Off to North Carolina

The Prophet · 09-25-2010

My wife and I are taking a week’s driving vacation to scenic Asheville, North Carolina.

Depart September 25th, return October 3rd.

11.5 Hours drive. Through Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, then North Carolina.

We're renting a small, rustic log cabin way up in the SmokeyMountains, just northwest of Asheville. I say "log cabin", but it does have a/c. cable TV, free internet, etc., which I'm guessin' the basic pioneers most likely didn't

. You have to take a 1/4 mile gravel road to finally get to it, so it must be somewhat remote. We'll see. Coupling say a Holiday Inn type Hotel with the great SmokeyMountains just didn’t make any sense to us. I'm not a "Resort" / organised / manufactured fun type either. Live like the locals sez me... except for the slack-jawed look!

This one’s a cage driving expedition, not on the bike, sorry. I was, though, able to fenagle (sic) at least a one days rental of a Harley Davidson Road King from a rental outfit just north of Asheville (all they rent is Harleys). Plenty of scenic roads in this area, so that will be fun. We’ll keep an eye on the weather – currently calling for rain Monday and Tuesday, then clear skies thereafter! There is also a “Wheels of Time” motorcycle museum close by, so we’ll check that out too. Other than that – this is primarily the wife’s vacation, as I already had the Galena, Lake Geneva, and Peoria weekends on the Bike this past summer. I’m O.K. with that, as I enjoy the Smokey’s too.

One of the days we are taking a Steam Train ride – 7 hours total, with lunch served. This train weaves through the mountain range, so might be cool.

Other than that – there are a zillion sites to see, Grandfather Mountain, Blue Ridge Parkway, etc., etc. Add to this the wife shopping for precious (read expensive!

) antiques and trinkets along the way, and especially in Asheville. Note that this is supposed to be a "relaxing", stress reducing, zen vacation, so our main plan is to... not have a plan!

On the way back, we are going to stop in at the IndianapolisMotorSpeedwayMuseum, which might be interesting.

Anyways, I’ll try to stay in touch, but can’t guarantee anything.

Ride Safe!

Bob

motowebmaster · 09-26-2010

Don't blame ya on the transportation choice, it's a distance for two.

Saw a vintage Ducati 900 from N.C. a couple nights ago, in North Arkansas. The rider looked tired, but his bike was well kept and clean.

Have a safe trip!

The Prophet · 10-06-2010

Got back last Sunday afternoon - story and pics to follow shortly.

Suffice to say: Fantastic trip! Great! We accomplished at least 90% of our plan, which, vacation-wise, is probably pretty decent. (?)

The Blue Ridge Parkway is absolutely awesome, and should definitely be on any riders "Bucket List". Recommend 100% as a "must-do".

Rained a lot last Sunday and Monday, but other than that, western North Carolina - where we were - was sunny and mild (70's) for the most part all week long. The East coast got hit super hard with rain, etc, but we were lucky further inland.

Other than a few crappy restaurants (as always!!), it was great. I broke my "anti-Franchise" rule one morning, and we tried a Denny's - bad idea.

Anyway, much more later, I need to download the photo's and catch up on a few things.

Ride safe!

Bob

The Prophet · 10-19-2010

Note: Report will be in installments, as I tend to get pretty wordy as you know.

Trip Report

Sunday, September 26th – Departed from home, 7:45 AM (15 minutes late!!). Drove until just slightly north of Indianapolis, roughly 4 hours. Stopped for breakfast (brunch?) at a Denny’s restaurant, roughly 11:45 AM, as there were absolutely no “Ma n’ Pa” style restaurants anywhere near the Highway (I-65). Bad idea.

First, although the restaurant was 90% empty, the “customer last” spirited waitress attempted to seat us at a tiny, two person table against a back wall, near the kitchen. I asked why we couldn’t sit at a nice window table, since all of the window tables were empty. She replied “Oh… would you prefer that?” (Doooh!)

