| Author | Message | ||
     Froggy |
So, my girlfriend and I are going on a trip soon and are going to a dude ranch in Eastern Tennessee. We are going to make a week of it, with only like 2 days of it being at the ranch. So, we have been looking around online to see what other things we can do/see/eat/buy while in the area. She wanted to see Dollywood, but the theme park is closed for another month. I know she wants to see Nashville (and is obsessed with the show), but it isn't exactly nearby, so if we did head out that way we would do a few days there before heading back. Graceland is literally as far away as we can get while still being in TN. So, what do the locals here think are must have stops? | ||
| Glitch |
Chattanooga is one of my favorite cities. Lots to do there. Where bouts is the dude ranch? | ||
| Froggy |
It is in Del Rio http://frenchbroadduderanch.com/ | ||
| Strokizator |
The 50 mile drive over to Asheville is nice. The Biltmore Estate is worthwhile. | ||
| Two_seasons |
Lots of "junking" in Asheville if you're into that. Nashville is a nice city. Elvis mansion cool but neighborhood is ghetto!  | ||
| Griffmeister |
See Rock City/Ruby Falls! You may see those signs as you get close to TN, actually not bad for a day trip, the Hidden Lake is a little closer to where you are if you're into that sort of thing. The big cities like Nashville and Chattanooga are just far enough away to kind of ruin the chance of enjoying the night life at either one, but a day trip is doable. Not too far away is the Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Oak Ridge if you want to get nuclear. Or you could just go up to Bristol and take a selfie with one foot in TN and the other in VA. | ||
| K12pilot |
The Biltmore is an incredible sight to see!! Especially the gardens in spring & summer!! | ||
| Pwnzor |
Definitely do Biltmore | ||
| Etennuly |
Sevierville/pigeonForge/Gatlinburg are some fun places to go for first time visitors. You have touched all around it on your trips through here without really stopping. Great fun for couples. Park your car and walk the miles of arcades, shows, carting, shopping, antique shops, every mind of foods. While in Del Rio head to Hot Springs. Then you can stay over night on the BlueRidge Parkway in little switzerland then head to Asheville for a day at Biltmore. Could even stop in to see me. My wife has a multitude of answers beyond what I can come up with. What do I know, I spend all of my time riding in the mountains with my friends. Lol | ||
| 86129squids |
OK. WTF over, call me or Vern. Knoxvegas, downtown proper, has a lot to offer. The East TN downtown visitor's center is being redone, but look for anything WDVX. Listen, mainly, always, for live radio. The Old City. I've heard about Lonesome Dove, not been there, the area used to be the Bowery, red light district... Gay Street. If there's a show at the Tennessee Theater or the Bijou, GO. GO TO Local Motors. Secure your wallet. Stock and Barrel for a burger that will please you. All of Scott and Bernandine's properties on the other side later. The Oliver Royale. If you've not got a room, they could put you up. | ||
| 86129squids |
MEATS. Benton's smoked meats is 1 hour out and back from my home. We shall coordinate efforts. | ||
| Froggy |
Thank you guys, I'll look into those. Reservations booked at the ranch at least, gonna wing it for the rest, and we will be spending the week of Presidents day in the land of the banjo music  I suppose it means I won't be doing Glitch Badness, but we will see.
