On Tuesday, June 4th, we took another Day Ride. Our destination was lunch in Copperhill, Tennessee. Copperhill is located on the Tennessee/Georgia state line with the line physically painted on the streets and sidewalks running through several businesses. We wanted to see it!

We left our home in North Knoxville at 9:45am. The skies were mostly clear with sunshine and 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

We took Alcoa Highway to  Maryville. We traveled down 411, stopped at the Weigels in Vonore for gas and a snack. After a quick break we rode south on 411 to Englewood where we took 39 South.

39 South took us into the Cherokee National Forest. From 39 we took 315 South, a twisting, winding road full of gorgeous scenery.

315 took us through a couple of rural communities and brought us to 64.

64 runs along Ocoee Lake Number Two. We stopped off at the Ocoee Whitewater Center, the 1996 Summer Olympic canoe slalom venue.

After admiring the Olympic site, we continued east on 64 to Ducktown, TN. In Ducktown, we took 68 South into Copperhill.

We rode through town and parked our bikes right on Main Street. The Tennessee / Georgia state line runs right through the middle of town. Copperhill is on the Tennessee side and McCaysville on the Georgia side.

Copperhill is a quaint little tourist town with several places to eat. We decided on The Pearly Gates Cafe which sits right on the line.

The folks inside were friendly and we got seated right away. The menu was written on chalkboards on the wall.

We ordered a gyro, a cheeseburger and fries and a cloud nine.

The cloud nine is a funnel cake with ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate syrup. Frankly, the dessert put us way over the top, but Jeff says it’s OK to go wild when you’re out of town. (I say, next ride, we try for more vegetables!) Of course, we enjoyed lunch.

After lunch, we walked around town, traveling back and forth between Georgia and Tennessee. As corny as that sounds, we really had a lot of fun being tourists.

After our tour, we got back on the bikes and headed north on 68 through Ducktown and up to Coker Creek. We stopped at Coker Creek for a few photos.

We continued north on 68 to Tellico Plains, stopping in to check out Cherohala Biker Gear and the Charles Hall Museum.

The museum turned out to be one of those hidden gems that really surprises you. It had an eclectic gathering of artifacts, featuring a huge telephone collection in one building and a huge gun collection in the other building. Also mixed in were a couple of vintage autos, an old Shovelhead police bike and a nice collection of vintage toys.

Both museum spaces are very interesting and both are free to view. When you go, be sure to make a purchase to help fund the museums! We bought a nice Dragon shirt and talked with the owner of Cherohala Biker Gear. It was a great visit and we are so glad we dropped in.

After the museum, we stopped up the road for gas and a drink.

Then we got back on 68 North and rode to Madisonville. From there, we took 411 North to Vonore, and then took Old Morganton Road stopping briefly for a photo.

We rode through Greenback and on into Maryville. In Maryville we took 321 to Alcoa Highway, rode back to Knoxville and returned home.

We arrived home at 5:45pm and our total ride was 228 miles.

You can find our entire list of BIKE RIDES by CLICKING HERE.