes and topped off our tanks so we could take on the Drgaon with it’s 318 curves in just 11 miles. After another short drive, we turned south onto Rt 129, The Tail of the Dragon.  We slowed to the recommended speed of 30 mph, but dropped much slower as we entered some of the twisties.  Many of us scapped foot pegs and tail pipes as we leaned into the many turns.  Some had to be taken at less than 10 mph.  After mastering the dragon, we stopped at Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort for a much needed break and lunch.

In the parking lot of the resort is the “Tree of Shame,”  a tree adorned with the many fallen parts from motorcycle accidents on the dragon.  After lunch we visited the Deals Gap Shops to procure patches and other trinkets and stopped to see the statue of the dragon.

After our break we headed back onto the dragon, this time heading north.  Once again some of us scrapped our foot pegs on the way back up the dragon.  But again, we slayed the dragon…now twice!  Shortly after leaving the dragon we travelled up Rt 129 to Dragon Harley-Davidson for our second dealer stop of the day.  Yet more tee-shirts and trinkets to take back home.

After leaving the dealer we headed north to Oak Ridge for our next hotel stay.  We arrived at our next gas stop in a little over an hour.  After filling up we drove less than an mile to our next stop at Holiday Inn Express.  After checking in, some of us headed to Outback Steakhouse for dinner.  Michelle Call who has been following us in her SUV, volunteered to drive us to the restaurant for dinner.  We filled ourselves with food and laughter, especially after a fun day of riding.  Michelle took us back to the hotel to crash for the night.  Day 4 is complete, only another 200 miles, but a very long and tiring 200 miles. 

Day 5: Off to Jail, by way of the Devil

Another morning to get some extra sleep.  KSU was at 9:00 AM.  In trying to make the ride enjoyable, I found a small road that wound around the hills and arrived at the Brushy Mountain Penetentary.   Some of the riders thought that it might be the “Devils Triangle” but we were not sure.  Most of us had never heard of the Devil‘s Triangle.  The first part of the ride was tremenously scenic.  There were slow winding curves for most of the way there.  Then Suddenly I saw the sign on the side of the road “Welcome to the Triangle.”  We quickly learned that the triangle was a 44 mile loop with sharp, steep switchbacks and tight twisties.  The triangle was much more chellenging than the tail of the dragon.  The very tight switchbacks climbed up as you made the 180 turn.  The “twisties” were much tighter than the dragon and much more agressive.  After riding the triangle, we finally popped out of the deep woods right next to the Brushy Mountain Penetentiary.  We all had survived the Triangle!

We entered the ominous building and traveled through the bars into the courtyard.  Most of us headed for the museum, while other were headed to the bathrooms.  Just outside the museum I met one of the few dosents of the facility.  He had worked at the jail for over 35 years.  He offered to give us a guided tour of the facility.  We spent the next few hours listening to his stories of life at the prison.  One of the most famous inmates was James Earl Ray.  We saw the “whipping post” used as punishment along with the “strap” used to give the punishment.  He even explained the “Hole” and its affect on the body.  Our last stop in the prison was “D-Block,” the maximum security cells.  We left the penetentiary and walked up to the Warden’s Table for a hearty BBQ lunch.

After lunch we headed back onto Route 116, finishing the Triangle and headed back toward Nashville on Highway 40, then on up to Clarksville, TN for the night.

Day 6: Ride home

We pushed the start of the ride a few hours because of rain.  Some of the riders decided that they didn’t want to wait and headed on out into the rain on their home trek.  A few others were deviating from the ride home to expore some additional sights.  They too left in the rain.  The remaining group headed out a little later.  Though it wasn’t raining when we left, we expected to run through some rain along the first part of the trip.  So, we all donned out rain gear just in case.

We ran through a short bit of rain but by the time we got to our first gas stop in Paducah, the rain had stopped.  We all packed the rain gear away and headed west to Missouri.  Once we crossed the Mississippi River, we hit the forecasted cold front.  The wind pick up, the temp dropped, but the rain was gone.  The wind was so strong that everyone’s gas mileage was way down.  Our next stop was Katy O'Ferrells Irish Pub and Restaurant in Cape Girardeau.  Another few chose to just ride on home, so lunch was down to 8 people.  Can’t go wrong with good food and good company.

Once we got up to Sant Genevieve, it looked like we might get hit with rain again.  In addition the temp dropped so much, many of us were cold.  So we donned the rain jackets at the rest stop and headed home to finish the ride.  We rode just shy of 1600 miles on the trip.  Everyone made it home safe and sound albiet a few a little wet.  Another awesome road trip in the books.