Secondly, there were always at least 5 employees milling around the cash register table, but seemingly no one waiting tables. One waitress was covering the entire restaurant while 5 others stood around gabbing and horse-playing. I waited patiently for 20 minutes, and then told the wife I’d give ‘em two more minutes, and otherwise we’re outa’ here. Luckily – for them – the waitress arrived after 21.99 minutes. She took our order, then it was another 25 minutes before we received our food, so we’re 47.9 minutes into it before we could even begin eating. Food was the average Denny’s fare, but a good hour or so was wasted, but the experience took Denny’s 100% off of our list for the future. In all fairness, the waitress was very nice and hard working, so we left a good tip for her. The Manager (?) is to blame in this case, and the Corporate Trainers (Denny’s), not the server. Whilst on vacation, you need to laugh this stuff off, and realise that since you obvious can't change things, let it be. Boycotting may be the only protest with any effect. I give 'em zero Stars, worst in a long time.

Bellies thusly full, we continued onward through Indianapolis and Louisville, KY, past Lexington, KY, stopped at a roadside rest Stop to stretch, and pick up various booklets and brochures / maps, motored onward and finally pulled into Corbin, Kentucky for the night. Stayed at the local Baymont Inn; a study in overall blandness and industrial styled, yet inoffensive minimal human sleeping quarters for the general masses. If you enjoy grey as a color palette, this is the place for you! (Read: Cheap) Ya gets watcha pays for, so quit complainin’.

Actually, not a bad place at all for the price (USD$110/day), and we were somewhat limited in choice as anything even remotely near Lexington, KY was booked solid, or triple priced because of the World Equestrian Games going on right now. Bed was comfy, the shower had good pressure, and the room was clean. Done.

Driving wise, the trip from home to Louisville, Kentucky is painfully boring. Mainly south on I-65. Once you cross over the Ohio River via the Louisville Bridge, things start to change, and the scenery / landscape begins to develop. This is roughly 5.75 Hours from home, so on a bike from North / Central Illinois you would need to make this sacrifice to reach the scenic areas. Northern / Central Indiana via I-65 is… flat. You like cornstalks? Wheatfield’s? Soy Bean patches? Plenty to see here. The good stuff starts tomorrow morning. Load up the CD Player with excellent tunes, adjust the Cruise Control to 78 MPH... and go.

Anyway, all in all a good day, made very good time on the road, and the landscape is beginning to transform.

It was sunny, 75 F, when we departed early this AM, cloudy and slight drizzle in the afternoon, cloudy tonight and cooler.

Below are a few quick pics taken at a Kentucky Highway Rest Stop on this first day out.

The Prophet · 10-19-2010

TRIP REPORT, PT.2

Monday, September 27th - Continued onward after Breakfast at the Cracker Barrel across the Parking lot of the Hotel. The Hotel (Baymont) did offer a “continental” breakfast, but stale donuts and watered down O.J. didn’t necessarily appeal to us. The food at the CB was great, (hot, brown, and plenty of it!) actually a much bigger serving than is reasonable (or healthy!), but we’ll take it. At quick peruse through the gift shop at what CB perceives that old, retired folks on the road might be interested in, and we left.

We arrived in North Carolina, at the Cabin we had rented at around 3:00 PM, gazed around for about 25 minutes, inhaled the musty, stale odors, then used the “free internet” to book a room at the local Holiday Inn Express in southwestern Asheville, NC, left a Phone message on the owners answering machine and left.

The cabin was, unfortunately, a dump. Rustic? O.K., I can accept “rustic” stuff”. Clean and well maintained… nope. In the end, it cost us $100 bucks (although I could have fought it), but the great and valuable lesson learned was to be extremely skeptical and cautious about booking cabins online based upon website photo’s etc. The actuality looked nothing at all like the website pics in this case. Perhaps 30 years ago when the actual photos were probably taken, it may have been different. Anyway, some folks might like it (the “rustic-ness”), but not us. We bucked up, smiled, laughed a bit, and moved on. No use in something trivial like this soiling an otherwise great time.

The Holiday Inn actually turned out to be cheaper by $15.00/night, plus we got free full breakfast, and fresh linens daily, so a good deal. Hotel and rooms were spotless, staff very friendly, excellent service, etc. Zero complaints. The Hotel was also easy to get in/out of, and right next to a main highway, so very convenient. We stayed here until next Friday morning it was so nice.

