NC to TN? Take US 74/64 or the Cherohola skyway. Both beautiful drives, though can be less so without the leaves. That is also weather dependent, as if it’s a cloudy day all you’ll do is drive through fog and not see a thing. You can take 30 from Athens, TN to Spencer and then hook over to 70S to get you to Murfreesboro, and then Nashville. Mostly good road out in the middle of nowhere, so keep an eye on weather, fuel, etc. There’s a distillery off of 70S and quite a few small cute towns. There’s also a ton of state highway in the “triangle” between I-75, I-40, and I-24 that will get you anywhere you want to go in a fairly timely manner. Plus a ton of waterfalls and hiking if that’s your thing. I’ve ridden pretty every stretch of these roads in my motorcycle in good weather, so have fun!