RIDES FROM THE PAST
Cheep Sheets
Adequate lodging at bargain prices. If you know of others, please send me notes from your experience including location and price.
Skyland Motel
15545 Lee Hwy, Bristol, VA
Exit 10 on I-81
(276) 669-0166
This is an older motel. Clean sheets and rooms. Lots of TV channels and the plumbing works. Swimming pool. $32.00 including tax.
Kentucky
Abner's Motel
87 College Ave.
Stanton, KY
(606) 663-4379
This motel was great. You wouldn't expect nicer accommodations at a Marriott. It is a small, single story motel. Built like the old ones on the side of US Highways. One catch, it's only 15 years old and looks brand new, inside and out. The lady that checked us into our rooms was the owner. This is an American owned motel. The rate for a single was $44.
NORTH CAROLINA
Phillips Motel
290 Main Street
Robbinsville, NC
(828) 479-3370
Ask for Ms. Reba, she is the owner / operator and the best hostess the Smokey Mountains has to offer. This is an older motel and is well maintained. She absolutely caters to the "biker" crowd. There is a chest of drawers at the main entrance to the office that is loaded with old towels and wash cloths. She has provided these so you will have something to clean your bike with. I have stayed here many times. This is an American owned motel. The rate for a single is $44.
For such a small town, there are lots of places to eat and several business that offer minor motorcycle services. Stay away from the Chinese Buffet, it sucks.
What's for Dinner?
Just good places to eat.
FLORIDA
Parson's Restaurant
904 6th Ave S
Jacksonville Bch, FL
(904) 249-0608
This is a local neighborhood seafood restaurant. The food is excellent, the service is fair. Most meals price around $12 and the portions are huge. No one at our table was able to clear their plate. This was some of the best seafood I have ever found.
TENNESSEE
Rebel Drive-In Restaurant
1010 S Lee Hwy
Cleveland, TN
(423) 476-6373
Open 6am to 2pm
Closed on Sunday and Monday
As I drove by, I could smell the bacon cooking. I looked back just in time to realize there wasn't an empty parking spot on the lot. A quick U-turn and I had a fantastic breakfast. The service was excellent.
Shelly’s Chicken House
3496 US Hwy 421
Bristol, TN
(423) 878-3581
Located on US 421 just a few miles south of Bristol. Good biscuits and gravy with eggs cooked to order. You can get fried chicken one piece at a time or their menu has a price for an order of 200 pieces. How hungry are you?
Riding the Best of West Virginia
We had breakfast the morning of July 4th at one of our favorite local spots and hit the road to meet friends in Kentucky. Rick Glover and his girlfriend Monica and myself headed north up I-65 for about 160 miles.
At exit #6 in Kentucky we met up with James Langley of Madison, AL. and Dave Dragon of Tampa, FL. We crossed the last operating river ferry in KY. on Hwy 214. It crosses the Cumberland River. We made our way to Stanton, KY. which is near Natural Bridge. We stayed at Abner’s Motel. I would recommend them to everyone. It was very clean and well maintained. Also staying at this location was a group of native American Indians from Okalahoma that had been hired to burn off underbrush along the highways. They were friendly and had interesting stories about their work.
Thursday we made our way to Burnsville, WV. We followed a section of the Ohio river and then straight into the mountains. The roads were mostly US Highways and not so twisty but the scenery made up for it.
On Friday we would make up for any straight roads that we had ridden the days before. US 250 and several connecting roads are as twisty and well paved as anything you can find east of the Mississippi River. We went to the edge of Virginia and then back to Snowshoe Mountain Ski Resort for lunch. What a beautiful place and you can see for miles off the top of the mountain. We made it to the motel in time to take a side trip to the attraction that everyone had been looking forward to. New River Gorge, on US 19. The longest arch bridge in the USA and the second highest bridge. We rode the narrow road down to the New River and back up to the highway.
The following day took us right back to Virginia. By the end of the day, we could say that we had ridden 300 miles of pure twistys. US 58 and US 421 both in VA. will keep you on the edge of your seat as well as the edge of the mountains. We finished the day in Bristol, VA.
By Sunday we were all worn out. We averaged a little more than 400 miles of two lane twisty mountain roads for the past 4 days. We road 12 hours per day. James and I took the long way home across rural Tennessee. Rick and Monica had opted for the interstate and Dave had a 750 mile day in front of him. I traveled 2129 miles in 5 days. Dave and James are two of my most knowledgeable riding companions and the conversation is non-stop motorcycle from sun up till lights out. Rick and Monica are always entertaining. Over all it was one fine 4th of July holiday.
Keep on riding,
John
My trip to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD.
This trip began 10 years ago. In the sixth grade my daughter announced that she would be attending college at the Naval Academy. I patted her on the back and told her that would be great. What little girl at that age could be determined enough to already know what she wanted? Mine could.
She filled out the application, took all the test, got the congressional appointment, and here we are today. She is now an Ensign in the Navy with a degree in Chemistry. What a woman she turned out to be. UPDATE Jodi spent her first one and half years in Jacksonville. She was assigned to the USS Hue City. She was the Strike Officer responsible for launch missiles from the ship. On March 1, 2009 she is moving to Charleston, SC where she will attend Nuclear Engineering School.
Sometimes you plan the trip. Sometimes the most unlikely folks plan them for you. Thanks to my daughter for planning this trip.
The weather was perfect and the scenery could not have been better.
