Cross country trip- Need help from Atlanta now

[dantama]

I'm buying a car in Delray Beach Florida and turning it into a road trip vacation on the way back home.

This is one route that I came up with, but not because of any real reason. I just grabbed the blue line and dragged and dropped it.



Where do any of you recommend we go between Florida and Denver?

It'll be mostly just a driving road trip, similar to how you'd do it on a motorcycle. If you don't mind making google maps with suggestions and posting them that would be great.

[jestephens]

Instead of Evansville, IN, you can stay on I-24 out of Nashville and head to I-57 in Illinois. Then you'll pass through Metropolis . . . Home of Superman! There's lots of photo-ops there.
http://www.metropolischamber.com/

Either way, you're passing through my back yard, Belleville, IL.

[Kawhead]

The Smokey Mountains may be nothing compared to CO but they might make you cry because your not on the Nomad. And since you so close Charleston, SC, IMHO is the most beautiful city in America.

Good route I think.

[ken]

By all means, stop at the Kennedy Space Center and do a tour. Also stop in Titusville, FL. and have lunch at Dixie Crossroads on Garden Street..great shrimp and other seafood. Lots of motels if you need to rest up in the area. Also Playlinda Beach is wonderful if you like peace and quiet.

[MAS Tequila]

If your going to stop in Charleston, I'd recommend getting off 95 and going up 17 through Garden Corners. I used to live in CHS.

Depending on the day and time when you pass through Charlotte I'll meet you for a cold adult beverage.

If your going to spend any time in Delray I can recommend several places, I lived in Boca Raton (one town south) for 30 years.

MT

[sharps45100]

Lexington, Ky. has some good bourbon distilleries. One is Woodford Reserve, a very fine bourbon!

[dantama]

That's the information I'm looking for, keep it coming.

It's a 36 hour drive, so we don't have time for real stopping and sightseeing. But I forgot about Kennedy Space Center. I wish a Space Shuttle was going up then.

Sounds like going up the coast a little further to Charleston might be a good idea.

Last time we bought a car in Atlanta, and drove from there to Memphis and then west. It was the first time we've been east of the Mississippi, and that route is all we've seen. So I was just looking for another way home that was different than the drive from Atlanta. I love seeing new stuff.

So we aren't locked into the route I posted. We're open to any route from Florida back to Denver. Just like driving through the same type of stuff we like to ride through.

[AlabamaNomadRider]

Dan looks like you are going due north and I would have cut through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas. While in Mississippi you could have stopped at Tupelo the birthplace of Elvis. In Arkansas you could have seen the Ozarks and maybe stopped in Branson. Of course if you had gone through Huntsville, Alabama you could have stopped at the Space and Rocket Center. Jack Daniels Distillary is in Lynchburg, Tennessee. They have a nice tour there. Used to get to sample the brew but people started getting drunk so they cut it out.

[Jared]

While you're that far south in Florida, you ought to check out the Keys.

The route you have mapped out is similar to the ride back from Florida that I took. From Florida, go to Myrtle Beach, from there go to Deals Gap, from there to to Nashville Or Graceland, from there go to St. Louis (check out the arch), from there go home.

[dougster]

Dan, there is a nice little scenic drive as you come out of Kansas City, KS. It goes north through Leavenworth, and Atchinson, up to highway 36. Then, if you want, you can go straight west.

If you happen to end up farther north, near Lincoln, Nebraska, we have a guest bedroom you would be welcome to use, as an overnight stop.

I couldn't get the map to import. Sorry.

[macmac]

I will 2nd the Great Smokies Park. The vegitation this time of year is just lush and the flowers will be everywhere. I hope this isn't a 36 hours drive straight.. Just because the Smokies alone are very worth the sites..

[trosco]

Dan, I suggest that you stop in Jacksonville FL and buy me lunch

That would probably be the highlight of your trip! Or at least my day? ::)

[dantama]

Good replies, thanks all.

My wife was liking the idea of a far south route and going through New Orleans, then up through Texas.

Having never been through the area on my map, I wanted a more northern route. Sounds like the Smokies are a must see at some point.

[fakebikerdude59]

Take a detour from KC to Wichita, KS,...then head west on US 50 to Greensburg, KS...home of the world's deepest hand dug well (over 200 ft down) then to Dodge City (boot hill, etc.), then depending on the time of year, you may be able to catch the Pancake Races down in Liberal, then shoot up Denver. Stop anywhere at any diner along HWY 50 for some Rhubarb pie.

Ohh yeah! These suggestions based on actual experience. (Kansas State class of 1981.)

[Jared]

Originally Posted by Dan Lund

Good replies, thanks all.

My wife was liking the idea of a far south route and going through New Orleans, then up through Texas.

Having never been through the area on my map, I wanted a more northern route. Sounds like the Smokies are a must see at some point.

If you are planning on going to the National Rally in 2011, you could just go the southern route with your wife. You'll definitely be enjoying the smokies/deals gap during the NR.

I too went through New Orleans last summer. Definitely a one of kind place that I'm glad I got to experience.