I have been riding roads here in Tennessee ever since 1991. It feels like I have ridden every motorcycle road here to include a trip to all 95 Tennessee Counties. So we decided to push north for some undiscovered adventures in Kentucky. Why haven't we done this sooner? Well, I guess because its Kentucky. I'm not a big fan of that Kentucky blue, it looks like I'll have to get used to it. So we decide to take the back roads to Evansville Indiana. We weren't disappointed.From Clarksville, we head North on Highway 41 crossing into Kentucky below Hopkinsville. From there we take Kentucky State Route 91 (the original Trail of Tears Route) to Princeton where we take KY 139/143 to KY 109. We just keep heading north past Sturgis Kentucky until we get to KY 56 west which takes you to the Shawnee Town River crossing.
The ride through Kentucky has many curves, they are real virgin motorcycle roads. We cross the Ohio River on a magnificent 2 lane bridge that stretches hundreds of feet above the river. It feels like your flying over the river. If it were a little closer to lunch, we would have stopped at Nates Bar and Grill right on the river. Maybe next time.
Once we get to Shawnee Town, the topography changes from rolling hills to midwestern plains which has its own unique beauty. We take Illionios Route 11 to 62 east before crossing into Indiana then arriving in Evansville. We pass through Mount Vernon, Indiana, which is another historic location.
We booked a night at the Tropicana Casino and Resort. I'm not a gambler, but the hotel is beautiful and inexpensive on a weekday. A big plus is the safe indoor motorcycle parking. Its sort of a 4-star hotel at 2-star prices during the week. If you're not a fan of the restaurants on site, It's just a couple block to all restaurants in the downtown. We eat at Angelo's a Traditional Italian restaurant that was out of this world, it was one of those restaurants that you'd like to live by so you could eat there a couple of times a week.
The next day we get up early to beat the heat and the pop-up thunderstorms for the ride home, which is a combination of more great motorcycle roads. It was a great trip. I'm sure one we'll be repeating.
