1 Athens a devoted following. The hall of depravity – in a 26 Tailgate Tour
games take place on fall good way. The hipster
Beery, artsy, laid-back Saturdays at Sanford vortex of Normal Bar
and roughly 70 miles east Stadium (%706-542-9036; (www.facebook.com/pages/
of Atlanta, Athens is a www.georgiadogs.com; 100 Normal-Bar; 1365 Prince Ave;
prototypical American h4pm-2am Mon-Thu, from
college town. The Sanford Dr) in the middle of 3pm Fri & Sat) is a much
the lovely, leafy campus more sophisticated place
University of Georgia that rambles over rolling to watch the game. Any
(www.uga.edu; 210 S Jackson hills east of a pleasant game.
St) drives the culture of downtown. If you can’t get
Athens and ensures an a ticket, make your way to 5 4 p306
ever-replenishing supply Cutter’s (www.facebook.com/
of young bar-hoppers, cutterspub; 120 E Clayton St; The Drive » There’s nothing
concert-goers and sports
fans. And the University h2:30pm-2am Mon-Fri, from especially pretty about the
of Georgia – part of the 173-mile high-speed run from
fabled Southeastern noon Sat), a popular sports Athens into Alabama on I-20,
Conference (SEC), bar with gargantuan flat but then again, this next stop is
college football’s most screens. Before the game all about speed.
competitive league – has it’s buzzing, and if victory
is grasped, the interior TRIP HIGHLIGHT
becomes a sloshed dance
2 Talladega
e# 0 200 km Superspeedway
0 100 miles
Nestled in the East
WEST VIRGINIA Alabama hills,
VIRGINIA the Talladega
#] Lynchburg Superspeedway
#] Roanoke (%877-462-3342;
ww.talladegasuperspeedway
.com; 3366 Speedway Blvd;
VÓU85
Bristol Martinsville ]#Danville LINK
YOUR
#] #] TRIP
Ù[29 130 miles to p Bourbon Trail
FGBurlington As long as you’re in
]# Johnson VÓU77 mK#VÓU74 8 Kentucky, why not stay and
City sip awhile? Visit America’s
Winston-salem ]# #] ]#7 Durham ‚ best distilleries and drive
away with some good hooch
#VÓU40 for your next pre- or post-
8\# game party.
Chapel ]# Raleigh
8 North Carolina’s
ÓVU40 Hill ÓVU95 VÓU40 Outer Banks
]Û321 NORTH
CAROLINA From Tobacco Rd in the
triangle, head to the wild
VÓU26 #] Charlotte ]# Fayetteville windswept beaches of North
Carolina’s Outer Banks.
Spartanburg #] Rock Hill
#]
]#
Greenville
Columbia ]# Florence
^# ]# Sumter ]# Myrtle
Beach
VÓU20
]# SOUTH
CAROLINA
Augusta
#] Charleston 299
26 Tailgate Tour tickets $45-200) rises like visit, however, is when TRIP HIGHLIGHT
Ricky Bobby’s mock one the cars are running in
dream. It’s the fastest May and October. True 3 Tuscaloosa
in the NASCAR circuit tailgaters will opt for
thanks to a 2.6-mile oval the motorhome camping ‘Roll Tide!’ is the call
and high bank turns area called the Infield. you’ll hear, well, pretty
(30 degrees and over It’s an RV camp in the much everywhere in
five stories high). The middle of the track with Tuscaloosa, but especially
grandstand is a mile views of the race. In fact, on Saturday afternoons
long and seats 130,000. that’s where the drivers in the fall when students
You can visit the track live during race week. and alumni gather
on a guided 30-minute Of course, they fly in on in the University of
bus tour that leaves from private planes and live in Alabama (www.ua.edu)
the International Motor rock-star tour buses. The quad, four hours before
most indulgent deal for the game even starts, for
Sports Hall of Fame the rest of us may be the a pre-game party like
(www.motorsportshalloffame seats overlooking pit row. none other. White tents,
.com; 3366 Speedway Blvd, The ticket price ($190) wired with satellite TV,
Talladega; museum adult/ includes a buffet and fill the expansive lawn.
child $12/5, track tour adult/ unlimited beer and wine. Barbecue is smoked
child $8/5, combo tickets Think of it as a high-end and devoured, cornhole
adult/child $16/8; h9am- tailgate picnic. (drunken beanbag toss)
4pm). The best time to is played, ‘Roll Tide’ is
The Drive » One hundred shouted and shrieked. At
game time all migrate to
and three miles away, via I-20
and I-459, is yet another leafy Bryant-Denny Stadium
college campus, and Alabama’s (%205-348-3600; www
top sports mecca. .rolltide.com; 920 Paul W Bryant
Dr), a 102,000-capacity
DETOUR: football stadium that
OXFORD looks out onto the rolling
hills and is always
Start: 3 Tuscaloosa packed with rabid fans.
