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When Hildia and I walked outside at 9:25 I thought, nobody in their right mind will show up for a motorcycle ride on a day when 107 heat indices are predicted. And I was right, nobody in their right mind would but thirteen members of the Memphis Tour Riders did. Talk about dedication. However, with plentiful cloud cover and a lot of shaded back roads, the heat and humidity was held in check.
Eleven motorcycles pulled out of the Lakeland Kroger store onto US 64 at 10:00AM sharp. But we jumped off this two-lane thoroughfare immediately and picked up Macon Road. Our first stop was a combination break/lunch stop in Corinth, Mississippi at the local Dairy Queen. Afterward, we took advantage of a handy Exxon station across the street and gassed up. Not many gas stations on Coon Dawg Cemetery Road and the early fuel stop would help us avoid another bike on fumes like we had last ride.
The Coon Dawg Cemetery lies just south of Cherokee, Alabama on Coon Dawg Cemetery Road, a blacktop slab that's a bit rough but makes for a very interesting ride as you can see by the photo's. Most all of us had been to the Coon Dawg Cemetery before but on this version we did have several newbie's and it was as fascinating to them as it was to us on our first visit. We spent maybe a half hour at this peculiar southern institution then saddled up and headed back to Tennessee.
Dinner was at the Catfish Hotel that butts up against the Shiloh Battlefield. On this spot in 1825, Henry Hagy and his wife Polly docked their flat boat & started a family. Later their son John built a rough log shack next to the river to store items that were to be shipped by steamboat. The shack earned the name "Catfish Hotel" during the early thirties when Norvin Hagy entertained friends at cookouts. He became well known for his catfish and hospitality. Guests who arrived by river became so engrossed in his yarns that darkness snuck up on 'em and they were forced to spend the night, thus the nickname Catfish Hotel.
I always overeat at the Catfish Hotel. The food is always good and the unlimited all you can eat hushpuppies tempts you to stuff yourself. Around 5:30, we fired the bikes and left what has to be the most popular destination for MTR. The bulk of the crew took US 64 back to Memphis but Hillbilly led a three bike Mississippi contingent down to highway 72 where he promptly ran Jake out of gas. Should have stuck with us Jake. Just because somebody's out front don't make 'em a leader.
Hildia and I rolled into the drive at 7:30 PM and we were grateful for a good day. What we thought would be a miserably hot day actually was quite pleasant and probably the best ride we've had this year.
Roll Call: Tim Duncan, David Elston & Brenda Crawford, Tod & Cindy Beers, Jake Abraham, Chat Lofton, Rick Hightower, John Williams, Buck & Donna Perminter, Hildia Max, Guest Rider Joe Shumacher &Yours Truly.
A few meaningless stats: Our driving time was 6:19, average speed, 48 MPH, top speed; 82 MPH and we rode a total of 304 miles
bj
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