Funny enough, that's basically what I said to her when she asked what was around. I was like, "I don't know, it was down pouring and I was on someone else's Uly". I'll see if we can detour and meet up with some of you guys | ||
| Pwnzor |
I just want to know if Froggy is going to mount a GPS, tablet, cell phone and radar detector on his saddle when he goes riding.... | ||
| Ourdee |
Any pull off place / overlook along the road. Stop and look. TN. is great to look at. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Wheels through Time in Maggie Valley is a neat museum. | ||
| Etennuly |
There is an excessive amount of non motorcycle couples stuff to do in our area. That is why I need to speak to my wife about it, I have most frequently been into the motorcycle mode with a "hey you want to go?" position (her work schedule seldom permits). My happiness comes from the roads and views of these beautiful mountains. She has toured a lot of stuff with our adult children and visiting family that I have never seen(when they have days off and I have to work) They like to go to shopping, and do tourist type stuff. Wow, this is sounding sad for me. But with conflicting work schedules we do what we can to stay connected into each other's worlds. I can't help it, I would much rather sling my Uly deep through a long set of dipping banked corners on a smooth twisty road  than find an 80% off deal in an antique shop or in a shoe store! And don't drag me back into that giant store that only sells purses and accessories (but I had to go once!). | ||
| 86129squids |
Frogs- be sure to check out these local papers online, dig and branch out from their sites and you'll find lots of neat stuff to do! http://www.nashvillescene.com/ http://www.knoxmercury.com/ Nashville in particular is really becoming a foodie town! If you want to blow some $$$ and eat world-class cuisine, there's a Husk in Nashvegas, and a place called The Catbird Seat. Scads of other great places, and serious BBQ of course! There's a spot called Peg-Leg Porker that's well spoken of- I even spotted a bottle of single barrel bourbon from them at my local liquor store! My favorite radio station's link should do the same- www.wdvx.com - and maybe by the time you get down here, the East Tennessee Visitor's Center should be reopened after a remodel. Also, in Norris TN there's the Museum of Appalachia, right near Norris Dam. Not quite as impressive as Fontana Dam, but real close! PM me your itinerary if you want, and I'll continue to advise. | ||
| 86129squids |
Oh yeah- I've always passed through Hot Springs NC going somewhere, but I've never stopped to STAY there. I'd LOVE to have a couple of nights to soak and relax my bones! I'm not as familiar with the Tri-Cities area, but keyword search for Newport, Johnson City, and Abingdon VA. Truly though, Knoxville is getting cooler and cooler. Methinks this place would be right up your alley- I'm thinking of dinner there on the 18th, just before we see a show with St. Paul and the Broken Bones! http://lonesomedoveknoxville.com/ Apparently the chef/owner is a badaiss, and he bought and renovated the most historic building in the Old City. I worked there years ago, very curious to see what he's done. Dude also has a burger joint next door. And- LOTS of super places in Western NC, be sure to look around over there. | ||
| 86129squids |
... that place looks very nice! My sweetie loves horsies, might have to check it out someday. | ||
| 86129squids |
Oh, and one more thing- +1000 on Wheels Through Time! That place is AMAZING. One of the best things about going there is the probability that Dale Walksler of one of his sons will fire up one or several of their priceless machines, just for $hits and giggles! The place is nicknamed "The Museum that RUNS". They'll even roll them outside for an impromptu "scramble" around the museum, gravel and dust everywhere! When I was there I watched Mr. Walksler go over to his immaculate Henderson 4, on goes the gas, tickled the carb, turn on the key, and then "bump" started the bike on its rear stand by yanking the rear wheel around in gear... boom, bike running!! Then, after a brief warm-up, he proceeded to do an obnoxious/KEWLLL burnout right in the middle of the building! Talk about living RIGHT!! Plus, he's amassed a ginormous amount of old MC mags, materials, archives, and ephemera upstairs. You'll lose track of time at Wheels Through Time...  One thing- the lighting wasn't the best when I went, so bear that in mind for photos. | ||
| 1313 |
I spent 2 weeks in Eastern Tennessee on business last fall. One of the highlights of my trip was being able to take in the one night only screening of Rob Zombie's latest flick 31 in Oak Ridge, TN - before I flew home to a tropical storm... The movie itself was pretty cool - although it could've (should've) been longer. But the real experience was the chatter from the 'natives' commenting in the rows behind me... Think about Mystery Science Theater 3000, but with the cast of Moonshiners doing the commentary and you have the best bang for the buck entertainment-wise that I've had for quite a while. Your experiences might vary... 1313 | ||
