jimsrides

JimBMW

jimsrides

Hi I'm Jim,
This blog site has been created to allow friends and supporters to follow my Motorcycle trips around the world. This years trip is called "Mostly South of the Mason-Dixon Ride". I'll start in Wisconsin and head East to Canton Ohio then down through Washington DC/ Balimore and along the east coast of the US. I'll cut accross southern Georgia, Alabama, Mississippii, heading toward New Orleans, LA. Then head back north via St. Louis MO. I'll hit parts of 17 states and cover about 3,200 miles.

I hope you enjoy the blogs, pictures, and my attempts to find the perfect pint of Guinness !!

**** Please consider going to www.cureduchenne.org/Jimsride and making a donation to help wipe out Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy *****


Lovin the open road!

Jim

**** Proud supporter of Cure Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy ( www.cureduchenne.org ) ******



Europe » Greece » Pelopennese » Epidaurus July 26th 2019

Hi Folks, No I'm not on my bike! Karen and I are taking a cruise on the Windstar lines through the Greek Isles. I've had a few people ask if I would consider blogging on this trip even though, it isn't one of my bike trips. Some of the readers were interested in both the cruise aspect of the trip as well as, how well we liked the Greek Isles and Dubrovnik, Croatia. These blogs will focus on information and education regarding our cruise and what to expect or look out for, rather than the spontaneity of my bike blogs. Info piece #1 BOOK EARLY. Karen and I have only been on one cruise before (River cruise on the Danube between Germany and Hungary), which for the cruise ship enthusiasts out there- doesn't even qualify as ... read more
The picture of the trip - lunch shot of a Blue Dommed Church in Oia on the island of Santorini
The Parthenon in Athens
The iron Throne from G.O.T. on the island across the bay from our hotel

North America » United States » Illinois » Galena June 30th 2019

Ride home .... via Galena IL. I decided to extend my stay in St. Louis by a day; this extension would allow me to visit one of my favorite Irish Pubs in the U.S. - McGurk's Irish Pub in the Soulard district of St. Louis. A little known fact: St. Louis actually has the 2nd largest Mardi gras celebration in the US after New Orleans. This celebration takes place in the Soulard district. I found McGurk's on my Cajun-Parrot ride in 2013. One of the few places in the US where the Guinness is consistently good (at least good - by U.S. standards). McGurk's has live Irish music 6 nights a week and a great outdoor patio area in the summer time. The same bartender that took care of me in 2013 was there to serve ... read more
3 McGurks St Louis one of my favorite Irish pubs in the states
12 Savannah IL home of Joanne Gage (Karen's Aunt)
7 View of Lake Galena from the Eagles Ridge resort in Galena

North America » United States » Missouri » Saint Louis June 18th 2019

I’m BACK.........On the road again!!!! I fell behind on my last night in NOLA because I had forgotten how early I had scheduled my flight to Spokane on the 13th. Good friends of ours “the Wheelers” invited us to their son’s wedding in Couer D’ Alene Idaho. The wedding fell right in the middle of my ride so I scheduled it into the ride. My flight took off at 6:00 AM and I changed planes in Dallas in route to Spokane. My wife, Son, Daughter, my Daughter-in-Law and my daughters boyfriend all flew from Milwaukee and met me in Spokane. While it sounds like a simple thing - making the arrangements during a bike ride to leave your bike and fly elsewhere takes some coordination. I had to make sure my bike was secure until I ... read more
The Ruetz and Gallo contingent at the Wheeler Wedding in CDA L to R Jen, Collen, Jason, Jim, Karen, Skip, AJ, Greg
Jim and Karen on the Brunch cruise in CDA Idaho
Jim and Skip Gallo in Couer D' Alene

North America » United States » Louisiana » New Orleans June 11th 2019

The final leg of my westward expansion from Pensacola to New Orleans was dry but very HOT. The temp when I started out at 11:00 was 91 degrees and ended up being the low for the day- the high was 96. Thanks to the non-free states of Alabama- Mississippi- and Louisiana, I had to wear helmet #1 (mandatory helmet laws). Those of you that have been following my blogs for the last 10 years have heard my reviews of New Orleans before. Besides stopping in the Big Easy on the Cajun-Parrot Run in 2013 and the Last Corner Ride in 2014, New Orleans is my favorite and one of my most frequented cities in U.S.. If you haven't made it to NO you need to put it on your list. However, I've found that most people ... read more
Olivia from Sydney Australia
Alex the Erin Rose Bartender
Bourbon Street early in the day

