64Corvette

My wife said she wanted to take a trip to get out go the house so I recommended going to Bowling Green, Kentucky to go through the Corvette museum. She must really want to get out the house, she took me up on the trip. So if you have been would you please pass along any recommendations on places to eat, hotels/motels and sights to see. Also how to get to the Trail of the Dragon from there. We are in Texas. Thanks for all suggestions.

jperaino

The Hampton Inn is a great place to stay. It is near the Museum and Assembly Plant. A breakfast is included with all rooms. While you are down there go to Nashville. is only 90 miles away and is a great place to visit.

NorthTXC6

I would highly recommend the factory tour as well if they are running them, as well as a quick side trip across the freeway from the museum to check out the track/road course being built. Stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn and loved it there- just up the freeway from the museum and about 1 mile or so from a manual car wash to clean up the vette from the long trip from Texas....

rcallen484

Across the street is a classic muscle (and other) car dealer/display that I found interesting. Worth a look IMHO.

RKB

Enjoy your trip to Kentucky. I would recommend you take in the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. You will visit some great distilleries. The a Tail of the Dragon is still quite a ride from Bowling Green. Closest route for you would probably be head down to Nashville, take I-40 east, go past Knoxville to the Foothills Parkway. You can take that over through Pigeon Forge and from there to the Tennessee end of Highway 129 (the Dragon).

I've done the a Dragon several times on my bike, but one word of caution, watch out for tractor-trailers on the road. They are too big for most of the curves and will be in your lane if you encounter one.

Safe travels!
Keith (Now in KY,but an NC native)

jack5hd

http://www.440main.com/

cuspid

Mammoth Cave isn't far

MachAll 2005

[QUOTE=RKB;1585348845]Enjoy your trip to Kentucky. I would recommend you take in the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. You will visit some great distilleries. ........... QUOTE]

Other local tours to consider http://www.corvettemuseum.org/regist...our/info.shtml

AddisonD

This was a pretty good thread about the topic.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...ing-green.html

It was a kick, and I know you'll enjoy it.

I would add that the volume of 18-wheeler traffic on the freeways going up there is immense. During our drive to the Bash, there were times i could only note a handful of cars, and all the rest were the big rigs. As best I could, I drove it like I was on a motorcycle, and assumed they couldn't really see me very well if at all. We observed that we were frequently next to a trailer, and looking right under it to the other side of the road. I made sure to not be overly aggressive and to not get right up behind one, where i knew that a very low sports car was not going to be visible in the driver's mirrors.

kid4life

There is always plenty to do in Nashville (music, dining and sports) and its only an hour away from BG.
The Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg, TN is a nice place to visit as well.

If you like unique and rare cars and motorcycles; the Lane Auto Museum in Nashville has them.

Near The Dragon; There is Gatlinburg, TN where there are many mountainside cabins (and hotels) and tourist attractions if you want to chill for a few days in a more rural setting.

This is a great time of the year to visit Kentucky and Tennessee.....but watch out for deer.

2k Cobra

Great info guys!

Wife and I are going on the 2014 Caravan and plan to hang around after the event.

We will note all info for our trip.

OP: Have a great/safe trip, 2k

TexasYankee

Me and my wife just got back from a trip to Bowling Green. We are from Texas as well.

We stayed at the LaQuinta Inn for 3 nights. There is a Cracker Barrell right across the street. The hotel is off the main drag, plenty of restaurants, a mall, and cinema if you want to catch a movie one night.

We went to Mamoth cave one day. If you've never been, it's only 30 minutes away. We took the top off and just drove around the different roads while in the Park and had a picnic lunch. Lots of fun.

We came back home to Dallas a very different way than we took coming to Bowling Green. We got on the Natchez Trace just west of Nashvile and drove it to Jackson Mississippi. Where we stayed the night. This is a 2 lane road maintained by the National Park service. Don't go on it unless you want to take your time, enjoy the scenery, drive a lot of twisties, and see a bunch of Deer and wild Turkey. The posted speed limit is 50 in most places. it's so desolate though that I bet some people drive a wee bit faster /wink /wink....

Gearhead Jim

Lots of good suggestions above.

If you go up into the mountains, remember that it can be showing up there when it's only raining down in the valleys.

brewersprts

Obviously the corvette plant too. When I went this summer the tours were closed because they were switching to the C7. I also drove around back on the test track that I've seen so many times in corvette shows etc...

There is also a pretty cool airplane park, I forget what it's called but it was worth going by for me, there is also a F-111 sitting out at the airport. You can walk right up to it on the ramp. At the heritage park place there is an F-4, an F-9, and a T-33 if I remember correctly. Definitely not somewhere to spend a long time but for it was worth going by. I'm a pilot so I flew into bowling green airport and rented a car. I flew over mammoth cave and would like to check it out next time

flange

For anyone that travels like this, I recommend joining a travel site. For example I use hotels dot com. I signed up to their rewards program and every ten nights you get one free. you can also use a miles credit card to take advantage of that too.

you simply plug in where you want to stay (city, state), and they give you room options. I have four free nights this year by doing this.

Slider-01

You asked about getting to the Tail of the Dragon from Bowling Green; I just did that trip in reverse (ToD to Bowling Green). Just take 231 South out of Bowling Green to I-40 East, then pick up I-140 south and it intersects TN 129 Follow that into and through Alcoa and it will take you directly to the Tail of the Dragon part of TN 129 (about 3.5 hours or so from Bowling Green to Alcoa then another 30 minutes to the ToD). We stayed at the Marriott Courtyard in Alcoa. In Bowling Green we stayed at the Fairfield Inn; nice places, both of them.

Have fun.

florida john

I enjoyed the Mamouth Cave Park as well. Really interesting natural wonder!

Runaway89

If you are going to join the Caravan in Sept. for the 20th anniversary of the museum, you should check with the museum about a trip they are planning to the Biltmore mansion and the Dragons Tail leaving the day after the anniversary. The Biltmore is a must see and it is only about 25 miles from the Dragon. Contact Karen in the events department at the museum. She does a super job organizing events for the museum. Wife and I just got back from doing the 1 Lap Around Kentucky. Great time and worth every penny. As far as a place to stay, DO NOT stay at the SUPER 8 right by the museum. Could not stay there do to stench and filth and they would not refund my money.

AddisonD

The Marriott operated properties are excellent, and well-placed. If they end up costing a few extra bucks per night, I'll keep paying it for peace of mind and comfort.

I wouldn't be swayed by staying "close to the museum". Nothing in Bowling Green is very far away from anything else.
.

Jimr1

You should also try to pick up some portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway as you make your way to the Gap. The southern portion of the Parkway is highly elevated and gives spectacular views at various vantage points.