Before we checked in at the Hotel, we spent a few hours in “Biltmore Village”, in south Asheville, NC. We had been here roughly 8 years ago, and it was nice. Now… not so nice. The shops are now all expensive, over-priced knick knacks, Christmas ornamentie stuff, pretentious name brand clothes and jewelry for the gals, and other not-so-interesting stuff. Nothing interesting, educational, historical, or unique, just … “stuff”. Two or so important hours wasted, but the weather was nice, and we got some fresh air and a leg stretch. Go back again? No way.

http://www.biltmorevillage.com/

After this, we went to the “Grove” building in Downtown Asheville, also supposedly a nice shopping area. Was it? Meh… one of those old building converted into an indoor type shopping mall. Same “stuff” as Biltmore Village, although there was one shop that specialized in rocks and minerals / geological specimans that was cool.

Actually, it was more interesting to people watch. Apparently, lot’s of either homeless, or bohemian, or Gothic, or aged Hippie, or .. something are attracted to this area, and roam the downtown streets as in a “B” grade Zombie movie. Granted, they definitely aren’t bothering anyone, or openly panhandling, just interesting to me as to where in the world they all come from.

Headed back to the Hotel, freshened up, and headed out to a late dinner at a local “Texas Roadhouse” restaurant, that was exactly like the other 10,562 Texas roadhouses you may have visited across the USA. Steak for the masses!

Actually, the staff was nice, service excellent, waitress extremely nice (and good looking!), beer was good and cold, the steak was pretty good. Peanuts were free! Note: Salads at Texas Roadhouse are excellent. 4.0 stars.

[Footnote here: We DID try to find local “Ma n’ Pa” style restaurants in the area, but apparently there are none. The Asheville area offers either franchise style eateries, or superficial style “bistro”, “café’” or otherwise trendy, yuppie affected, try to be uppity restaurants that quite frankly we don’t care for. I had an extremely nice lunch a few weeks ago with a self-made, hard working. “regular guy” multi-millionaire. More likely billionaire. We ate at McDonalds.

Point being: Where you eat – and how much it cost - has nada to do with status, only obviously sad, pretentious folks would pay ridiculous prices for tiny servings of incomprehensibly named food on fancy tableware. Get a life!]

Perhaps better to note WHO you dined with… Why you dined with them, and what was discussed overall as a measure? I’ll take a good ol’ Steak n’ Salad, and a good, solid companion with which to discuss interesting and meaningful topics with anytime. Leave the superficial, shallow attitude “nose in the air” schmucko’s at home please (or at the very least, far away from me). Life is waaaay too short sez me.

The drive here from Corbin, Kentucky was great. Roughly 6 hours of mountainous roads (Great Smokey Mountains), scenic vista’s, great curves, hills, valleys. This would be absolutely nirvana on a bike. Do it in mid to late October for the best fall colors. The trees are “just” beginning to turn right now (September 27), so a few weeks more would be perfect. Weather today also perfect. High 70’s, a little rain this AM, but then sunny and clear all day.

After a very nice meal, we headed back to the Hotel. Tired, full stomach, a full day of driving and walking around shopping and stuff. Slept like a baby.

The Prophet · 10-20-2010

Trip Report; Part 3

Tuesday, September 28th – Today the plan is to visit “Grandfather Mountain” northeast of Asheville.

Weather is perfect, around 80 degrees and clear blue skies.

http://www.grandfather.com/index.php

Absolutely awesome. Highly recommended. A “must – do”. It was a very nice, scenic 1.5 hour drive up through (and down through, and around) the mountains to get here from Asheville. Beautiful park and surroundings, easily an “all-day” adventure. You take a ‘long and winding road’ to get up to the very top, with many other things to do / see on the way up (scenic overlooks, a small Zoo, etc. - then park the car and climb some stairs. Once topside, there is a swinging bridge to cross, and further rock climbing for the uber-adventurous types. I did the rock climb a little, but the wife, thinking I’d finally proven the insanity suspicions – protested a bit too much so I gave up. Coulda’ made it all the way, sez me.

The views from here are endless, as this is the highest peak around. I try to imagine myself as Davey Crockett or Daniel Boone, and soon form a great respect for how courageous and motivated these guys must have been. Imagine this area in the 18th and 19th centuries, pre-interstate highways, etc. They had to have been some pretty tough and adventurous characters. I would have volunteered to stay behind and mind the women-folk!

