Category: Coddiwomple – 2025

Overall category for all Coddiwomple categories

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June 2

Left the house early to run to lodge and decided to stop at a few coffee places along the way.

After gassing up the bike, I made my way to Starbucks. Though larger town will have Starbucks on every corner (some even across the street from each other), we only have two, and one is on the campus of UNA. I stopped in at the Starbucks by the mall. I got a quick picture and was on my way to my next stop.

As I was leaving Starbucks, I realized that there is a gourmet coffee place across the street. Multiple lanes for drive thru. It wasn’t busy so I don’t know how efficient they would be in a rush. I pulled into SevenBrew and got the picture. Access was a bit challenging since it is at a corner that can get busy at times, especially since none of the streets have stop or yield signs.

I left to visit another new place. This one is Scooters Coffee. I wasn’t sure of the exact location, so I took the safe route. Ended up that if I have taken the other route, I would have turned into the coffee shop without getting on the main highway.

I made a quick stop at the Veterans Park to get a picture of the Huey and the 9-11 memorial for the Tour of Honor challenge. Then I headed to the lodge.

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May 31

Left Maggie Valley to head home. I had a few Tour of Honor bonus sites that I wanted to visit on the bike along the way, but I also kept an eye open for potential sites for the Coddiwomple Challenge.

After passing Cherokee and turning onto US19/74, it eventually went from four lanes to two lanes as is wound along the Nantahala Gorge/River. Suddenly, I see a BBQ sign. I pull into the gravel parking lot to get the picture. Place has a simple name, BBQ Shack. Officially, the address is Bryson City, but the closest town is either Wesser or Almond. I’ll list as Bryson City in case someone tries to find it.

Next spot I found was a large chicken in front of a salvage and collectible store. The person working there came out and I explained what I was doing. He smiled and went back inside. This was in Cleveland, TN

My goal today was to avoid interstate at all costs. The closest I came was when I passed over a couple of interstates. I meandered my way to Dayton, TN. As I turned onto US27, I saw a small BBQ place. I got a picture of Alexander’s BBQ in Dayton, TN.

After passing through Dayton, I saw Dunkin’. The company was Dunkin’ Donuts for many years, it guess they just dropped the donuts part from the name. Maybe because the donuts weren’t all that exciting.

I continued and visited a few Tour of Honor sites. As I was in Dunlap, I saw a little coffee place attached to a thrift store. I got the picture of Sunny Valley Coffee.

As I was finishing up my last Tour of Honor site in Whitwell, TN, I noticed a cannon! I couldn’t pass it up since this isn’t really in my normal routes to places.

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May 30

After spending the day at Wheels Through Time, which is truly my “Happy Place,” the weather cleared a little and I decided to visit a few spots for Coddiwomple.

The first stop was at Caffeine and Chaos. This is a coffee and ice cream shop. It also have a game area. I didn’t go in, I may have ended up getting something which I wouldn’t have needed.

The next stop was at Butts on the Creek. This is a BBQ place in Maggie Valley which overlooks Jonathan Creek. Aaron and I came here with Ms Sue and Brad last year. The food was awesome and the prices were great.

June 23 update:

The Caffeine and Chaos photo was rejected. I was supposed to have a picture of the building. The sign is okay for a BBQ place, but I must have a picture of the building for coffee places. Since I was back in Waynesville, and on the Harley this time, I revisited Caffeine and Chaos after Randy and I had stopped for supper.

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May 28

Plenty of miles, but only a couple of Coddiwomple sites

First, after I had visited a Tour of Honor site, I happened to see a Starbucks in Waynesville. Since it wasn’t out of the way, I had to stop.

Farther along my trip, I was on my way to Brevard. I passed one of my favorite BBQ places, I even showed it to a friend who has lived in Cherokee most of his life. Hawg Wild BBQ in Pisgah Forest, NC. There were a couple of BMW K series in the parking lot, I wonder if they were on the Grand Coddiwomple too?

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I’ve Been Everywhere – Tennessee

Finally managed to get a photo of a ride with a Tennessee state sign after getting the Grand Coddiwomple number.

I also got the photo in South Pittsburg. Pittsburgh is on the list, I expect that they will be be strict about the spelling. I am not sure if I will submit with a note that I noticed the spelling is different, if they reject, I will understand.