And with good reason:
It’s a pretty drive down a series of two- and four-lane the Alabama Crimson
highways through the countryside from Tuscaloosa Tide has won 19 national
to Oxford, Mississippi, and while Ole Miss football championships, including
has rarely struck fear into the heart of its opponents the last two, and three of
like the Crimson Tide, even with two-time Superbowl the last four. Get a full
MVP Eli Manning lined up behind center, it can be dose of Crimson Tide
fun to party with loveable losers. One of the school’s football history at the
great traditions happens on game-day mornings Paul W Bryant Museum
when The Grove – a woodland in the heart of (p159). Downtown
the University of Mississippi (p220) campus – is Tuscaloosa unfurls along
packed with students and fans who merge with the University Ave, with a
marching band and stomp to the stadium en masse student hood a half-
to cheer for the Rebels! Tiny by SEC standards, mile closer to campus.
the Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium seats about That’s where you’ll find
62,000. Houndstooth (%205-752-
8444; www.facebook.com/
pages/Houndstooth-Sports
300
THE ALSO-RANS 26 Tailgate Tour
Although the destinations in this trip may be the crown jewels of Southern sport,
we’d be remiss without pointing out a few additional options for getting your
tailgate (and face paint) on.
University of Florida (www.gatorzone.com) Set in Jacksonville, this perennial
football and basketball powerhouse is no stranger to the spotlight. Recent stars
Al Horford and Joaquim Noah (basketball) and Tim Tebow (football) prove their
pedigree.
Louisiana State University (www.lsusports.net) Set in Baton Rouge, and arguably
third in line behind University of Alabama and University of Florida in terms of
football supremecy in the SEC, it’s also the alma mater of Shaquille O’Neal.
University of South Carolina (www.gamecocksonline.com) Steve Spurrier, the
former University of Florida coach, keeps the Columbia-based Gamecocks in
contention on the gridiron.
Durham Bulls (www.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t234) The AAA affiliate of the
Tampa Bay Rays, a fictional take on this Durham, North Carolina–based team
and stadium, was featured in the iconic Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon and Tim
Robbins baseball flick Bull Durham.
Spring Training The Sunshine State has long hosted Major League Baseball
teams during spring training in February and March, when there are games nearly
every day. The New York Yankees (www.steinbrennerfield.com) and Philadelphia
Phillies (http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/spring_training/ballpark.jsp?c_
id=phi) are two of the big league clubs with training complexes in the Tampa–St
Petersburg area.
-Bar/118838634902120; 1300 most progressive and is the charming and
University Blvd; h4pm-2am, to intellectual towns, but antiquated Louisville
3am Fri), a quintessential they do love their sport. Slugger Field (www
sports bar, generally How could they not, .batsbaseball.com; 401
mobbed before and after with a favorite son like
the game. Muhammad Ali? You E Main St; tickets $11-
can learn all about the
5 4 p306 iconic Louisville-born 22). The outpouring
The Drive » From Tuscaloosa heavyweight at the of love directed at
wonderful Muhammad the University of
find the I-65 north and hammer Ali Center (p283). Louisville Cardinals
the gas for 421 miles all the way Baseball fans should men’s basketball team,
to Louisville. wander down to that however, is pure and
10-story-tall baseball all encompassing. The
TRIP HIGHLIGHT bat and the Louisville defending national
Slugger Museum (www champion at research
4 Louisville |.sluggermuseum.org; 800 time, it plays its home
games in a pro-grade
Boxing, basketball, W Main St; adult/seniors/ downtown arena, the
baseball and horse KFC Yum! Center (%502-
racing, Louisville, child $11/10/6; h9am-5pm 690-9000; www.gocards
Kentucky, may be
one of the South’s Mon-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun; .com; 1 Arena Plaza). But
c). Also downtown when it comes to the
301
FLICKRVISION / GETTY IMAGES © LOCAL VOICE
JORDAN WHITLEY,
NATIONAL SPORTS
BROADCASTER
To be born in the South is to be born
of tradition. It runs thick, relentless
and stubborn in our veins. Mine is
a dark crimson. No, not blood – my
football team! At the University of
Alabama, every Saturday we don our
‘Sundie Best’ and stand houndstooth
hat to seersucker slacks while
we exalt, grieve and consume the
almighty game. Football, basketball
or, God forbid, NASCAR...you want
to know the South? Get to the damn
game.
