Kingsport TN & Cookeville TN
Miles = 1,020

 
Since we both were retired we thought we would be going on several trips this spring but we were only able to manage one multi-day trip. There seemed to be much going this spring but we put together a nice route at the last minute because our planned route to PA and back through WV was looking to be very wet. We rode our Grand Americas as Steve needed to put as many miles on his tires before changing them for his summer trip, and I needed to save my RT's tires for our summer trip. Riding the GA is not as much fun as the RT in the southeast but this was my first solo trip on the bike in the twisties of the Southeast, and I must confess that while I rode a bit slower it was still fun riding the roads on the big tourer.

Day One
We began on I-75 and jumped off at Crittenden and headed due west to pick up US27. We cruised down US27 by-passing Cynthiana and Paris KY and stopped at an old abandoned bridge over Boone Creek. The bridge was actually a little difficult to get to as the trees and vegetation are quickly taking over. It was built in 1913 and spans 94'. Next we rode through the Red River Gorge area which was a first for me, and it was really quite scenic. There was a road closed on our route that caused us to detour, and we wound up going through the Nada Tunnel. We stopped in Heidelberg on the KY River where there is a Lock and small park. The Lock was completed in 1917 but has been inoperable since 1999. We continued through the hills of KY riding a good amount on KY28. Just on the other side of Buckhorn we hit some construction where the road was shut down so we took a self-made detour and really hit some backroads which was quite fun. Pretty soon we were in Hazard and rode through downtown before heading east on KY15. Our next stop was at Carr Fork Lake where we were had hoped to ride down to the beach, but we were turned away by the staff at the gate. As we were leaving a different staff member stopped us and said we could go over to the beach area and that the other staff member was new and didn't know what she was saying. Hmmm…..oh well, we went over and had the place to ourselves as we stretched our legs for 15 minutes or so. South of Whitesburg we started on US119 which is a really nice road over Pine Mountain. On the way up we stopped at a really nice overlook for a quick pic session. On the other side of the mountain we broke from US119 and rode some smaller roads down to Norton VA. Once south of Norton the roads got very narrow and were mostly poorly paved. We rode up to High Knob which is a park with an observation tower. This was a very nice area with a great view. We walked up to the tower and looked around some before heading out. Just after the park we were on gravel for about 6 miles. It wasn't bad but never any fun. By the time we were back on pavement it was getting a little late, so headed straight for town. We stopped in downtown at Bays Mountain Brewery for a beer and a sandwich from a food truck. The food was very average at best and the beer was ok, but nothing special. We rode down to the Hampton south of town and called it a night.

Day Two
In our hunt for a good breakfast location we found Betty's Stockyard Cafe and we decided to pull the trigger. We could not have picked a better place. The cafe was small and also adjacent to the stockyard with several cows fully engaged in mooing. The place was very small with only a u-shaped counter for seating and it was pretty packed by the time we arrived. Everyone contributed to the collective conversation and we really enjoyed it. The food was good but the atmosphere was what really made it. We rode back through town and had a bit of a struggle finding gas as many stations were out as the East Coast pipeline had been shut down. We rode on a series of backroads before getting on TN94. This is a very nice road and it took us to Pressmen's Home. This place is truly fascinating. Located here are the former Headquarters of the International Pressmen's Union. It was believed in the early days of printing that some inks caused serious illness such as TB, so a sanitarium was part of the facilities. In addition to the HQ there was a trade school, Hotel, swimming facility, chapel and a golf course. Of course now everything is in disrepair and the vegetation is taking over. There have been many attempts to repurpose the resort and buildings since it closed in 1967, but nothing has been successful. There are many good YouTube videos about this place. We broke away from TN94 and wound around through a gap in the Mountains, and over Clinch Mountain to connect with TN131. Another nice road that we rode for several miles before climbing back south over Joppa Mountain and connecting with US11W. Shortly we were on TN131 and rode through the area north of Knoxville. This was not terrible but not that great either. Once we got through Oak Ridge the riding picked up and we were in a more enjoyable area. TN62 is pretty nice and soon we were in Wartburg where they were holding their Mountain Laurel Festival. We stopped in at the MoCo Brewing Project and enjoyed walking around the town a little bit. We continued on TN62 and TN84 enjoying more nice riding. We had routed a little side track to hit the Calfkiller Brewing Company, and when we stopped there we were overly impressed. What a great set up. The brewery was located in a 90 degree turn on Blue Springs Rd. The brewery itself sat up on a little hill and the grounds were set up with outdoor seating and done up very nice. Everyone seemed very friendly and we just sat there for a little while soaking in the atmosphere. We continued down to Sparta where we stopped again at Happy Trails Brewery for one last one before reaching Cookeville. This place seemed like more of a normal bar than anything so we had a short one and were on our way. Leaving Sparta we were headed to Cookeville and stopped at Burgess Falls State Park and had a peek at the falls. This is a nice area that we stopped at before but previously there was very little water so the falls were not very much to look at. This time the water was flowing pretty good. We reached Cookeville and decided to walk the 2.5 miles from our Hotel to Red Silo Brewing. The walk was on a major road so it wasn't very pleasant of a walk. We had a couple of beers at Red Silo while also eating from their Food Truck. The beer and food were both very good. The Red Silo had a nice setup for being in the center of downtown and a bit land locked. The place had recently been updated and we enjoyed it. We walked down to Hix Farm Brewery and sat outside for one before walking again down to Jig Head Brewing. It was after 9:00 by the time we finished our beer and we decided to Uber back to the Hotel.

Day Three
We started by having breakfast at Grandma's Pancake House. It seemed to us that a family of Hispanics had purchased the business and were running it. The service was friendly, but a little slow, and the food was just ok. The eggs were very puffy, I guess from them being basted. We weren't sure what that meant but I don't think Steve cared much for his omelette. We knew at some point we were going to run into rain, so we started out the day enjoying the ride. We rode north and west crossing over the Cumberland River and stopped at the very southern point of Barren River Lake at the Browns Ford boat ramp. As we saddled up to leave it began raining. We altered our route to stay on the larger roads and began thinking how to bail out. We rode through the Mammoth Cave area and rode the ferry across the Green River but the rain didn't really let up much. We ran over to I-65 and rode north for a while until the rain looked to be stopping. We decided to pick our route back up and go to the Mt. Zion Covered Bridge. When we arrived we discovered the bridge had been burned down the month before. What a shame! Who in the heck would do something like that? So we got back on and rode but the weather was not nice at all so we decided to ride to Versailles KY and stop at the Versailles Brewing Company. It was probably worth checking off the list but not a great place. The establishment was in a strip mall of sorts and had no real atmosphere. Afterwards we just rode home on the interstate. Not a great day, but the first two days were pretty good.