Hello,
I am taking a road trip with bunch of my friends to Nashville Tennessee for my 50th birthday. I'm looking for cool things to see on the way. I live in Massachusetts and we are riding along Route 81. Is there anyone that can give me any ideas, I would appreciate it.

Thank you
Stixx

 

 

Hey Stixx, 81 is just as bad as 95 ---- all the way to Florida! When you get to Hagerstown MD, head west on 68, through Cumberland, all the way to Morgantown WV, and then south on 79. Then 19 to New River Gorge Bridge. Then, 19 runs into 77, and back to 81 in Wytheville VA. 68 & 79 are wonderful rides for interstates. Nothing like 81. WV is a great state in which to ride. It's a little further west & out of your way, but you'll never regret WV riding. Also, there's a visitors ctr just before New River Gorge Bridge, and definitely worth a stop. I love WV. I'm in upstate PA, and I go down there AT LEAST once a summer just to ride the roads & see the sights down there. Also, in Weston WV is a tour through the old Weston State Hospital. It's Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. Only about a mile off 79, and about a half hour south of Morgantown.

 

front royal va. skyline dr and blue ridge parkway

 

Ride SOME of the Blue Ridge Pkwy for the beautiful scenery but unless you have a LOT of extra time don't plan on riding the entire length. It's slow going, even if you don't make a lot of stops to take pictures, and you WILL make a lot of stops to take pictures.
While you're in the Nashville area, and especially if you run up to Bowling Green to look at Corvettes...head on over to Mammoth Cave National Park.
You can see old cars in MA, but you'll never see anything like Mammoth Cave up that way.

 

Stixx, either Blue Ridge[if you've never done it] or the route Geezer gave you.They are completely different in riding and scenery

The BRP is slow going ,but a beautiful ride------Geezer's route will be a bit quicker,but depends on how much you stop---give us a time frame of when you're leaving and how many days you have planned----81 is the quickest route to get there [Ive done it plenty of times] an awful lot of semis on that route.

Rocker

 

 

*I-65 and definitely worth a visit. Take hwy 231 North from the East side of Nashville up to Bowling Green. I used to ride it some on my crotch rocket while going to WKU. It's a good road with some nice scenery once you get outside of the suburbs.

 

Civil War battle site at Franklin Tennessee. Bullet riddled buildings still standing and the story of an horrific battle...like no other Civil War site

 

We did this trip a couple years ago. Definitely do Skyline Drive and BRP. In Nashville there is a store from the TV show American Pickers. If you watch the show, (I don't watch it much) you'll see stuff from certain episodes. Don't know how much time you have but we went to Memphis and did Beal St. and Graceland. I'm not a huge Elvis fan but , heck, it's Americana.