North America » United States » Florida » Pensacola June 10th 2019

I took a night off from blogging last night so tonight brings me about 625 miles from the last update. The run from Charleston to Jacksonville started out like most days last week. Threats of rain but nothing until that is...I hit the intersection of Hwy 17 and I-95, then I got dumped on. I was just about to pull off and make a change in helmets and perhaps put some rain gear on when it subsided. I decided to stick it out.... big mistake right at the South Carolina -Georgia border I hit a torrential down pour. I had to stop in the middle of the down pour and change helmets before I crossed the Georgia border. Side bar: I carry three helmets with me on my trips: #1-Top helmet which keeps the sun off ... read more
McQuires view 2
View from my room at in Jacksonville
McQuires Irish Pub Pensacola


You're probably wondering about the title of this Blog page. The last time I was in Charleston- Karen and I took a Historic Charleston guided tour carriage ride. The young southern girl serving as our tour guide- pointed out a building which she said: "was a jail where they housed prisoners during the WAR of Northern Aggression". I of course raised my hand and said "excuse me Miss - do you mean the Civil war?" To which she promptly replied "Sir - down here we call it the WAR of Northern Aggression". The civil war began here in Charleston with the attack on Fort Sumter in 1861, so I decided to include the story in my title. The Charleston area was also a center point in the some of the key battles in Revolutionary war, indeed ... read more
The Irish Pub in Charleston _ Tommy Condon's Irish Pub
View from my room at the Marriott Courtyard Waterfront
Novel idea Charleston Chews in your room!


Arrived in Myrtle Beach SC about 4:00 PM after about 221 miles. I was blessed many times on the way down from NC, but the holy water ? didn’t last long and never enough that I needed any of my rain gear. The temp hit a high of 91 but for most of the ride the temp was in the low 80’s. The rain actually felt refreshing at times. I booked the Marriott Resort at Grand dunes. I originally booked one night but wisely decided to extend my stay for two nights before heading out In search of the perfect pint. I ended up at “The Ole Irish Pub” down in the heart of Myrtle Beach. Proprietor Jimmy Byrne (sp?) of Dublin. While I try the Guinness at the pubs I visit- the Guinness quest isn’t ... read more
Good sign when you can put your initials in the foam
Josh and Paul the Bartenters du Jour
Jim Brynes and Jim Ruetz


I was excited to get started today knowing I'd be seeing the home of the first controlled flight at Kitty Hawk ( Kill Devil Hills area). I had nice starting weather once again, albeit a little warmer than yesterday but sunny and very little wind. My route took me down Southwest of Virginia Beach then eventually back to the Southeast toward the outer banks (OBX). The OBX are really just a set of sand dune islands. From the picture you can see just how much of the island is dune and nearly all the soil is silica based dirt. It is hard to imagine how the homes on the island are able to weather the hurricanes that pass by here every few years. I noticed most the homes are unpainted probably because a good stiff wind ... read more
This is the track that the wright flyer ran on to get up speed for take off- it also had to be hauled up the hill
In December of 1903 this hill was mostly sand and the wright flyer had to be hauled up for each flight
Jim with the Wright Flyer replica at Kill Devil Hills, NC

North America » United States » Delaware » Lewes June 3rd 2019

One of Ten ! When it comes to riding motorcycles - any day on a bike is better than a day at work. However, occasionally you get a red letter day where everything lines up and its one of the 10 best rides you get that year. Today was one of those days. I started in Rockville MD about 10:15 and plugged Queenstown MD into my Garmin. Most of the traffic North of DC was heading in the opposite direction so it was smooth sailing to the very high and picturesque bridge over to Queenstown. The weather was fantastic between 72 and 79 degrees all day and once I crossed the bridge no more interstate roads. I plugged small towns like Harrington and Lewes Delaware into my Garmin, so I'd be on smaller two lane state ... read more
Ocean City, MD Eats
The making of my AWESOME Cheese Steak sandwich
Delware farm land -looks like could be Iowa or Ilinois

North America » United States » Maryland » Rockville June 2nd 2019

It was a Dark and Stormy Night..... Thunderstorms were passing through all night in Canton- lots of flood warnings were flashing on the TV. I was thankful the rains waited until the evening to show up but wasn't sure what this was going to mean for my trip toward Washington DC in the morning. I decided to see what things looked like in the morning and see what the weather app had to show before I set a departure time. In the morning it looked like it would be dry until about 11:00 AM in Canton and rain clearing the DC area about 3:00. I hit the road at 8:30 with temperatures around 65. I was prepared to stop and put on my rain gear but not only didn't it rain- the temp started to slowly ... read more
Guinness 8.5 rating at Finnegan's Wake.
Downtown Rocksville MD




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