Shenandoah -> Nashville: Anything worth seeing?

[blakewho]

One leg of my upcoming road-trip will go from Shenandoah National Park to Nashville. I plan on taking the Blue Ridge Parkway down and then cutting over, but this leg is still waaaay long.

Is there anything worth seeing between these two points? Any alternate route that might be more interesting?

Thanks!
Blake

[Mark Sedenquist]

One leg of my upcoming road-trip will go from Shenandoah National Park to Nashville. I plan on taking the Blue Ridge Parkway down and then cutting over, but this leg is still waaaay long.
Is there anything worth seeing between these two points? Any alternate route that might be more interesting?

It is a road trip -- it is all worth doing, that said, the Blue Ridge Parkway is slow -- in many sections you will not exceed an average speed of 35 mph. What would constitute "worth seeing" for you?

Mark

[blakewho]

Hmm... A cool city, a unique quirky restaurant? I'm not quite sure to be honest...

I found a winery (Chateau Morissette) about 170 miles along which looks promising.

Incidentally, do you know of any mapping software that allows you to specify specific routes? That is, I'm trying to force MS Streets & Trips to use the Blue Ridge Parkway (and other roads on different legs) but it stubbornly insists on US-81. Same with Google Maps, Mapquest, etc. Very frustrating...

[Mark Sedenquist]

Incidentally, do you know of any mapping software that allows you to specify specific routes? That is, I'm trying to force MS Streets & Trips to use the Blue Ridge Parkway (and other roads on different legs) but it stubbornly insists on US-81. Same with Google Maps, Mapquest, etc. Very frustrating...

Which is one of the reasons I prefer paper maps -- but a number of roadtrippers are experimenting with PlaniGlobe and you might find some of the developer's comments helpful:

We have now added an option to connect your points by a line (track mode). You can opt for plotting of lines and points, only lines or only points. This is done via the 'dim map layers' dialog. www.planiglobe.com is not a routing site (at least as long as we cannot afford Tele Atlas, Navtec, etc) but we will integrate TIGER data eventually.
Cheers, Martin

[Robert Schaller]

For MS S&T, the way to force it to your choice of routes is to keep adding waypoints on your highway of choice until it "gives up" and routes you there. Also, make sure under "options" that you don't have interstate highways favored. Bob

[Mark Sedenquist]

Hmm... A cool city, a unique quirky restaurant? I'm not quite sure to be honest...

OK. I will throw a few ideas out -- in no particular order... Swing wide up to Talcott, West Virginia and see if you can sense the ghost of John Henry -- who bested a steel-driving machine... or there is the birthplace of Davy Crockett in Limestone Tennessee. A quirky restaurant -- you gotta stop at the Omni Hut in Smyrna, TN -- a Tiki-Bar of no equal! Sheesh -- how could I forget -- Jack Daniel's Distillery! And nearby you can watch aluminum bats being swaged at one of the largest plants in America (the Worth plant at Tullahoma). If factory tours are of interest -- check out the tour at the Nissan truck plant at Smyrna, Tennessee. (see -- I told you this wasn't in any kind of useful order). Finally, if you do a search for blue ridge parkway on this forum you will find some other cool things to do.

Mark