Top: The University of Alabama’s football
team takes to the field
Left: Louisville Slugger Museum
Right: Basketball game between Duke and
North Carolina
26 Tailgate Tourtailgate party, no venue,
event and or sport
GETTY IMAGES © can match that of the
Kentucky Derby (p283)
ZUMA PRESS, INC. / ALAMY © at Churchill Downs
(p283). A festival (www
.kdf.org) kicks the party
off two weeks ahead of
time, and on race day
everyone with $50 is
welcome in the gates
where the mint juleps
are a-flowing.
5 4 p306
The Drive » It’s less than a
90-minute drive from here on
I-64 to yet another basketball
hot bed in the state of Kentucky.
5 Lexington
Lexington may be the
heart of throughbred
country, but the people
of Kentucky consider
basketball their first
and deepest love, and
in Lexington it’s all
about the University
of Kentucky (www.uky
.edu). The Wildcats
have the all-time best
record in the history of
men’s college basketball
and are second only to
UCLA in national titles.
They are a juggernaut,
famous for their title
teams – the most recent
of which was crowned
champion in 2012. And
their Goliath-like fall
in 1966 (when their
Pat Riley–led all-white
starting five lost the title
game to Texas Western’s
all-black squad) is the
stuff of legend. UK plays
its home games in the
303
26 Tailgate Tour center of town at Rupp 6 Knoxville .com; 700 Hall of Fame Dr;
Arena (www.rupparena adult/child $8/6; h10am-
.com; 430 W Vine St), and Knoxville is home to the 5pm Mon-Sat summer, 11am-
when it runs, hotels sell University of Tennessee, 5pm Tue-Sat winter), easily
out, downtown bars and the alma mater of identified by the the
restaurants are full and Peyton Manning and Baden Ball – a 30ft-high
the party spills into the long-time residency of 10-ton basketball that
streets. If you do love the the greatest women’s sits atop the building.
horses, don’t miss nearby basketball coach ever. Exhibits date all the
Keeneland Association Pat Summitt has won way back to a time
(p281), perhaps the best more games than any when women played
track in America not coach in the history in full-length dresses.
named Churchill Downs. of NCAA basketball Naturally, Pat Summitt
The pre-Derby races are (that includes the boys). headlined the first class
especially high class. She coached for 40 inducted in 1999, along
seasons, and her Lady with Cheryl Miller –
5 4 p306 Volunteers won eight one of the greatest to
national titles, before ever play the woman’s
The Drive » From a men’s she retired in 2012 game. Peyton Manning
after being diagnosed first made his name at
basketball mecca it’s less than with Alzheimer’s. Neyland Stadium (%865-
three hours down I-75 south to The best place to 974-0953; www.utsports.com;
the epicenter of the women’s get an appreciation 1600 Stadium Dr), on the
game. for Summitt and her otherwise forgettable
basketball teams is at University of Tennesee
the Women’s Basketball campus.
Hall of Fame (www.wbhof
5 4 p306
THE OTHER GREAT COACH
The Drive » It’s a 336-
Names like Dean Smith, Roy Williams and Mike
Krzyzewski are sacred in North Carolina, but there’s mile drive east on I-40 to the
another championship baskteball coach that you ultimate rivalry in American
may not have heard of. Jim Valvano coached at college basketball.
