Relocating From MI to GA. Advice?

[wesley]

Lived in SE Michigan all my life and now I'm headed to Marietta, GA.  I have no idea about the surroundings: where to ride, where to eat, etc.     I've become a noob!   Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

[2wTraveler]

Geez, everybody seems to be moving to Ga these days. Going to have to organize a R5 Noob ride to show you guys the ropes  

[MichiganMan]

Can't help you on the riding, but congratulations on getting out of "Mississippi North" - I think I might be the one guy left to shut off the lights....

[Roadscum]

Great riding in NE Ga... Start in Dalonega, Ga. and go N. on Rt 60, also try Rt 180 E off 60(Wolf Pen Gap Rd)
there's Rt 129, The Russell Senic Hwy. .... From Dahlonega it's only about 2-3 hrs to Deals Gap, NC.
take a long weekend and ride the Blue Ridge Parkway.

You'll like the riding..... honest!  

Take a look:

http://www.twowheelsonly.com/
http://www.tailofthedragon.com/
http://www.nps.gov/blri/index.htm

Regards, Paul

[Justin]

expect traffic to drive you to the point where you may want to kill people.

I've spent some time in Marietta as I used to have family that lived there, still have some family in Atlanta though. If it wasn't for the terrible traffic around the area It's not that bad of a place. Please tell me you won't be commuting into town!

Seriously though, last time I visited was in January, and the traffic is way better than it used to be, with the recession and job cuts.

[kevrider]

expect traffic to drive you to the point where you may want to kill people.

ain't that the truth, i just bailed form atl metro.  gotta go back to visit relatives and friends, but i'm happy to not live there again.  the riding is great in yonder hills, though.  get some maps (GA, TN & NC), you'll figure it out, it's not hard.

[FJRmgm]

the spring and fall will be great for riding but the heat and humidity in July, Aug. and Sept will be oppressive.


Southern women are the best.

[LoVel]

Southern women are the best.

I totally agree.  Women from the south west corner of Vermont are the best.  

You just moved to a beautiful part of the country if you can get away from that hulking metropolis.  Yuk!

If you go ATGATT I would recommend a riding suit in a light color like gray, that is very well vented, for the summer.  A black suit will kill you if you get stuck in traffic.  I wear my gray two piece Olympia when it gets hot.

[crashtech]

You will love it...the best riding in the area......northGA, east TN, west NC, west VI, WV, east KY.....Get some maps and enjoy.

[twotrackhero]

Go as quickly as possible

Good luck in GA

[county]

Ya'll gonna need to familiarize yourself with grits first.

[falconati]

Ya'll come back to the Midwest and visit yo family now, ya hear?

[Liquidsilver]

Compared to where you're coming from... motorcycle heaven!  

[county]

Compared to where you're coming from... motorcycle heaven!  

Actually just "heaven."

[LoVel]

Grits is good.

[scott19]

You'll be happy to know that we only get two months of real winter here, and you may even laugh that I call it "real" winter. If we get an inch of snow, the whole town shuts down.

The flip side is that it gets VERY hot and humid in the summer, enough to make you stop riding for awhile. If you don't have a mesh jacket, you'll be wanting one by August.

Learn where the Big Chicken is. All directions given in Marietta revolve around the Big Chicken. Do a search for "Big Chicken Marietta" and you'll see it.

And now, I'll reprint an email once sent to me:

I want y'all to understand one thing right up front. I'm a Georgian. Always have been and, the Good Lord willing, always will be. I was raised in a small Georgia Town and educated in a large Southern university. I have traveled in all fifty states and several foreign countries-including New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

I realize that we have been infiltrated as of late with a number of Northern transplants, and they are all welcome, as long as they choose to live amongst us in peace without spending all their spare time telling us how much better things were back in Cleveland and how proficient they are at driving on snow and ice.

Nonetheless, I feel it is my civic duty to provide a primer of sorts for all the good people who have recently migrated to the Peach State. It might not hurt to remind some of the natives of a few points of pride as well.

