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The 2012 Maryland/Delaware State HOG Rally committee held it’s first meeting on site at the Wisp Resort in Deep Creek Lake during the last weekend of August. This was the weekend that Hurricane Irene terrorized the east coast and the meeting was just west of the storm’s reach. Unfortunately this kept us from riding our motorcycles to the meeting. We had a great time anyway.

Diana is serving as the Volunteer Corodinator and I am the Site Coordinator for the 2012 rally which will be in June. I arrived Friday morning to meet with the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce. After that Diana and I had lunch at the Boardwalk Cafe and then went on a mission to take pictures of the wild roads in Savage River State Forest.

We checked into our room at Wisp and walked around the facilities. Then we met up with some of the other committee members for dinner and drinks at the Honi Honi Bar on Deep Creek Lake. This is a biker friendly bar on the lake with a great view. It is part of the Uno Chicago Grill restaurant which is a popular restaurant in Deep Creek and serves way more than just Chicago style pizza.

Saturday morning the committee met for breakfast at Perkins. Then we headed over to The Fort to check out the Black Bear Tavern and the go carts and other fun activites at Smiley’s Fun Zone. Then we drove to the quaint town of Oakland to walk around town. From Oakland we went back to McHenry and grabbed lunch at the Mountain State Brewing Company known for their wood fired flatbread pizza’s. We returned to the resort to meet with our contact at Wisp. We started our meeting with a tour of the resort and then sat down to discuss official business and start planning the event. That evening we got dinner at Archie’s Barbeque. We got a little rain Saturday evening due to the hurricane battering the majority of the state.

The following morning Diana and I grabbed breakfast at DC’s Bar & Restaurant at the resort. After breakfast the committee members checked out of the resort and regrouped for a convoy to the top of the mountain. At the top of the mounatin is a man made water park that simulates the white water rapids that this region is known for. This waterpark is Adventure Sports Center International aka ASCI and I have never seen anything like it.

It was drizzling and not much going on at ASCI so after checking it out the committee members decided to take one last excursion before calling it a day. We visited the Penn Alps Restaurant & Craft Shop for lunch in Grantsville. Then we explored adjacent Spruce Forest Artisan Village which had little activity going on because it was Sunday. Usually this liitle village has several shops open where craftsman and artists create handmade gifts. The historic Casselman River Bridge is also located here. After exploring the bridge and the artisan village it was time for the committee to call it a day. We said our goodbyes and headed home.

Diana and I set out to take as many backroads home as we could and we found some very scenic roads in western Maryland. We came up a steep hill in Little Orleans, Maryland and came upon this really cool scenic overlook at Town Hill that had a Bed & Breakfast  right at the top of this amazing hill. Town Hill B&B must have been bustling back in the day when people first started traveling for leisure.

It was getting late as we traversed through Baltimore County. We found ourselves turning around a few times due to downed trees and large branches that closed small roads. It was getting dark and we were driving down through some forested roads in a heavily wooded area. Some huge trees had fallen down and dragged power lines with them. It was getting a little unnerving as this became more frequent and due to the darkness it was hard to see the downed trees until they were smack dab in front of us. When we came to one where someone cut out a slice of tree with a chainsaw just barely wide enough to clear our car we decided it was time to get on the highway. We got home safely pretty late in the evening. Once again we had ourselves a fun little adventure.

Tags: 2012 MD/DE HOG® Rally, Deep Creek Lake & Garrett County MD // 2 Comments »

The Boardwalk Cafe & Lounge Welcomes Bikers! The Boardwalk Cafe & Lounge just might have the best view of Deep Creek Lake from it’s deck where you can quench your thirst with cold drinks and feast on freshly grilled burgers and sandwiches. Their unique round bar is definitely different but if it’s nice enough out to ride, then you’ll want to eat on the deck and enjoy the view of the lake. Diana and I enjoyed our lunch there and I think you’ll dig it. Definitely a good place to ride to for lunch. Put this on your list of places to visit during the 2012 Maryland/Delaware State HOG Rally in June.

Click here to check out the menu.

Tags: 2012 MD/DE HOG® Rally, Deep Creek Lake & Garrett County MD // Add Comment »

While Hurricane Irene set it’s sights on the east coast Diana and I headed west just outside the reach of the storm. We had planned to travel by motorcycle to Deep Creek Lake for the first 2012 Maryland/Delaware State H.O.G. Rally meeting. Unfortunately we would be returning back into the storm… so we took the rag top Mustang GT.

