In late June, 2018 I went along with a few friends on a motorcycle tour. The main reasons were to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway and become immersed in the whole country music experience in Nashville. Also, personally, my youngest was getting married and it was to be a "country formal" wedding on her farm. Where better than Nashville to get authentic country duds?
The first day was hard riding from before sunrise to after sunset. That took us to the northern end of the parkway.
Day 2 we rode about 2/3 of the parkway, weaving our bikes through the twisties, taking time to enjoy the scenery at lookouts, and avoiding deer. Yes, the deer seem to want to play chicken with the bikes. Twice that day a deer ran across the road, nearly clipping the lead rider.
Day 3 we finished the parkway, got totally soaked by rain, rode into Gatlinburg (beautiful tourist town), had a moonshine tasting, then rode on to Nashville where we'd rented a house for the week.
The rest of the week was all about Nashville. We'd researched where to get the most authentic regional foods, unsuccessfully tried to drink our way down Broadway (main street in Nashville), shopping, Grand Ole Opry (including backstage pass), Country Music Hall of Fame, etc. When it came time to go home I was wishing we could have stayed longer.
The ride home was not uneventful either. We visited Jim Beam (bought a few, natch), Churchill Downs (Kentucky Derby), Indianapolis Speedway (it was Corvette Day), experienced torrential rain, and rode a lot of back roads and ate a lot local food.
Due to size restrictions I can't post nearly as many photos here as I would like. If interested you're welcome to check out my blog for this, and other adventures: https://www.facebook.com/catlovingbiker/