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We are headed SW crossing the border east of lake Ontario then heading towards Nashville. From there to San Antonio, Phoenix, Albuquerque/Santa Fe then NE to St. Louis Detroit and back through Ontario to home. Leaving early January and returning mid February. Got any favourite diners or sites other then those on tourist web sites that we might want to see? Nashville to San Antonio is only 1 1/2 hours longer going through Birmingham so we have to stop in at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. It is Winter so this is in a car in case you are wondering.

Nashville,
Hattie B's Hot Chicken... Get there early and get in line. This aint no white table cloth place.
Tootsies Orchid Lounge...Just because. All the ghosts from the creation of Nashville have been there. Don't expect to much, its bar food.

Birmingham..
Johnny's Restaurant .... Some of the best southern style food in the area.

Not food, but

I would suggest stopping by the Corvette museum on Bowling Green and almost any of the craft distilleries in Kentucky and Tennessee.

Didn't the Corvette museum have a major sinkhole, some time ago, that swallowed up a few cars?

Maybe someone spent too much time visiting the craft distilleries and left the sprinkler system running over a holiday weekend.

If the suggestions work into the routing I'll do my best to get to all. Thanks and keep them coming. From Phoenix maybe a trip up to see the Grand Canyon snow covered. I saw the Copper Canyon in Mexico at that time of year a while back and it was pretty spectacular looking

I went to the Corvette museum the inaugural year (1994).Well worth it then and I presume even better now.
There was a sinkhole issue in 2014. The museum is pretty close to the Mammoth Cave National Park (also worth a visit), but I don't know if that was any factor in the sinkhole.

With the weather the past few days the debate is now do I leave the winter tires on knowing I will lose a year of use from the warmer SW climate and warmer roads but have them when I head back towards home through Chicago or do I switch to the new All Season I have on rims sitting in my shed. One friend said All Season and if its snowing stay in Chicago a couple extra nights

Never having been to Nashville before I am amazed at what I have missed the music one can hear here all day long is phenominal. I know I am probably preaching to the choir but for entertainment it knocks the snot out of Vegas and you dont have to walk 1/2 a mile between venues just to decide you dont really like the person you came to see. Ok it is a different level of entertainer and you cant gamble at every turn but the fact you can walk to 40 different stages within a few city blocks, go to a hockey game (more important for a Canadian) and not bust your wallet wide out is a real bonus. To quote Arnolds character "I'll be back"
Now if someone would raise the thermostat a bit it would be even that more pleasant. Below freezing this morning and only going to a high of 5C.

It was like a dream come true today, spent three hours wandering around the Barber Motorsport Museum in Birmingham. Wow what a collection of two wheeled motorized metal ! Bonus there was a race going on on the course as well.

I am looking forward to going there as well, some day. Be glad you did!

San Antonio is/was interesting, River Walk with all the restaurants and watering holes along its path, The Western Art Museum and San Antonio Art Museum in the old Lone Star brewery. Looking for that gem of a small restaurant we found Candy's on S. Flores, tasty at good price. Up in hill country now in Fredericksburg , great giant flea market on the third weekend of each month and more wineries then almost everywhere we have travelled. (not actually impressed with the wine to price ratio from the 7 different wines we sampled at two highly recommended wineries. Oh well chaque un son gout) Wish that I had a MC to ride out around the hills would be fun riding. This is Johnson and Nimitz territory but we will have to bypass their venues, maybe some other time. Headed for Big Bend area tomorrow to do some hiking.

Big Bend National Park is a gem thanks FDR. Wish I had my motorcycle for the ride from Lajitas to Presidio along the Rio Grande it would be great on two wheels although west Texas from there to anywhere is pretty remote and menotonous to drive. Spent a night in Van Horn which is a strip of motels and although Mr. AMazon is buildiing rockets there it has not added much to the city. Today we hiked 5 miles through White Sands National Park another very unique site like few others on earth.

Thoughts go out to those in Houston and area that were hit by tornadoes a couple days ago. We had concidered heading down to Corpus Christi area for a week however who wants to spend time on a beach when the temperatures were predicted to be cool and cloudy/foggy as it was when we were on Galvestin beach for a day.

Bisbee is as cool as I remember it from passing through there 15 years ago on a rented Honda Goldwing with a buddy before heading up to Tuscon. This time we stayed at the Shady Dell anyone else stayed in one of the vintage traileers there in the past? Tuscon has lots of good roads around it along with between Bisbee and here. Off to Phoenix tomorrow.

The road up through Oro, Winkleman to Superior was fun to drive in the car 15 years ago my buddy drove the Goldwing and I sat back listening to blues and enjoying the views. If you find yourself on that route stop at Buzzies in Kearney for good economic feed. Tuesdays special was two tosatados or enchilados for $2, cant beat that!! The road today from Globe up to Show Low is one road I'd love to come back and do on a bike lots of twisties and great views. Petrified Forest then on to Gallup for the night, havent been here since 1975. Its dark out so I have no idea if I remember downtown where I used to come to buy jewellery for our business back in Toronto and Ottawa, will see tomorrow.

Gallup looked like I remembered it but Santa Fe where I have never been before is like no other city in the US or Canada Great place to visit we planned two nights stayed a third. From there we stopped in Taos for the day driving up to see the Rio Grande gorge (second time Ive seen the Rio Grande on this trip only 10 hours to the south) stopping in to see Mabel Dodges place where a group of silver smiths rented one of the buildings from Dennis Hopper.
The drive from Taos to Eagles Nest is a must do on a MC only we were in the car good thing because when we woke up in Raton this morning it was -7 Celcius. From there we drove through a blinding snow storm for two hours into Oklahoma another very wide state and holed up in Ponca. Never heard of the place or about its history in the oil business before tonight. The local Casino had by far the cheapest room nicer then most we have stayed in , inexpensive food and beer and well $10 extra of my money just for the entertainment factor.

Darn, isnt Oklahoma a wide state! when driving into it up on the pan handle or whatever that piece is that somehow they kept out of the hands of Texax. the fiirst two hours in was blowing snow with complete white out conditions for 5-10 seconds at a time man thats scarry driving on a highway. Stopped in Ponca for the night the least expensive hotel in town for a swank room was at the Osage Casino plus cheap food and and drink (only burned $10 in the machines) Passed through Pawhuska stopping at the Bucking Flamingo thats a pretty cool town and they just shot the movie there about the killings and the beginning of the FBI.
Yesterday I kissed the bricks on the starting line of the Brickyard and toured the museum with Jane. What a thrill, hadnt been there since + or -1959 when I attended the race with my parents. On to Auburn today to the Auburn Dusenburg museum, Cant wait.

Been a while since I logged on. Thanks for the updates. Really appreciate your comments on your vacation adventure. Did you get a chance to visit Gerome Arizona and drive highway 89A? We did it on motorcycles a few years ago. Definitely thrilling.

We have been to Jerome twice and drove the 89A on a Harley many years ago cool town and great road. Had we gone that way I would be reporting on the coffee that Dwight poured for us but alas we ran a little long on the southern route and had to turn east. Back home now after a stopover in Windsor to visit and stay with friends then lunch at our buddies pub in London "Walzing Weasel" on route. Great trip too many memories to relate.

Ok the Auburn, Cord, Dusenburg museum was a fine topper to the trip I would recommend it to anyone who has a car bug. They were so unique and luxurious it blew Jane away she had never even heard of Cord and Auburn before. Front wheel drive incredible styling, too bad they went under. I'll put together a photo group of grills from ACD and Speedway museum one of these days and post it.

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAsxYZ

Random shots from the Barber Museum and track.