We leave Norton, Virginia, at 8:15 this morning and hop back on US 23, the Country Music Highway. In a lapse of journalistic thoroughness, yesterday’s post neglected to mention a few country music stars who got their start here.
In the hopes that they’ll send Sarah some free CDs for the shout-out, here are some additional Highway 23 performers worthy of note: Dwight Yoakam, Crystal Gale, Tom T Hall.
Throughout this region, country music is like a religion. You know what else is like a religion?
Yes, the real religion here in the Bible Belt is religion itself. Baptist churches proliferate like Starbucks … one on every corner.
OK, we’re back on the Country Music Highway for 40 miles. It’s the coldest morning yet.
We are leaving Virginia and entering Tennessee for the first time in a week. My Hillbilly Holiday must be nearing an end 😦
We see road signs referring to the Daniel Boone Heritage Trail, but we resist the temptation to retrace his steps.
Next stop: Jonesborough, billed as Tennessee’s oldest town. Jonesborough this week is hosting the 2011 Tennessee Women’s Amateur Golf Championship. The event is being held at Blackthorn at the Ridges, an exclusive club sparsely dotted with huge, high-priced homes.
This is a bike journey, so why the side trip to a golf tournament?
We drop by to visit Tina Jo Sanders, who is a USGA rules official, and in charge of the tournament, which is put on by the Tennessee Women’s Golf Association. Tina, of course, is Ray’s wife, and Sarah’s first cousin.
Today is the round of 16; you win today and the quarterfinals await. The finals are set for Friday, weather willing.
The 18-year-old on the 11th tee is favored to reach the finals. She’s Kendall Martindale, soon to be a freshman on golf scholarship at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Before match play began, Kendall was the medalist, shooting 70.
We saddle up and hit the road, roaring down US 321 through Newport.
I see a sign for a Tennessee State Park, celebrating Davy Crockett’s birthplace. As you remember, he was “born on a mountaintop in Tennessee, greenest state in the land of the free …”
So we make a side trip to see where he was born.
Nice sign. That’s all we saw. A sign So we continue toward the Knoxville area.
We turn onto US 411, which takes us into Sevierville. Dolly Parton was born here in 1946. We ride through town on the Dolly Parton Parkway.
From here, US 411 goes many places, including Greenback, Tennessee, home to the Murr family farm.
We go through Maryville, hop on I-140 (the Pellissippi Parkway) and arrive at Ray and Tina’s home in Farragut about 5:30 pm.
We’ve been riding in a summer rainstorm for the past hour, and I’m dry. Except for my feet, which are soaking wet. My orange and black Harley Davidson rainsuit worked perfectly. My gym shoes were not up to the task.
The ride is over. Eight days. 1,511 miles. Three rib dinners, one PoBoy, lotsa biscuits and gravy, two fancy-pants resorts, breathtaking sights beyond description.
Buckets of rain on the first and last days. Sunshine the rest of the way. No incidents, accidents, scratches or dents.
Thanks for the fellowship, Ray. Thanks for the bike, Tina. Let’s do it again some time.
What will tomorrow bring? I can help with that: La Quinta.
Riding With Gary 