Motorcycle Diaries (USA): Day 16
Todays plan started badly, got worse and then got abandoned - but as it turned out the day ended well.
I was heading for Memphis, but I didn't make it there. I set of at 5:55am as I wanted to take in quite a few stops along the way. The early start was the BIG mistake. We'd had icy cold winds blowing through the day before and at this time of the morning in the pitch dark it was no more than 10 minutes into the days riding before the brutal cold had penetrated every joint in my body and quite violent shaking began - far from ideal on a motorbike! It would take a LOT more than heated hand grips to get me through this morning. I managed to ride for around 30 minutes before I had to get off the bike in pain. I stopped at a McDonalds and bought a coffee. The problem was that every time I tried to pick it up, I would spill coffee everywhere as I had absolutely no control over the quite dramatic shaking. Three people stopped and asked if I was ok. Eventually after almost 30 minutes I was at least able to hold the cup.
It was still very early and VERY cold when I got back on the bike and again within 10 minutes I was suffering badly with the cold. I managed another couple of 30 minute stints (with 15 minute breaks to run around trying to warm up) which brought me to Chattanooga, the first planned stop of the day. I knew nothing else about Chattanooga except the name (The Chattanooga Choo-choo) but that was enough to bring me here. The first mission to warm up and get some breakfast.
It was at the breakfast stop that things improved and the plan changed. I ended up talking to an American couple who had just travelled down from Nashville. They were initially worried about my shaking and shivering and then interested in the bike and bike trip (fellow bikers as it turned out.)
The first piece of good info that they gave me was that there was a Wal-Mart down the street and there i'd be able to buy warmer gloves and thermal underwear. The second gem was that they had just travelled down through Lynchburg Tennessee - Home of the Jack Daniels Distillery.
This was to change the days plan. Fed and fully kitted out with some new Wal-Mart warm gear I abandoned the Memphis mission and set off in search of Mr Jack Daniels :-)
The directions from Chattanooga sounded strangely familiar... "head north to MANCHESTER..."
The strange thing about the location of the Jack Daniels Distillery is that its in a 'Dry County' so you can't try the produce or buy any for consumption inside the county area. Any purchases have to be specially sealed and remain that way until you leave the county. Still (no pun intended), it was good to see the the lengthy and very traditional process involved in creating the drink i've enjoyed for so many years.
If you buy directly from the distillery, its possible to buy a BARREL (some 240 bottles worth) of their finest selection, but at $10,000 a barrel its quite an 'investment'. Anyway, it would have been a nightmare to carry on the bike :-)
The side trip meant I was still a long way from Memphis when night fell, so I spent the night in Savannah (Tennessee) - ravaged by tornadoes only a week earlier!
