NY to SC, Anything in Particular I Should See?

[bryantjt]

Kim and I are planning a 2-up trip on the WeeStrom from Upstate NY to Gaffney SC for the end of May or early June. Are there any sights we should see on the way? Thus far we found a steam locomotive museum in PA which is about as far as we'd get on day 1 so we can check in to our hotel and then hit the museum for a bit. Other than that we are looking for advice from those who've been there, done that and would like to do it again.

We are planning on making the 970 miles in 2 days just to save on hotel costs as our tent was destroyed on our last long getaway.....damn possums! We should have a minimum of 8 days for the trip overall, possibly more if I want to burn up more vacation time.

Any particular route we should take as well? By car I've just done I-81 for most of the way but its boring with nothing to see.

[Wreckchecker]

Not much exists along the way. Maybe most of the great Civil war battlefields like Gettysburg and Antiedam, the US Army tank museum in Aberdeen, the US Capitol, where the Wright Brothers first flew at Kitty Hawk...

Seriously and for some different ideas, look up the State Tag-o-Rama games! But sightseeing and 450+ mile days 2-up is pretty aggressive.

[UpST8]

Well, if you were going the I 81 way...why not add a day and do the Blue Ridge Parkway into Asheville, NC?

[nyc rugby]

Originally Posted by UpST8

Well, if you were going the I 81 way...why not add a day and do the Blue Ridge Parkway into Asheville, NC?

This, but I would get off the highway a little earlier and ride Skyline Drive to the BRP.

[scfrank]

I'm sure you'll see the Peach in Gaffney, so that is the highlight for SC!


The Blue Ridge Parkway is definitely a good idea.

You could head south east of Asheville, Rt. 181 down through Morganton and then 64 to Rutherfordton, then 221 to 11 or 74 East to Gaffney.

Lots of good riding in the foothills.

[scfrank]

Originally Posted by nyc rugby

This, but I would get off the highway a little earlier and ride Skyline Drive to the BRP.

Thats a good idea too.

[UpST8]

Originally Posted by nyc rugby

This, but I would get off the highway a little earlier and ride Skyline Drive to the BRP.

Skyline should be rode at least once, but that 35mph speed limit with lots of Leos and $10 admission fee should be advised.

Natural Bridge is nice to check out and Pink Cadillac resteraunt is good eating with unique flare

[SaratogaJohn]

Two-up for 970 miles in 2 days = not much time to get off the horse and appreciate the possibilities a trip like this can present. Ride the Skyline from Front Royal, VA. to the Blue Ridge Parkway, Ride the Blue Ridge to Asheville, N.C.. Last time I rode the Parkways I saw several deer, a mother bear and two cubs, Red tail hawks, and unbelievable scenery. Everyone I met while up on the ridges had a huge smile on their face; Take the time to realize that you are actually breathing fresh air and whomever is awaiting your arrival in S.C. can wait.

[wi5ea55k]

Thanks for the input so far! We're definitely taking everything said into consideration! I know the trip sounds ambitious, but we have time and budget constraints (bryantjt doesn’t get much for vacation time, and uses vacation time for emergencies, and I’m currently only a substitute teacher working day-to-day jobs). Since we're planning so early, we're making a push to save when we can, and hoping that nothing comes up that will keep us from tacking on a day or two to make the trip more enjoyable.

From our trip to Virginia Beach, which we rode in 2 days, we learned a lot, but mostly that our planning strategies were definitely lacking. One of the biggest problems was our lack of planning for where to stay in case of emergencies, like say a t-storm that followed us from an hour outside of Philadelphia, PA, almost into Bear, DE; or an opossum that wrecked our tent while camping on the beach because it smelled a package of pop tarts we left in there with us. These situations made for an interesting story to tell when we got home, but weren't so fun at the time- well okay, we laughed for nearly 2 hrs after the opossum thing, but still.

The other major problem was our lack of planned stops. We would make the required stops to get gas, but we didn't eat right or get enough water on the trip, as evident by bryantjt ending up dehydrated and suffering miserably for nearly the first 2 days of vacation. After pushing through nearly 12 hours of riding on the first day we didn't look forward to riding another 5 hrs the next day, and added a lot of tension between the two of us. Using an outdated map on our refurbished Garmin GPS also led to some awkward stops at some very shady places, or not being able to find things at all, but we're working on updating that before the trip.

Since we can't budget in an extra day *again, at least not for the moment*, we're trying to plan in things that won't take up a lot of time or money, but are worth seeing and can give us a decent stretch break. As a passenger, I know I don't have a lot of work to do, but I don't have a lot of things to keep me interested OR much space either. Morevore, we'd like to create good memories of the trip and as little stress as possible, so any places that are multifunctional: have good eats, as well as interesting sight-seeing opportunities, and/or decent places to stay along the way would also be helpful to us. We're not asking for much are we?

[Abenteuerfahrer]

In order to see AMERICA..stay off the Interstates as much as possible and heed Charles Kuralt:

""Thanks to the interstate highway system, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything."

Happy Motoring and stay safe

[bryantjt]

So we're up to 11 days for our trip and definitely taking 3 travel days each way. We will be skipping Skyline mainly due to the 35mph speed limit and needing to be 1000 miles from home eventually. We will however pick up the BRP in Virginia and take it to Asheville as suggested. At present we will need 2 hotels for each way. Are there any chains/branches that we should avoid? I'd like to spend no more than $100/night since it is just a place for a shower and some sleep before moving on the next day.

[Vixen]

Since you already will be on BRP, I would suggest keep going past Ashville and getoff at Hwy 215, head south to Rosman then Hwy 64 towards Cashiers. There you can get some good BBQ at Carolina Smokehouse, this is where Alton Brown and his crew stopped when doing Feasting on Asphalt show.

From there you can keep going Highlands, NC nice lilttle town on the mountains with shops and restaurants. From highlands you can take hwy 64 north for just a few miles and see Bridal Veil falls http://www.alleneasler.com/bridal.html
After that head back to Highlands, take 28 South, will take you into Walhalla, SC and stop at the Issaqueena falls http://www.discoversouthcarolina.com...px?productID=7
from there you guys can head towards Gafney. This might be a bit out of your way but the scenery it's really worth it.

[UpST8]

Couple Interesting places to stay going down the BRPW...

KICKSTAND LODGE

IRONHORSE

Station's Inn

Freebornes

Can't say much for chain run joints...I do like Hampton Inns. They always have big soft beds, good smelling soap, fresh baked cookies, WIFI and conty breakfast.

[MSTEEL]

Take BRP. Not much to see on the interstate. Take an extra day or two if you can. You'll regert if you don't.