After a couple / four hours on the mountain, we decided to head back to the hotel the scenic way, and chose to take the “Blue Ridge Parkway” vs the conventional highways. The Park Ranger advised us that it would take us roughly three or more hours to get back (vs 1.5), but hey… we’re on vacation!

The Blue Ridge Parkway is now on my personal “Bucket List” of things I absolutely MUST do on the bike before I croak.

Unbelievable road, unbelievable scenery. 99.9% curves, so a fantastic motorcycling venture, but be forewarned that the speed limit is 45 MPH, and strictly enforced. You might also meet up with Grandpa and Grandma driving 10 MPH around the next curve, so be alert. Better to plan on a M-F weekday in the off-season if you want to experience the curves, anytime other than that for the scenery and atmosphere.

http://www.blueridgeparkway.org/

Some words of wisdom though: Eat a good, hearty breakfast, and fill up the gas tank before you embark. Note that this whole parkway is like a State Park, therefore there are no Gas Stations on the road itself (479 miles) so you need to exit at some point to get more. There are websites and blogs galore about the BRP, so you can download a list of gas stations and eateries in the little towns along the way, but you DO have to get off, find the town, gas-up, then get back on. How far the towns are form the BRP is important to know. We made it back to the Hotel on the fumes of the fumes… and starving.

Don’t Speed. You WILL get nabbed, and you also may ruin it for future riders. Be cool man, enjoy the Zen-ness.

Food wise – there are a few “snack stations” at various State Park ‘visitors centers’ along the way, but these are candy bar, canned soda and chips kind of places. Better to pack a lunch and thermos, some fruit and stuff, and bring a good supply of bottled water.

For whatever reason, our Garmin GPS, as well as our cell phone(s) both lost communications constantly in this area, so have a good paper map and route plan at the ready. Also, make sure the bike is in tip-top shape, as I don’t know how you would get any assistance other than from other riders.

We also noted that ALL of the motorcycle riders we saw were very “serious” riders, FF Helmets, full gear (jackets/pants/gloves/boots), mostly big BMW’s, Goldwings, a few Kawa Concours, one Triumph Tiger. Mostly BMW’s. Inter-Bike and passenger Communication sets, etc. Honestly… very, very few Harleys. I think we saw maybe 2 or three. AND, the few HD riders we did see were fully FF helmeted, safety geared, etc. Zero “Poser Pirates”. This is hardcore riding, and requires some significant skill to experience properly (and safely), so you don’t see the casual weekend warrior masquerade types at all. From an interesting perspective, not one single “loud pipe” to be heard. Again, these are dedicated, experienced type riders (committed?), and this is understandable, as this ride is no mean feat. You also quickly get the feeling that these folks really respect the whole scene, and are in iot for the experience, not to show off or “be seen”. Cool.

The drive is fantastic, and I’d do it again anytime. I am already attempting to form a group ride with my two sons and some other friends. My plan would be to mass trailer the group of bikes down, then unload them all at the BRP start and ride for a week, then load up and trailer back. Hardcore types of course could ride all the way down from Illinois on bikes sans trailer, but 11.5/12 hours on a bike is… challenging? If only I were 20 again!

480 miles at 45 MPH turns out to be 10.6 Hours of riding, then add in breaks, inevitable delays, and a more likely average of say 38 MPH. Therefore 480 miles divided by 38 = 12.6 hours, then say an efficiency of 85%. So, 12.6 divided by .85 = 14.8 hours. That said, you could easily spend 3.7 days (call it four) on the road if you plan on 4 hrs of riding/day. In between all this riding are scenic stopovers like the aforementioned Grandfather Mountain and at least dozen other things to do for an afternoon each. Never “rush” nor “over-plan” a vacation sez me. Take it easy. Plan for a whole week. Chill.

6 stars (if you can score above 5?) Seriously – the best. I could do this forever on a bike. Motorcycling Nirvana.

We finally made it back to the Hotel at around 8:30 PM, so we decided to eat at the Hotel restaurant, which wasn’t so bad after all. We split a huge, full dress Pizza, had a few beers (Guinness!) then headed up for some rest.

The best day so far, although all have been pretty great.

Some various pics of the park, zoo, bridge, views etc.

