We left Burke around 11:30 on Monday after the usual pack-till-midnight ordeal the night before and up-early-but-still-can’t-get-out madness (our relaxed-goal-because-we-are-retired was 10:AM). Never mind, nobody got too ugly because, yes, we ARE retired, and we have allowed 3 days to get to Memphis and we can drive 4 hours a day and ride before we have dinner and hit the hay. Well….it poured all the way down Interstate 81 to Blacksburg. Very low visibility at times with trucks zooming by on all sides and the bike bravely hanging off the back of the car in its trusty Draftmaster carrier (see pic from day 2 at a bathroom stop). But even in the rain and low-lying clouds covering the mountaintops, the beauty of spring shone through with the vibrant redbud trees punctuating the freshly intense green of new leaves and grass as well as huge swaths of perfect daffodils. At times the clouds creeping down the mountains took on a mystical quality.
Had a lazy afternoon in the Fairfield Inn, and after a lengthy Yelp search, found the only restaurant in Blacksburg with four stars (surprising, but there you go). We drove the “scenic” route to get there, much to Joe’s irritation, but when you’ve never been to Blacksburg, a person might want to explore a little. Actually I was determined to see part of the cycling route that I had spend literally two hours (part of the previously mentioned midnight madness) researching, called “Huckleberry Trail.” Any Rails-to-Trails is of interest at this point. Failing at that, we arrived at a renewed old house in downtown (?) Blacksburg and had a lovely meal of salad and scallops at the “Social House.” Turns out that a Huckleberry Trail trailhead was a block from the restaurant. On the way back to the hotel, I forced Joe to stop and let me out so I could check it out (in the continuing rain). Lovely. The trail I mean, not the weather. Hopefully we can ride it on the way back home.
Wednesday morning, we took our time getting out of the motel (SO different from the non-retired operating mode) and again hit the road in the rain. Went through periods of downpour and low visibility; carbon copy of the day before except we were in Tennessee and not Virginia any more. The planned stop (selected by time segment to Memphis and another heavily-researched ride through the lovely Tennessee countryside) was Crossville, Tennessee. Another lazy afternoon in a Holiday Express this time, and again a lengthy Yelp search for dinner. Found a four-and-a-half star place (4 reviews, bear in mind) across town. Pulled into the parking lot and circled the place a couple of times looking for the perfect spot to put the car within view and out of danger of the bike getting accidentally hit. Think dog circling a resting place and you’ve got the picture. Walking through the parking lot we notice a car covered with stickers like “Moab, Utah,” “Hiked It, Liked It,” and other adventure-related slogans. So we enter the restaurant and immediately a guy sitting with a woman at a table for four calls out (loudly), “Hey, come and sit with us!” As we hesitated and Joe did his automatic and instantaneous danger/discomfort assessment, the guy persisted: “It’s OK, please come and sit with us,” at top volume. I’m in my head like, “it’s an adventure, what is there to lose?” So as we (not too cautiously) approached the table, he assured us: “Sit down, and I’ll tell you why.” Then the woman says, “Are you going to Memphis?” Of course they had watched our peculiar parking process, seen the tandem and knew we, too, were going their way to the Santana Big River Adventure. We had a GREAT time getting to know Richard and Rhonda who live (sort of) in West Virginia but who spend most of their time traveling the country in their large motor home (which they left for this trip in WV), hiking and biking and orienteering. They are both retired Johnson and Johnson engineers; he’s an avowed “gearhead” and we will know who to ride with if we think we are going to break down. Two hours later we said a happy goodbye and see you in Memphis.
Thursday leaving Crossville, there were more periods of driving rain and news reports of rain all week across the South. Oh well. The sun did finally come out as we crept along in traffic behind an accident that closed the eastbound lanes and prompted the usual rubbernecking delays in our direction. Reached Memphis maybe five hours later and checked in to the Sheraton already crawling with tandems and colorful jerseys. Ran into at least two couples we had met on the Croatia trip, and went for a late lunch at Westy’s down the street (see pictures) with lots of local color. Strangely tired after driving but not riding, we rested and then went by car in search of some good Memphis BBQ, which we found (thank you New York Times – 36 hours in Memphis) at The BBQ Shop and ate! Dry, wet and glazed, we ate ‘em all. Plus enjoyed some tasty local beers (see pic). Done and done as far as BBQ is concerned (I sincerely hope). It was back to oatmeal for breakfast and 3-day-old smoothie brought from home for lunch today.
Speaking of today, Friday, it’s still very cloudy and drippy. Which did not hamper us driving to Sun Studio for a fabulous tour. This is a place I have dreamed about and pictured since I was 12 years old. The energy of the birth of rock ‘n roll is truly in those few and small rooms. We stood where Elvis stood (the exact spot marked with an X) when he recorded “That’s Alright, Mama” and so many more. Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, on and on and on. I felt like my 12-year-old self again. What a sweet treat. Check out the pictures of Sun Studio in the photo section. After returning to the hotel and sorting out our stuff to leave in the car and getting that parking settled, we actually headed out for bike ride along the Mississippi River (under cloudy but not raining skies), and rode through a couple of industrial areas before we turned around. We totaled 10 and a half miles and it felt good to finally be out on the bike. Stay tuned. Tomorrow we ride en masse (350 people on tandems and singles) through the gates of Graceland and have a catered lunch in the garage where Elvis moved back his cars so little Lisa Marie could have a skating birthday party.
