Don't Forget to Bring a Towel

After the horrible travel experience we had to take it easy. We took it slow and ended up exploring the area around the hotel.

As we walked around we found a great little brewery, Mission Brewery. This place had reasonable priced beer that was excellent. We found many beers that were great. If this brewery was back home it would have been added to our rotation of places to visit.

Lunch was a little let down. We walked around the Gas Light district to find something reasonable. From our research we found that San Diego is known for it’s clam chowder. So we were walked around to find someplace that sold local chowder. Based on Google reviews we went to Baja Rick’s Cantina. Unfortunately they had taken chowder off the menu. To make matters worse we ordered a chicken and shrimp dish that came without the shrimp. They took care of the issue by just adding shrimp so the dish ended up coming back with cold chicken and fries with hot shrimp. Not to mention the other dish that was ordered was cold.

I would not recommend going to Baja Rick’s Cantina unless you just want to drink with friends. We did not have any drinks but it was evident that that was what they were setup to handle.

The last post for this trip. Day four of the trip was about driving back home by way of Ashville, NC. We planned our rout to avoid the interstates to experience the community and natural beauty.

As such the ride was the adventure for the day. So we did not really plan on any interesting place for lunch so we just stopped at a Chick-fil-A for lunch.

The ride was not only interesting for of the communities but also the constant threat of rain. We were very lucky. We only got drizzled on a few time but the threating heavy rain never came.

At the end of the day we ended up staying a Four Points by Sheraton. The hotel was clean and the staff were exceptionally nice, but the rooms are starting to show their age.

For dinner that night we went to Sovereign Remedies. Which turned out to be one of the best meals we had on the entire trip. The cocktails were awesome and the burger with truffle fries were out of this world.

This ended the fourth day of the trip.

The final day started off with having breakfast at the hotel which was really good and worth the extra charge.

The rest of the day consisted of riding the interstates back home. Not exciting but necessary to make it back in a day.

So that brings a close to this adventure. We had a really great time and saw some wonderful motorcycles. The whole thing just proved that if you plan well and have the correct gear the weather is not an issue.

Till next time be safe out there and Don’t forget Your Towel.

On Day 3 we went to the prime reason for the trip. We went to Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum.

Yes those are our bikes right up front. Driving into a hurricane that was down graded to a tropical storm on a weekday, does have an effect on the number of visitors.

I guess the first question I should ask is why did we make this trip. Well Barber has over a 1,000 motorcycles on display at any one time that cover the history of motorcycles. They have on display examples, read as reproductions, of some of the first examples of motorcycles.

The inside of the museum is massive and expansive taking up 5 visitable floors.

Now to say there are a lot of unique and interesting motorcycles would be an understatement. They had motorcycles from the 20’s through modern day. Here are a few of the many motorcycles that I thought were interesting , but it would be impossible to show everything.

What surprised me was that the museum had other exabits besides motorcycles. I did not know until we were walking around that they have one of the largest private Lotus Racing collection on display.

They also have motor boat engines on display as well as ship models.

We ended up spending the entire day at the museum. Their was just so much to see. Unfortunately, they did not have anywhere to get something to eat. This was a big oversight in my opinion. They do have snack area but most of the vending machines were not working.

But overall this was well worth the trip and a must visit for anyone who is interested in the history of motorcycles.

Today was a rain day, The radar showed rain clouds all the way in to our destination. All ready for rain we headed out.

Our first stop was the Currahee Military Museum. This place was awesome. They tell the history of the area and that of the paratroopers that jumped on D-Day. They even have a barn that some of the actual troops sleep in when in England.

After the museum we headed out. Rain set in shortly after our ride, but it stayed light. This continued on for most of the day. We stopped for a short lunch at Chick-Fil-A. Had the usual and headed back out.

As we were getting close to our next stop we turned in for gas. That was when the motorcycle signaled a warning. An issue had arisen with the adaptive ride height. Luckily it was safe to continue but from that point on till it went to the shop after the trip I would get 3 warning messages. I am going to skip to the fix. Apparently there was a software update that the dealer should have done before the bike was sold. The update fixed the problem and no further issues have been had. But again that was not know at the time.

So in the rain we take the bike to this evening’s hotel, Hampton Inn Birmingham/ Leads. Unfortunately, there are not restaurants or places to eat near the hotel so we drive off to find a place to eat and end up in a nice Irish Pub, Oh Sherri Pub,

I had the fish and chips and some good beer that was poured correctly. This place was great. The staff were nice and friendly.