The Prophet · 10-21-2010

TRIP REPORT, Part 4

Wednesday, September 29th. – Todays plan is to take a Train ride on the Great Smokey Mountain Railroad. We had booked our reservations in advance, which is recommended. We chose the First Class Package, as the meal sounded the best, and the seating looked much more comfy for the longish ride. Plus, you get a free souvenir Coffee mug and canvas tote bag!!

http://www.gsmr.com/

Weather: Yuch… cloudy, grey, around 65F or so. No problem, as we’ll be inside a train car.

Breakfast at the Holiday Inn was excellent. Great Server, an older gent who made sure we had everything we wanted, and made special rye bread toast for us, and offered to fill out Thermos with fresh coffee, no charge! It’s great to meet folks who sincerely enjoy their work, and this guy was an absolute gem. 4 Stars for this restaurant! Headed out for Bryson, NC., a nice scenic drive through the mountain valley.

The Train ride we took was roughly 4.5 hours long. You head out for 2 hours, stop at a tourist trap area, stretch your legs for a half hour, then head back. The meal is served just prior to the touristy area stop. Basically, the meal was a BBQ Beef sandwich, fries, cole slaw, and Iced tea. Beers and such are available for 6 bucks apiece. Not exactly “First Class” fare, especially at the price, but remember my previous tirade about food and companionship? We met up with a nice couple on the train, and had a good time talking about various things all the way through. Some nice young folks from Buffalo, NY on a getaway vacation just like us.

At the halftime Tourist Trap area, you could cross a wooden bridge over a whitewater rafting river, and watch the rafters and Kayakers go by. This looks like a lot of fun. A guide said the water was 42 degrees F, so the boaters all had insulated wetsuits on. It really was a rough river, plenty of rocks and stuff to maneuver around, and a very fast current, etc. This was the Nantahala River, fyi.

The shopping area was mostly camping and Kayaking gear, everything drastically overpriced to the hilt, and you cpould buy the exact same stuff almost anywhere, so we didn’t buy anything other than two cork pop guns and some “Indian” genuine arrowheads (“made in Mexico”) for my two grandsons.

The passenger / dining cars are from the 1930’s and 1940’s, so kind of cool. Sort of an art deco style. The outdoor scenery is… OK, but I’d guess 75% of it blocked by near trees, flora and shrubbery (desperately needing a trim), and mostly overwhelmed by the deadly “Kudzu” vine. Serious stuff. The most interesting part of the trip was a sad story about a former town named “Fontana” that was submerged forever by the building of a local dam. Unfortunately, the aforementioned former town is now totally under water, so you can’t actually see it… just a lot of water, so I guess you have to totally use your imagination? Perhaps better to think about the wonders (or damage creation) of the Kudzu Vine.

http://maxshores.com/kudzu/

Moral: Don’t mess with mother nature.

Scenic Vista’s? Maybe one or two. Worth the money? Nope. Maybe at half the total cost it would be OK. Do it again? No.

It was OK, but not at all what the brochures would lead you to believe. It may have been better in the less expensive coach cars, and bringing along a bag lunch. Worth a try.
I’d suggest that this is for very hardcore train aficionado’s only! It IS nice in the sense of a slow train ride, if you like that kind of stuff.

We hung around Bryson, NC for a while (home of the only, single, ATM machine in the entire area!) and checked out the Railroad Museum, mostly because I have a soft spot for Model Train Layouts. Very cool layout, with a lot of detail and hard work / dedication involved. You have to admire folks who put so much effort into something. This layout is huge, with about 6 trains running at the same time. Great buildings, landscapes, and track designs. All with working (motion) details around the layout to draw interest. I found this to be utterly fascinating, while the wife somehow found it… boring, so we split the difference and left the Museum after maybe an hour or so.

Trained out, we headed back to Asheville for dinner. After much debate (some call it arguing?) we settled on the local Cracker Barrel (again!) in Southwestern Asheville as it was only a block away from the Hotel, quick, and convenient. Since the last one we visited was good for breakfast, we figured we’d try this one.

Restaurant critique! “Meh. Whatever”. Are all CB’s exactly the same? Seems like it. I’ll be nice and give ‘em 2 stars. Cracker Barrel seems to be on the verge of becoming a franchised “food mill”. Someone at the corporate level might want to stop counting the money for a moment and look into things. It seems that so many franchises start out with the right attitude and vision, but then eventually fall prey to adoration of the short term bottom line. When this happens, they become “food mills” for the masses, and eventually disappear, following the customer exodus. Without customers, you have no business, Economics 101.