Had a lazy afternoon in the Fairfield Inn, and after a lengthy Yelp search, found the only restaurant in Blacksburg with four stars (surprising, but there you go). We drove the “scenic” route to get there, much to Joe’s irritation, but when you’ve never been to Blacksburg, a person might want to explore a little. Actually I was determined to see part of the cycling route that I had spend literally two hours (part of the previously mentioned midnight madness) researching, called “Huckleberry Trail.” Any Rails-to-Trails is of interest at this point. Failing at that, we arrived at a renewed old house in downtown (?) Blacksburg and had a lovely meal of salad and scallops at the “Social House.” Turns out that a Huckleberry Trail trailhead was a block from the restaurant. On the way back to the hotel, I forced Joe to stop and let me out so I could check it out (in the continuing rain). Lovely. The trail I mean, not the weather. Hopefully we can ride it on the way back home.
Wednesday morning, we took our time getting out of the motel (SO different from the non-retired operating mode) and again hit the road in the rain. Went through periods of downpour and low visibility; carbon copy of the day before except we were in Tennessee and not Virginia any more. The planned stop (selected by time segment to Memphis and another heavily-researched ride through the lovely Tennessee countryside) was Crossville, Tennessee. Another lazy afternoon in a Holiday Express this time, and again a lengthy Yelp search for dinner. Found a four-and-a-half star place (4 reviews, bear in mind) across town. Pulled into the parking lot and circled the place a couple of times looking for the perfect spot to put the car within view and out of danger of the bike getting accidentally hit. Think dog circling a resting place and you’ve got the picture. Walking through the parking lot we notice a car covered with stickers like “Moab, Utah,” “Hiked It, Liked It,” and other adventure-related slogans. So we enter the restaurant and immediately a guy sitting with a woman at a table for four calls out (loudly), “Hey, come and sit with us!” As we hesitated and Joe did his automatic and instantaneous danger/discomfort assessment, the guy persisted: “It’s OK, please come and sit with us,” at top volume. I’m in my head like, “it’s an adventure, what is there to lose?” So as we (not too cautiously) approached the table, he assured us: “Sit down, and I’ll tell you why.” Then the woman says, “Are you going to Memphis?” Of course they had watched our peculiar parking process, seen the tandem and knew we, too, were going their way to the Santana Big River Adventure. We had a GREAT time getting to know Richard and Rhonda who live (sort of) in West Virginia but who spend most of their time traveling the country in their large motor home (which they left for this trip in WV), hiking and biking and orienteering. They are both retired Johnson and Johnson engineers; he’s an avowed “gearhead” and we will know who to ride with if we think we are going to break down. Two hours later we said a happy goodbye and see you in Memphis.
Thursday leaving Crossville, there were more periods of driving rain and news reports of rain all week across the South. Oh well. The sun did finally come out as we crept along in traffic behind an accident that closed the eastbound lanes and prompted the usual rubbernecking delays in our direction. Reached Memphis maybe five hours later and checked in to the Sheraton already crawling with tandems and colorful jerseys. Ran into at least two couples we had met on the Croatia trip, and went for a late lunch at Westy’s down the street (see pictures) with lots of local color. Strangely tired after driving but not riding, we rested and then went by car in search of some good Memphis BBQ, which we found (thank you New York Times – 36 hours in Memphis) at The BBQ Shop and ate! Dry, wet and glazed, we ate ‘em all. Plus enjoyed some tasty local beers (see pic). Done and done as far as BBQ is concerned (I sincerely hope). It was back to oatmeal for breakfast and 3-day-old smoothie brought from home for lunch today.
Speaking of today, Friday, it’s still very cloudy and drippy. Which did not hamper us driving to Sun Studio for a fabulous tour. This is a place I have dreamed about and pictured since I was 12 years old. The energy of the birth of rock ‘n roll is truly in those few and small rooms. We stood where Elvis stood (the exact spot marked with an X) when he recorded “That’s Alright, Mama” and so many more. Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, on and on and on. I felt like my 12-year-old self again. What a sweet treat. Check out the pictures of Sun Studio in the photo section. After returning to the hotel and sorting out our stuff to leave in the car and getting that parking settled, we actually headed out for bike ride along the Mississippi River (under cloudy but not raining skies), and rode through a couple of industrial areas before we turned around. We totaled 10 and a half miles and it felt good to finally be out on the bike. Stay tuned. Tomorrow we ride en masse (350 people on tandems and singles) through the gates of Graceland and have a catered lunch in the garage where Elvis moved back his cars so little Lisa Marie could have a skating birthday party.
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