One of our missions on Friday August 26th was to take pictures of curvy roads that illustrate how cool the riding is in Garrett County Maryland. Most of you reading this may think this sounds whacky but others of you out there know exactly what I’m talking about. Once you start moto blogging and posting pictures from your rides you start finding some real cool ones that just happened out of luck. Then you start looking for those shots on purpose. Diana was just getting the knack of taking cool pictures while riding passenger when she stopped riding pillion. The timing has to be just right while your riding to capture a picture that shows both the entry and the exit of an S-turn. Since we had the Mustang I figured it would be really cool to put the top down and ride through Savage River State Forest and take pictures of the knarly turns. Diana was perched on the center console armed with her Canon Rebel XSI DSLR as I took the stang through the hair pin turns along Savage River Road. Diana took pictures over the top of the windshield and sometimes out the back. After about 200 boring pictures of road after road we think we got the money shot! Although we were not on bikes we were still moving and capturing the image of an S-turn was still challenging. I think this is more of an M-turn. Ladies and gentleman I present to you… IMG_2843!

The weather was great that weekend in Deep Creek Lake. We were able to drive the Mustang topless most of the time. Driving home Sunday night we encountered several downed trees in Baltimore County that forced us to abandon the backroads. It wasn’t rainy but I’m glad we had the security of four wheels when we got into the area where the roads were covered with leaves, branches, trees and downed power lines. At one point we drove through a tree that came down across the road. Someone cut a slice out of the tree with a chainsaw just wide enough for one car to fit through. It was a little unnerving to have a downed tree sneak up on us on a dark heavily forested backroad. Once we got on the highway things were smooth sailing the rest of the way home.

Check out IMG_2843 above from Savage River State Forest and tell me you don’t want to check out Savage River Road! Put it on your list of things to do… ride Savage River Road in Garrett County Maryland! Attend the 2012 Maryland/Delaware State H.O.G. Rally on June 14-17th.

Tags: 2012 MD/DE HOG® Rally, Cool Video & Pics, Deep Creek Lake & Garrett County MD // 3 Comments »

Just past St. Michael’s on Maryland’s eastern shore is a gem of a destination known as Tilghman Island. Diana and I were introduced to Tilghman Island in 2008 when friends took us on a ride to Harrison’s Chesapeake House for crabs. Harrison’s Chesapeake House is awesome and we have always wanted to return and stay overnight. The chance to return arrived… Diana organized an overnight trip for our H.O.G. chapter this past Labor Day and we were happy to discover that Harrison’s has a special celebration called Buddyfest every Labor Day weekend. One week previous to our trip Hurricane Irene swept up the east coast damaging coastal properties from North Carolina up to New England. Although half the roof was taken off the deck bar and restaurant at Harrison’s, Buddyfest was still on! We were told that Buddyfest usually attracts a much bigger crowd but many people (not us) canceled their Buddyfest visit to the shore.

Diana led our trip with sixteen First State members on eleven Harley-Davidson motorcycles followed by one mini SUV. We arrived at Harrison’s mid afternoon on a warm sunny day. We parked our motorcycle in the unpaved lot in front of Harrison’s among pick ups, cars and other motorcycles. We checked into the friendly establishment who had set us up with a block of hotel rooms near the swimming pool with a spectacular view of the Chesapeake Bay.

Diana immediately set up shop at the deck bar and restaurant and ordered crabs with pitchers of Yuengling beer. We commadeered two picnic tables and placed them end to end. We ate and drank while another group of bikers wearing cuts featuring a one piece RC patch took over the dance floor and bar. There was a live band and everyone was having a good time including a native Indian man who looked as out of place among the bikers, tourists and locals as a black sheep. Some of our friends decided to enjoy the buffet inside at the more formal restaurant.

After gorging ourselves with a seafood feast from the Chesapeake waters we put on our bathing suits and regrouped at the swimming pool. Summer was basically over and it was just warm enough to enjoy a sunset swim while sharing pitchers of Yuengling and chatting about riding. From the pool in front of our cottage like rooms we had a great view of the bay and the festivities at Harrison’s. It was a perfect evening but still early.

We put on dry clothes and regrouped again at the inside bar where I made the mistake of getting involved with several shots of Jack. The bartender at Harrison’s was a nice women but what she considered a shot was more like a small drink in most bars. Definitely the biggest shots I have ever seen. We sang karaoke, danced and laughed for several hours before calling it a night. I do wish I called it a night before the shots.

If you like fancy motels on crowded touristy beaches then Tilghman Island is not for you. But if you like a low key laid back festive atmosphere where you can put on a bathing suit & sandals and hang out in a comfortable picnic-like setting then I highly recommend you stay the night at Harrison’s Chesapeake House. Make sure to say “Hi” to Captain Buddy Harrison and make plans to be at the next Buddyfest!

Click here to see all the pictures.

Tags: HOG®, Trips & Places To Go // 3 Comments »

See page 36 for Diana’s article: An Insane Women’s Thoughts! Click here!

Tags: East Coast Biker Online // 2 Comments »

Tags: Cool Video & Pics // 2 Comments »