We are, as motorcyclists in Atlanta GA, very fortunate to have the North GA Mountains to ride, but the icing on the cake is the fact that the Smoky Mountains are just a stone throw over Blood Mountain. So back on the second weekend in May, Jeannie and I were ready for a couple of days of riding and decided let's head up to the Smokies.
Whenever one plans a trip to the area there are so many roads you want to ride (Cherohala Skyway, The Dragon, Foothills Parkway, Smoky Mountain Parkway, NC 28, too many to mention). So this time around we decided we could try a loop that would get us on as many of those great roads as we could. In the time allowed off course.
We left early on Saturday morning, packed for the day/night planning to be home later Sunday, with our 4 legged children (Buzz, Tosca and Jubal) well taken care of, off we went. The morning air was brisk and flat out cold for the first part of the morning, I took my mesh jacket and liner, and had to bundle up with an extra layer, as the day progressed the weather go better, never too cold never too hot.
The ride we choose was a very nice loop, that was going to get us through the Cherohala, the Dragon, and the foothills parkway, with our destination been Gatlinburg, TN for the night. I was not able to get a room at the Clarion, I like that hotel mostly because is right at the north end of the Parkway easy in and easy out, without having to deal with the traffic through the "strip", but we ended up at the Hampton Inn just a couple of blocks down, it does not look like much from the outside but the rooms have been renovated and were very nice, our room even had a fireplace, not that we used it in May but its nice to know its there. We were going back over the mountain on the Smoky Mountain Parkway to Cherokee, NC, and we left NC 28 as choice. Off course Sunday we ended up sleeping late, leaving late and just headed home, so NC 28 will be for next time.
This is a snapshot of the first day's route:
Our first stop was for a quick breakfast in East Ellijay at the McD's, nothing like free WiFi and a hot cup of coffee, remember what I said earlier, the morning air was brisk, this is where I layered up !!
We moved on through US 76 to Blue Ridge and took a left turn unto old TN 68 all the way up to Telico Plains TN, I highly recommend this road to anyone it snakes itself next to the river and its just a joy to ride. Once in Telico Plains we decided to check out the Telico Grains Bakery, and we were very impressed, its family owned and ran, the place is cozy and the breads and pastries were amazing. Since I had not eaten anything at the McD's stop, only coffee, I treated myself to a club sandwich and it was very good. I highly recommend this stop before heading on to the Cherohala.
Here are a few pictures of our stop in Telico Plains:
From Telico Plains we headed up to the Cherohala, this is a gem of a road, some say at one point it was to be the continuation of the Blue Ridge Parkway, I am not sure, I just love that they both exist as separate roads that I can ride anytime. The Skyway starts out as TN 165 but changes to NC 143 once in North Carolina, it runs directly into US 129 short miles from Robbinsville NC to the south and the dragon to the north. For more information check out this link:
If you stop in every overlook of this road you will be on it for an entire day, I have a couple I like to stop at, the first one been overlooking the Telico Plains Valley to the north, off course I did not take a picture but I took a movie and a couple of pictures of the overlook, the movie was just too large to upload to the blog so pictures it is:
The trusty steeds!
Next stop Tail of Dragon, no introductions needed, we have done it before, we will continue to do it over and over, one just can't get enough when you are on two wheels, helps that it was part of my route to our destination, you know! just happened to be there! ready for the taking. We stopped at the Dragon store to update our helmets and "new" bike with new stickers and in part to get ready for 318 curves in 11 miles. The weekend we were there the Mini Cooper Club of the South East was there so lots of Coopers, there was a British car club there with beautiful old XKE's, but also the usual crowd of thrill seekers like us that go up there so they can say they slayed the dragon.
This is some of the views from where I was seating and enjoying the movement of people:
Yours Truly, I just love the GSA..
Here is one where he caught Jeannie and I in the curve..
From the Dragon US 129 takes you to the Foothills Parkway, this is a beautiful road worth every mile, when I can't get to the Blue Ridge Parkway I ride this road, very similar construction, very similar roads, and the vistas are amazing. I LOVE THIS AREA
We arrived in Gatlinburg with plenty of sunlight, the way we like it, had time to relax a bit take a nice long shower get into some fresh clothes and go out exploring, there is only so many T-Shirt and Fudge shops one can stomach in one area, but its Gatlinburg and we know it. Dinner was again at the Cherokee Grill, so far our favorite, good service and good food.
View from our room, the heavy clouds were around all day but we never saw a drop of rain, perfect ending to a perfect day.
The next day we left Gatlinburg heading south on the Smoky Mountain Parkway and into Cherokee, we ended up riding south to Bryson City to try out this highly recommended breakfast place called Everett Street Diner, and indeed we had good service and great breakfast. You can tell the food is good when so many motorcycles are in front of it, we are a hard to please bunch, no bikes, food is not good
I highly recommend it
Below is a snapshot of the way home, this was two days of incredible rides, I don't remember the total miles but I am starting to not keep track of that at all. Just Go Out And Ride!
Till next time!!. Thanks for keeping up with us.
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