2010 Fall Vacation

On a trip finding rails-to-trails and other neat places to ride.

15 days on the road
3705 miles driven
70 hours driving
10 states
8 rides in 7 of those states
6 new states we hadn”t ridden in
4 rides along 3 rivers with states names

Day 1: We drove to St Charles, Missouri where we did a little sight seeing and ate at Lywelyn”s Pub in the historic old part of town along the Missouri river. On the way back to the hotel we stopped for desert at a frozen custard place named Lyon”s.

Day 2: We drove across the river to Alton, Illinois to ride the Sam Vadalabene Great River Road Bike Trail. Photos and info on the ride here. After the ride we had supper at Fratelli”s Ristorante and Doozle”s Frozen Custard for desert.

Day 3: Left St Charles for Bowling Green, Kentucky. On the way we stopped off at the St Louis Arch and then in Evansville, Indiana to ride a few miles on the short Pigeon Creek Greenway Passage along the Ohio River. Ride photos and video here. Once in Bowling Green we ate supper at Double Dog”s. checked out the historic part of town and had desert at Culver”s Frozen Custard.

Day 4: Rode the Mammoth Cave Railroad Trail in Kentucky. Photos, video and info here. Ate dinner at Cheddars and had Culvers again for desert.

Day 5: Drove from Bowling Green to Chattanooga, TN. Stopped in Nashville on the way and had lunch on Music row. Once in Chattanooga we found a bike shop by the name of River City Bicyclesto buy me some new tires as I had noticed one was href=”/blog/photos/2010/Fall_Vacation/Picture023.jpg”>bad during yesterday”s ride. Ate supper at Las Margaritas.

Day 6: We rode the Tennessee Riverpark trail. Photos, info & video here. In the evening we ate at Senior Salsa for dinner and had Brusters ice cream for desert.

Day 7: We left Chattanooga late morning heading to Greenville, SC. We shopped and ate lunch at Red Robin before leaving Chattanooga. Once in Greenville we rode the Swamp Rabbit Trail. Photos and info here.

Day 8: Drove to Myrtle Beach, SC. Just outside of Myrtle Beach we stopped at Sparky”s for boiled and deep fried peanuts. We arrived at Myrtle Beach early evening. We walked the beach and had dinner at Planet Hollywood.

Day 9: No riding. Spent most the day walking Myrtle Beach. Had lunch at Dirty Don”s and dinner at Jimmy Buffett”s Margaritaville. Photos from the day here.

Day 10: Drove to Charleston. Once in Charleston we rode the West Ashley Greenway. Photos and info here. In the evening we drove to the old part of Charleston along the water. Ate at Ruby Tuesdays next to the hotel.

Day 11: Spent the morning and lunch walking around Folly Beach and downtown Charleston. Ate lunch at the Noisy Oyster downtown. After lunch we hit the road and stopped just West of Atlanta, Georgia for the night. Photos from the day here.

Day 12: Drove to Helena, Arkansas stopping in Tupelow, Mississippi at at Elvis” birthplace and Clarksdale, Mississippi at Robert Johnson”s “crossroads” on the way.

Day 13: Rode the Delta Heritage Rail-to-trail near Helena, Arkansas. Photos and info here. After we took a scenic drive, ate dinner at a Chinese buffet and then went across the Mississippi to Tennessee to a casino.

Day 14: Heading to Columbia, MO to visit family. Stopped in Memphis on the way and rode the riverwalk. Photos and info here.

Day 15: Visited family in Columbia and drove home.

Misc. non riding photos here.
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