North Carolina State for 10 years. He burst onto the
national scene when the brash New Yorker won a TRIP HIGHLIGHT
title in just his third year as NC State’s coach. In the
aftermath of the miracle alley-oop that defeated 7 Durham
the heavily favored University of Houston team, led
by Hakeen Olajuwan, he was seen sprinting up and In North Carolina, 11
down the court, in disbelief, looking for someone to miles separate two
hug. He is also known for an inspirational speech he college basketball
gave on national TV just eight weeks before he died powerhouses. Duke
of cancer in 1993, at just 47 years of age. During University (www.duke.edu)
that speech he announced the founding of his in Durham is home to the
V Foundation for Cancer Research, a nonprofit that great Mike Krzyzewski’s
has raised and donated millions toward the search Blue Devils. Duke fans
for a cure. worship inside Cameron
Indoor Stadium (%box
office 919-681-2583; www
.goduke.com; 115 Whitford Dr),
which first opened for
business in 1940. As of
the 2011–12 season, the
304
LEGENDS OF TOBACCO RD 8 Chapel Hill 26 Tailgate Tour
These days the Raleigh-Durham area is referred Chapel Hill, known as
to as the Research Triangle, or simply the Triangle, Blue Heaven to basketball
thanks to the abundance of top-shelf universities fans, is actually the
and researchers, but to sports fans it will always (much) cuter and more
be Tobacco Rd. The moniker originally referred progressive town whose
to the state’s cash crop, but when it comes to culture revolves around
basketball riches North Carolina stands alone. the nearly 30,000
Legendary coaches? How about Dean Smith students at North
(UNC) and Mike Krzyzewski (Duke), two of the Carolina University. Less
winningest ever. The greatest player of all time, historical than Cameron
some guy named Michael Jordan, was born and Indoor, the Tar Heels
raised in North Carolina and played at UNC. Two of play at the Smith Center
the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament’s iconic (www.goheels.com; Old NC
moments involved these teams. Jordan sank a Highway 10), named for its
last-second game winner to win the 1982 title over legendary coach, Dean
Georgetown, and Grant Hill made a spectacular Smith, who retired with
three-quarter court pass to Christian Laettner 879 career wins and two
who sank a turn-around shot to pull out a miracle national titles, which at
victory that propelled Duke to the Final Four, and research time was exactly
its second straight title in 1992. 58 victories and two titles
fewer than Krzyzewski –
men’s home record was born, get accepted to arguably the second-best
751 wins, 150 losses, for Duke and camp out with coach ever, behind John
a winning percentage students, or follow Wooden. Of course, Tar
of more than 80%. If @duke_tickets on Heels fans would counter
there’s not a scheduled Twitter. You can also call that their current coach,
event, you can step inside the ticket office in early Roy Williams – certainly
the stadium during October to find out when no slouch – has won two
normal business hours tickets will go on sale. titles himself. So they’re
and occasionally sit in Your best bet is either even. Only, they don’t
on team practice. Off a nonconference game quite see it that way.
the court, check out the or a game played over Probably because the
old photographs and Christmas break. politest way to describe
the Duke Hall of Fame. college basketball fans
So how to score tickets? 4 p307 in North Carolina would
Your options are limited. The Drive » Drive 11 miles be...fanatical. With an
You can sell your first occasional foray into
south down US 501, otherwise rabid.
known as Tobacco Rd.
5 p307
305
CREDIT/LONELY PLANET IMAGES ©
26 Tailgate Tour
Eating & Sleeping
Athens 1 Sun) Also known as Nick’s In The Sticks, this is a
rickety backroad joint if ever there was one, and
5 Farm 255 American $$ it’s a Tuscaloosa classic. Nestled in the trees
about 5 miles out of town, with a flock of signed
(www.farm255.com; 255 W Washington St; dollar bills stapled to the ceiling, it does tender
filet mignon on the cheap (as well as ribeye) and
mains $12-21; h5:30-10pm Tue-Thu, to 10:30pm it fries all parts of the chicken (think: livers and
gizzards). Oh, and about that Nicodemus. Um,
Fri & Sat, 11am-2pm & 5:30-9:30pm Sun) This it’s a drink. Beware the Nicodemus.
stylish, light-filled bistro gets much of its meat
and vegetables from its own 5-acre, organic/
biodynamic Blue Moon Farms outside Athens. 4 Hotel Capstone Hotel $$
The operative word here is fresh. (%205-752-3200; www.hotelcapstone.com; 320
5 Ike & Jane Cafe $ Paul Bryant Rd; r from $145) A decent three-star
(www.ikeandjane.com; 1307 Prince Ave; mains room within walking distance of the quad and
$3.50-7; h6:30am-5pm Mon-Fri) If your idea stadium. Digs are spacious with flat screens,
of a balanced breakfast is doughnuts and wide desks and cottage cheese ceiling regret.
