A Weekend Trip - Maggie Valley NC

Where to go from the metro Atlanta area?  Being new to the area I ask this quite often of other bikers that I come across, the usual response is "north into the mountains".  I'm starting to understand this is very true in the mid of the summer due to the amount of humidity experienced around the metro area and points south/west.

One weekend trip we took was north to Maggie Valley, NC.  We left the metro area on Friday afternoon and headed north using I-75/I-575, once out of the Interstate mode we used 60 to cross into NC, followed by 64/74 and finally 441 over to Cherokee NC.  The trip up this way is quite nice, you leave the Atlanta traffic pretty easily and have 4 lane (empty by comparison) highways to kick your feet up on the highway pegs and cruise at a comfortable speed.  Lean your upper body back against that beautiful body sitting behind you, crank the tunes and let the wind speak to you.

After Beechertown along 74/19 until you hit Wesser the road follows a river (can't recall the name) which has many rafting companies along it.  There is traffic to include those big rafting buses along this part of the road, just take your time and don't get impatient and enjoy the tree canopy overhead, the rushing waters along side and the stops along the road.  They have many places to stop and take a break, watch the rafters go by or the vehicles on the road.  Grab some sandwiches and a couple drinks and make a meal stop out of it.

We continued north until Cherokee, NC.  This is off of 441 or you can get to it from 19 (two lane black top), either way they meet up at the center of town, we haven't stopped there yet however it looks nice.  Just beyond the town on 441 is a row of shops, restaurants and motels.  There you can find some Indians doing traditional dances and different educations examples of the Indian way of life.  The traffic at this point can get a little congested but flowed very smoothly.  Much better than Gatlinburg but that is for another entry some other day.

We met up with some friends from Kentucky in Cherokee and started at the beginning of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  This parkway travels for 469 miles from NC up into VA, most of it at 35/45mph and with higher altitudes (we saw 3500ft thru 5300ft).  We were only on it for 19 miles this part of the trip but hey, it was getting late and we needed to check into the motel and get some food.  Bikes aren't the only thing needing gas (hehe).

We checked into our motel and headed to a restaurant we saw on the way down the hill into Maggie Valley, it is in the middle of a name change, I believe it will be called Rider's Roost Restaurant or something along those lines.  The food was good and the prices were decent, we all ended up with some kind of special of the day.  They also had some leathers and other items for sale in the front, we all came fully prepared so didn't need to purchase anything other than the food.

After a goods night sleep we stepped outside with a cup of coffee, we were greeted by clouds.  Yes, you read that right, at this altitude it really isn't fog but clouds.  We took our time getting going as we really were trying to let it burn off a little before heading out on the bikes.  Even having two bikes with "loud pipes save lives" we wanted a little more visibility to be seen.  Once we had what we were looking for in visibility we headed down the road to the Country Cooking Restaurant for breakfast.  Good home style breakfast, all you can eat with eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, apples, pancakes and drinks.

We headed back through town and road the Blue Ridge the rest of the day.  The weather wasn't the greatest this certain weekend but it wasn't horrible either.  It kept traffic down to a minimum and we were able to stop many times with little to no crowds.  There are plenty of spots to stop and take pictures, take in the scenery and even do a little hiking if that is your thing, which it isn't ours so we stayed close to the road.  We would enter the clouds as we got higher and leave them as we went lower, I would have loved to have been able to get above the clouds and take pictures looking down on them but that never happened.  We ended up traveling to mile marker 369 on the parkway before heading back to Maggie Valley, we ended up using I-40 to get back, made it for a much quicker ride.

We enjoyed a good bar-b-que dinner right in Maggie Valley in an old rustic looking restaurant right along the creek.  Then it was back to the motel for the remainder of the evening.  We decided to do what some people do on a vacation and just relax and chat.  We sat on the porches of the motel in the chairs they provided (almost every motel we saw in Maggie Valley provided some kind of chairs) and chatted the evening away.  We actually at one point kept looking up on the mountain trying to find the lights on houses.  Yea, sounds boring but ya know what, when you have just had a day of riding and are hanging out with great friends it is nice to just sit and relax once in a while.

The next day we went to the Wheels thru Time museum in Maggie Valley.  If you like old bikes this is a great place to check out.  They charge a nominal fee, $12 during our trip, but in my mind was well worth it.  We were told there is over 12 Million dollars worth of articles in the building.  They have volunteers who walk around and talk to the visitors, telling them about the bikes, cars and other items or just chewing the fat with stories about the owner or their own escapades.  We ended up having to leave but would like to return some time as we didn't see nearly half of the museum.  There is word they are moving it to another state but nothing was definite from the young lady we talked to.

Back home in 4 hours and a wonderful weekend trip aboard the bike.