Roadtrip to Tennessee and the Carolinas
Cathy and I do a roadtrip to Tennessee and the Carolinas from our home in Toronto. We ‘endure’ all of five minute waits at the Detroit and Buffalo border crossings. We see no other Canadian plated cars on our 12 day trip. This makes us believe what we read and hear about reduced travel by Canucks into the USA during our tussle over tariffs and sovereignity.
Our route
Our route takes us to Knoxville, Tennessee to visit family, to Asheville, North Carolina to visit friends who we met in Australia, and to Hilton Head, South Carolina to play golf and have some beach time. Its a 2200 mile loop that we spread over 12 days, so a couple of long days of driving with several multi-day layovers.
Knoxville and Oak Ridge, Tennessee
We arrive in Knoxville and its football season for the University of Tennessee Vols. Its all about beating Alabama and Georgia. Takes us back to when we lived in Ann Arbour, Michigan and fall was all about the University of Michigan Wolverines and beating Ohio State. We meet Cathy’s high school friends from Idaho over an excellent lunch at Lakeside Tavern .
We drive over to Oak Ridge for a family lunch at Calhoun’s . Oak Ridge was and still is a major US nuclear research and weapons site, and it is interesting to see the guard towers from the 1940’s when this was a top secret installation making weapon grade nuclear material as part of the Manhattan Project.
Asheville, North Carolina
Our visit here is focussed on art, beer and music. Asheville was ground zero for Hurricane Helene in September, 2024, and we see the devestating effect of the flooding. And the comeback with places like The Marquee now re-opening in the River Art District.
We enjoy some beers at Wedge Brewing , Jamaican food at Nine Mile West (reference to Bob Marley’s birthplace) and later take in some evening music outdoors at Highland Brewing.
Hilton Head, South Carolina
We spend a week at our timeshare at the The Carolina Club in Shipyards Plantation. This year there are two hurricanes off shore along with the king tide, so the beach is mostly red flagged for rip tides and we see quite a bit of beach erosion, however the sand dunes remain intact. We do enjoy some beach time, and several 4 hour rounds of golf at The Golden Bear Golf Club . We recommend the food at The Old Oyster Factory . The staff seat us on the best deck to see the sunset over the marshes, and gift us a free desert to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Great southern hospitality.
