Hey like it says im currently in Iraq but will be back in the begining of oct. My friend and i have 10 days of leave when we get back and was just looking for some good input on places to hit that are within 1000 miles to Camp Lejeune (close to Wilmington NC) both of us have hard tail shovelheads so that limits us to around 400-500 miles a day. We were thinking of going to maggie valley and riding the blue ridge parkway for a couple days then traveling to birmingham Al as i have a friend who will let us stay with him for the night. I never been to ashville/maggy valley so i dont know how the weather will be. Is it too late in the season for the blue ridge parkway? We would rather stick to the back roads does anyone know any good routes? sights along the way? anything else besides the blue ridge that we should be thinking about seeing? Planning on riding all day seeing the sights and then trying to have fun at night (ie. beer and women like i said been stuck in iraq for 7 months) Is there a night life in Maggy Valley?

 

Guess you don't want any recommendations for libraries and museums..

 

na really feeling librarys right now and not really lookin for sandy beaches either lol

 

Have a great ride man, welcome home, I will still be in Afghanistan

 

Base camp at LeJeune is not a bad place to start. Get down to Morehead City and take the ferry out of Cedar Island over to Ocrakoke Island and work your way up the Outer Banks - it's a very scenic couple of days.

The Blue Ridge Parkway and the Smoky Mountains are fantastic. For a really nice tour, start on the north end and work your way south down to Cherokee. Then ride all over the great roads in the National Park. Come out of the Park at Townsend, TN and take the Foothills Parkway over to the Tail of the Dragon. Then from Robbinsville, NC west over the Cherohala Skyway over to Tellico Plains.

Then backtrack the whole route again back to LeJeune and you have had quite a nice tour.

If you are heading to Birmingham, be sure to visit the Barber Motorcycle Museum in Leeds (just west of Birmingham) - fantastic moto museum.

Have a great trip! Thanks for going over there - you made a difference!

 

Just reviewed the rest of your post: October is a great time for the mountains, but it can get cold at higher elevations. Rain is always likely for at least a day or two during a multi-day tour through the Blue Ridge Parkway, so bring good gear. I did four days on the Blue Ridge Parkway last October and woke up each morning to 28 degrees F; days got up to the 60's. But the next week was much warmer, so just pay attention to the forecasts.

I'm not really impressed with Maggie Valley, although some others on the forum really like it. For night life, I might be looking more towards Gatlinburg. But remember, I'm a church pastor - we aren't allowed to have too much fun....

 

Jax NC. Is a good flat place to start....I live about 45 minutes away. We have nice roads aroud here, smooth and flat but when i want to ride good roads i head west with my Southern Cruiser buddies,....Once you pass Winston salem you can discover some of the most beautiful roads...21, 52N, 221, 9, etc.....Do a search on this site for "NC Roads" ....Like Pastor John said...If you have not checked out the local roads... go to Beaufort then take 101 take Minnesott Ferry go to Oriental Find the coastal back roads....Also ask about Old Maple Hill road towards Burgaw and go eat some Catfish ot something else at Holland SHelter....Thanks for serving and have a nice trip home cuz.

 

Pastor...so explain to me why they say The preachers/pastors daughters have the most fun??? Just kidding Sir...Good points you made about the weather...i was there Oct 10th last year too....BRRRRR!!!!