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Dodge City, Alabama

Another one of the challenges in BMW’s Grand Coddiwomple is to find places matching to names of places in Johnny Cash’s song “I’ve Been Everywhere.” One place in particular is Dodge City. I happened to find a Dodge City in Alabama. And it is close enough that I can make a day ride to visit.

My initial goal today was to visit an old friend who works for Redstone Harley-Davidson. I had met him before I moved to Alabama, we met when I would visit Florence during various holidays or vacations.

After avoiding interstate to get to Redstone, I hopped on the interstate to get some quick miles down I-65.

After the photo in Dodge City, I meandered back home. The headset is only lasting about 3 hours, I thought that it had been lasting a lot longer when I first got it. This gave me some time to just listen to the wind.

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May 21 Ride

Though the goal for today was to visit a few Tour of Honor sites, I was able to visit a few Coddiwomple sites.

After filling up the bike, I headed to St Florian. This is a town founded by German immigrants. This would make it pronounces as Saint Flo-re-an. Not in Alabama, talk about lazy talkers. It is pronounced as Saint Flor-een. Anytime I talk about the town, I always make sure that I mis-pronounce it according to the locals.

This little town has one stop-light. It is with mixed opinions whether it helps or hurts traffic. Just past the light, ease to the left and there is Pop’s BBQ. In front, on either side of their parking lot, is a hog and a chicken. The Coddiwomple gives points for chicken statues and BBQ places. The BBQ place MUST have BBQ or one of the spelling variations. “Smoke Pit” or “Pit” in the name only counts if it also specifically says BBQ. If it doesn’t say BBQ in the name, I could go in to a place to get a copy of their menu if it lists BBQ, but that is too much trouble.

Anyway, back to Pop’s BBQ. I got a picture of the outside with bike in front with the rally flag. I managed to park so I could walk around the bike and get a picture of the chicken with the bike. I cannot take one picture of the store and the chicken and submit it for both points.

I head up Chisholm Rd to Collinwood, then over to Savannah. I thought about getting the picture of Hickory Pit, but I would have needed to get a copy of their menu as I mentioned above. BUT! Across the street from Hickory Pit is a Civil War memorial with a couple of cannons and a stack of cannon balls.

Before I got to my first Tour of Honor site, I was at a stop sign waiting to cross a major highway. I noticed a BBQ place. A lot of cars in the parking lot, but one parking spot was open under their sign. I pulled in, got the picture, and was on my way again.

The rest of this ride was for the Tour of Honor. I will include this when I post on the Serendipity Riders with the full day ride.

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April 28

I started the day a little later than expected or planned. In addition to a some Tour of Honor sites, I managed to visit some Cddiwomple sites.

First was the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale. This is site 32 of Appendix M for this year’s Coddiwomple.

While in Clarksdale, I visited the Crossroads. This is where legend states that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil to be able to play the guitar. This is site 30 of Appendix M.

I turned the camera around and took a picture of Abe’s BBQ. Maybe this was where Robert Johnson and the Devil negotiated “The Deal”?

I made a stop in Cleveland, MS, but was soon on to Indianola. I had used this town (Indianola) last year for the Memorial at the Police Station. This year, I stopped at the BB King Museum. Not only is this a museum about the life of BB King, he is buried in the courtyard. At the BB King Museum, the goal was to get a picture of his guitar. This is site 31 of Appendix M.

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Naval Anti-Aircraft Artillery in Priceville, AL

I ride and support the Tour of Honor. This little park has a Huey and a Gold Star Memorial. I was about to leave when I noticed the 40mm naval cannons. I wasn’t able to get as good of a picture as I wanted due to the two anchors that are positioned around the cannons.

Since these are usually mounted on battleships, I don’t know if this actually meets the requirements of the challenge. I’ll leave the post up anyway, I learned a lot about this.

SCORERS: DO NOT LOOK BEYOND THIS POINT

What I learned, Dual cannons can fire about 120-160 rounds per minute PER BARREL! We are talk 4 to 5 rounds total per second! Also, an effective range of 4,000 yards (2 1/4 miles!). Truly an FAFO weapon!

Now I understand why God doesn’t want me to win the lottery. This and a tank. I’ll just keep riding the Harley, BMW, and Spyder.