We’re tired. Back to the Hotel, but I DID convince the wife to stop at the downstairs bar (hey! We’re on Vacation!) for a quick nightcap… or two. Guinness!

Actually, not a bad day. Although the Train was a little bit disappointing, the experience was unique, and watching the rafting guys was fun. The Museum was great. The drive to/from Bryson is also great, so we had fun.

Some pics of the train ride, deadly Kudzu Vine, the rafters and the museum.

The Prophet · 10-22-2010

TRIP REPORT, Part 5

Thursday, September 30th – Todays plan: The Biltmore House. This is the home built by the Vanderbilt family (Steel, Railroads, Shipping, etc.) in circa 1885.

http://www.nnp.org/nni/Publications/Dutch-American/vanderbiltc.html

Weather good, about 75 to 80, partly Sunny, supposed to rain later. We’ll see.

Breakfast again at the Hotel. Same friendly, fantastic guy taking care of everyone in the restaurant. 4 Stars!!

Note that the house was built by his offspring, as he died in 1877, so the kids were loaded, and eager to show off. Normally, I’m not real big on seeing ‘rich’ folks vulgar, over the top, irritating excess’s, but this one may be the biggest, and / or the most over-the-top, and it WAS a long time ago, AND they are all d-e-a-d so no use in trying to stop them right? A 125,000 square foot house. Wow.

Actually, a very nice, very interesting place. My guess would be that it would cost in the Billions to duplicate this same thing now – house and grounds inclusive, etc.

http://www.biltmore.com/

If you enjoy architecture, antiques, history, etc., you’ll like this place. Also great for viewing some great examples of various trees, as these have been unmolested since 1885, so there are some nice examples of what a fully grown natural Oak tree for instance should really look like.

Easily an all day thing, as there are also many outbuildings and gardens to see. Restaurant is in the refurbished (I hope!) former horse stables. Very good food and service, but pricey $$$. Great place. 4 stars.

Finished off by buying a ton of “stuff” at the Gift Shop. Mostly trinkets and what not for the grandkids, plus some shiny Christmas Tree ornaments.

Note: This Asheville area is also home to a zillion Christmas Tree Farms (in case you wondered where they all come from) hence the connection to a zillion stores selling Christmas bling.

Spent all day walking around the Building and Grounds. You can also take your car / Bike through the estate (but NOT in the house!), slow, leisurely ride, as in 15 MPH. Land must have cost near nothing back in 1885, and I’d guess that ol’ Vanderbilt had a few connections with the Guv’ner to get a sweet deal. Anyway, one can only dream about having this much land nowadays. It would cost billions. With all due respect, the V family HAS maintained the land beautifully, and environmentally, so you have to grant them a huge thanks for that.

There is also a great presentation / gallery showing sequential photographs of when / how the house was built. This is horse n’ buggy, ropes, pulleys, hand shovels and picks, REAL carpenters, imported Italian Stonemasons, etc. style work. Fascinating, and it only took a few years, despite mud, rain, snow, and the remote mountaneous location. Amazing what a person can do when you say “No matter what it costs”, and really mean it.

Ya’ know, you really don’t see today’s ‘people with money’ (Gates, Buffet, etc.) doing this big of a thing. Note that the Vanderbilts also gave ton’s to charities, etc., above and beyond what people do these days. Actually, I’d guess it would be near impossible to duplicate the vast expanse of land, or even assemble a team that would have the skills to do this type of handwork (stonemasons, carpenters, millwork). Maybe a few self-taught specialist types, but not many. In that respect, it’s a nice thing to preserve, and I admit it was fascinating and educational to boot. Great place, highly recommended. Allow for a full day, and bring your “walking” shoes!

Headed back to the Hotel, freshened up, then had dinner at a local, family owned (found one!) Mexican Restaurant. Excellent, excellent, excellent. Fantastic Marguerita’s, great spicey food, fun, reasonably authentic atmosphere (hey… we’re in Mexico!), super efficient and friendly staff, and very reasonable prices.
Ola! 5 stars.

A few pics of the place and grounds:

All in, a Great Day.

Off to North Carolina

Scenic Off to North Carolina