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www. FavoriteRidesAndDestinations. com | ridermagazine. com
FALL 2016 ISSUE 02 / VOL. 01
Main: Much of the past, such as this old barn, has been preserved to attract tourism, as in this park beside Norris Lake. Left: Graceful curves and minimal traffic are some of the pleasures of riding in northern Tennessee.
A burst of gorgeous, wow!
All this joy was compliments of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, which had invited three moto-journalists to participate in this four-day affair. One March evening I flew into Knoxville, where I had been a couple of times before— Honda held its Hoot rally there for several years. I like the place, and despite the inevitable urban sprawl, if you can get a hotel downtown your feet can take you to interesting places. Our lodging was across the road from Market Square, the city’ s center for evening activity, including Scruffy City Hall, with 40 beers on tap and entertainment every night. The Scruffy name came from 1982 when Knoxville hosted a World’ s Fair and some misguided journalist called the city a bit“ scruffy.”
This is on the western edge of the Appalachian Mountains, the Cumberland Highlands, which offer superb highway venues for any motorcyclist. The names of towns and villages are a pleasure in themselves, like Stinking Creek and Greasy Hollow, Frost Bottom and Lickskillett.
This used to be hardscrabble country, where a living was