| Froggy |
So, unscheduled change in schedule, looks like I'm starting to head south in the morning. Nothing set in stone at this point until Monday afternoon (check in at the ranch), so we will be cruising around a lot | ||
| 86129squids |
I'm off Wednesday/Thursday, holler! Weather should be good, hoping to get out and ride a bit! | ||
| Froggy |
Hopefully I'll remember to keep this refreshed as I am not taking my mobile command center truck http://glympse.com/0AG6-NQNC | ||
| Froggy |
This morning we departed Yonkers NY at around 8AM. Not much to say about the early hours of the trip, we stopped at Waffle House and drove the slab until we got to Virginia. When we stopped at the Virginia welcome center, we looked at pamphlets to figure out what we were going to do, and decided to check out Skyline Caverns as it right down the road from the northern entrance to Skyline Drive It ended up being well worth the stop, my girlfriend Danie has never been to a cavern before, so it would be a new experience. I've been to a few before, but this one was quite impressive.   The tour lasted about an hour, was about a mile of underground walking. I can't do the place justice, but the tour guide was fantastic. After that we grabbed a late lunch at Spelunker's, a local burger joint in Front Royal. The place was super busy, and I could easily see why, their burgers and ice cream are fantastic, and a good price too. It is fast food, reminds me a bit of Smashburger, but so much better. After we ate, we hopped on Skyline drive and drove it from end to end. It was around 5 when we started, so it started getting dark quick, but we still got a great view and saw plenty of wildlife crossing the road We got to Waynesboro VA, and stopped at a motel for the night. Before stopping, we were driving by a video game store, and of course I needed to stop. The place is called G2K Games, and is probably the largest game store I've seen, they even do board games and have tournaments.  Danie got me something to put on the wall when we get back  Tomorrow we are likely to head to Grottoes to see the Grand Caverns, and wing it from there. | ||
| Etennuly |
Well if your tour takes you towards Tellico area, you would like the 'Lost Sea' underground boat tour. Even get to feed giant trout. That Skylines Cavern cave above does look kind of like the inside of a giant vagina ya know!It was pointed out to my by someone in the room when the screen came up. Not my call, but once the idea was in place I had to agree. | ||
| Froggy |
Vern, sure, blame it on someone else, and I picked the least vagina looking pics to post We may check out that lost sea as we get to Nashville For those that want to stalk, here is today's link http://glympse.com/0EGT-DTSW | ||
| 86129squids |
Hey Frogs- I need to tell you about our dinner last nite! I'd mentioned that we were going to The Lonesome Dove in the Old City... WOW. It was fantastic! We ended up getting a variety of small plates to start, then my sweetie got a main dish of fideo with soft-shell crawfish while I got their trout entrée. The small plates were lobster hushpuppies, deviled blue crab, cornmeal crusted catfish, plus I got an elk slider and rabbit/rattlesnake sausage... dang, just realized we missed the grilled oysters! Oh well, gotta go back now... http://lonesomedoveknoxville.com/menu/ The small plates are individually priced- you WILL blow some $$$ there. Cocktails and a bottle of wine later... after the tip I signed off for $322! We don't get to eat out like that much, well worth it! | ||
| Froggy |
Squids, thanks, we will consider that, might not be in our budget with everything else we are doing. Yesterday we backtracked north to Harrisburg, checked out the Grand Caverns, stopped for lunch at a BBQ joint that ended up being closed, so we got grub at Jimmy Maddison's Southern Kitchen. So much good grub on the menu that I was tempted to have them bring out pretty much one of everything they offered. After that we stopped at the Harrisburg Heritage Market, which was closed (gotta love Sundays), then took sideroads all the way to Hillsville, which is where I am now. Not exactly sure where we going today besides the ranch, not enough time to really detour, but it isn't exactly far away. I'm probably going to be at the hotel for another hour, but before I forget, todays glypmse link - http://glympse.com/05YP-HPWY | ||
| Etennuly |
There are day trip rail road tours on steam locomotives in the area. I haven't done one yet other than the one in Dollywood, but plan to one day. |