There are some things that all Georgians should know:

Coca Cola is ours, and unless you've had one in a green six-and-a-half ounce bottle, with a slight crust of ice on top, you don't know what the real thing is. And you might want to try pouring about half a pack of salted peanuts into one sometime.

If it weren't for a Georgian-Crawford Long of Jefferson---open-heart surgery would hurt like hell.

True Georgians say "ma'am and sir" and call their mothers "mama" and their fathers 'daddy".

They know that y'all is perfectly good English and never means just one person.

"Fixin to" is perfectly acceptable, too.

And if y'all don't like the way we talk, Delta (which is also ours) is ready when you are.

Long before the Olympics brought the world's greatest athletes to Atlanta, we gave the world Ty Cobb, Jackie Robinson, Walt Frazier, Luke Appling, Johnny Mize, Fran Tarkenton, Bobby Jones, Wyomia Tyus, and Herschel Walker.

If you don't know who these people are, you ought to find out before you go to bed tonight.

Long after the Atlanta Olympics have faded from memory, the greatest tournament in golf will still be played in Augusta every April, with or without Jessie Jackson's and Martha Burke's approval, and on autumn Saturdays, 90,000 or so Red-and-Black faithful will gather in Athens for a prayer meeting between the hedges.

The Stone Mountain carving is lots bigger than the one on Mt. Rushmore, and the people etched into the side of Stone Mountain deserve the honor.  

Atlanta was called "the city too busy to hate," back in the sixties, because it really was, and we should be proud of that fact.

In 1864 Sherman burned Atlanta and much of Georgia in his March to the sea. We're still not over it.

We don't grow the most peaches, but we still deserve to be called the "Peach State", because ours are the sweetest. That includes the Georgia peaches that don't grow on trees.

We do produce the most peanuts, pecans, and poultry.

Elvis wasn't ours, but Otis Redding, James Brown, the Allman Brothers, Johnny Mercer, Joe South , Ray Charles, Bill Anderson, Brenda Lee, Trisha Yearwood and Alan Jackson are.  

So are Sidney Lanier, Joel Chandler Harris, Margaret Mitchell and Alice Walker.

And I still miss Lewis Grizzard every day.

Julia Roberts may be Georgia's prettiest movie star, but Holly Hunter is the most talented.  

Dakota Fanning may one day surpass them both.

FDR adopted us. His "Little White House" in Warm Springs is exactly as it was the day he died there,  near the end of World War II. Every Georgian needs to visit Warm Springs.

Gone With the Wind belongs to us. We own it. Not only is it by one of our own and is about us, but it's also one of the great novels of all time and an absolute film classic...and we shouldn't apologize for liking it.

The Brown Thrasher, the Cherokee Rose, and the Live Oak are our symbols.

Proud, decent, honest people are our heritage.

None are as plentiful as they once were, but none are on the endangered list, either.

The best barbecue in the world is served at Vandy's in Statesboro, but Open Air in Jackson ain't far behind.

The best seafood is at Williams in Savannah and the best catfish is at Henderson's in Covington.

The best sausage is at Stripling's in Crisp County.

The best fried chicken in the world is served at my mama's house.

Grits is groceries and sugar doesn't belong in cornbread.

God intended for tea to be served iced and sweet.

Hope this doesn't scare you off!



   

[Liquidsilver]

That email sounds like it was ripped off from a Texas thing.  
 
I do love GA though.  (and parts of TX)  

[CLAY]

Advice?  Turns the lights off in Detroit- we can't afford to pay the electric bill.

[county]

You'll be happy to know that we only get two months of real winter here, and you may even laugh that I call it "real" winter. If we get an inch of snow, the whole town shuts down.

The flip side is that it gets VERY hot and humid in the summer, enough to make you stop riding for awhile.

    

Or, like many of us Southerners...ride in a t-shirt, shorts and flip flops...It is really nice on a hot Southern nite.  And during the day you may want to remove your shirt to work on a tan.

A little tip....hold your legs out from the bike to keep the tan even.

[volleykinginnc]

Advice?  Move to Charlotte.