coffee, you are a police officer, an 85-year-old But it’s on campus and has room service and a
man or you should find this sunny little shingle lobby bar. Reserve ahead on game day.
in Normal Town, where the doughnuts involve
creative ingredients like red velvet, caramel Louisville 4
glaze, peanut butter, banana and bacon. The 5 Garage Bar
coffee is gourmet, and it does quiche, bagels, See Trip o(p284). Gastropub $$
Hotel $$$
gourmet soups, salads and sandwiches, too. 4 21c Museum Hotel
4 Hotel Indigo Boutique Hotel $$ See Trip o(p285).
(%706-546-0430; www.indigoathens.com; 500
College Ave; r weekend/weekday from $159/139;
paiWs) Athens’ first – and desperately
needed – boutique hotel is part of the Indigo Lexington 5
chain, and is a LEED Gold–certified sustainable 5 Village Idiot
standout (the first of InterContinental’s See Trip o(p295). Gastropub $$
Hotel $$
4500 hotels worldwide). Green elements 4 Gratz Park Inn
throughout (regenerative elevators, priority See Trip o(p284).
parking for hybrid vehicles, 30% of the building
constructed from recycled content) mean it’s
environmentally sound, and the 130-room eco-
chic hotel is steeped in local color (Jittery Joe’s
coffee instead of Starbucks, reclaimed barn-
wood-framed posters of R.E.M. and the like). Knoxville 6
Tuscaloosa 3 5 Tupelo Honey Cafe New Southern $$
5 Nick’s Original Filet House Steaks $ (www.tupelohoneycafe.com; 1 Market Sq; mains
$9-19; h9am-10pm Mon-Thu, to 11pm Fri, 8am-
(%205-758-9316; 4018 Culver Rd; mains $7-15; 11pm Sat to 9pm Sun) New South flavors are the
h5-9pm Mon-Thu, to 10pm Fri & Sat, closed order of the day at this bustling, eclectic dining
room set in the light-flooded ground floor of a
306
historical building on Market Sq. Think chorizo- rooms you can enjoy a condo with hardwood
crusted sea scallops, pulled pork with jalapeño floors, full kitchen and a Tempur-Pedic
BBQ sauce, and shrimp and goat cheese grits. It mattress. Premium suites have flat-screen
does a handful of vegetarian dishes, too. TVs. Located in Durham’s historical downtown
tobacco-mill district.
4 Oliver Hotel Boutique Hotel $$
(%865-521-0050; www.theoliverhotel.com; 407
Union Ave; r from $145) Knoxville’s only boutique Chapel Hill 8
hotel has 28 lovingly appointed rooms with 5 Neal’s Deli Breakfast, Deli $
marble sink tops and rainshower heads in the
baths, plush linens, iHomes and more. Service (www.nealsdeli.com; 100 E Main St, Carrboro;
is outstanding and the vibe is modern and breakfast $3-6, lunch $5-9; h7:30am-7pmTue-
upmarket. Good value. Fri, 8am-4pm Sat & Sun) Before starting your
day, chow down on a delicious buttermilk
Durham 7 breakfast biscuit at this tiny deli in downtown
Carrboro. The egg, cheese and bacon is
4 Duke Tower Hotel $ some kind of good. For lunch, Neal’s serves
(%866-385-3869, 919-687-4444; www sandwiches and subs, from chicken salad to
.duketower.com; 807 W Trinity Ave; ste $88-98; pastrami to a three-cheese pimiento with a
paWs) For less than most local hotel splash of bourbon.
307
Stax Museum of American Soul
Music Stories of soul legends
STEPHEN SAKS / GETTY IMAGES © Memphis to
27Nashville
When two of America’s legendary musical towns are within
three hours of one another, they must be linked. Your journey
will include a shot of history (and whiskey) along the way.
TRIP HIGHLIGHTS 3 DAYS
346 MILES / 557KM
328 miles
Downtown Nashville GREAT FOR...
Get loud in a classic
Nashville honky-tonk B
Km BEST TIME TO GO
#6#
March to May and
lL ##5 June and September
to November for
#2# # Shiloh National welcome weather and
Military Park tasty music festivals.
Stax Museum of Jack Daniel's I ESSENTIAL
American Soul Music Distillery PHOTO
The best of Memphis’ Because what’s
many musical shrines Tennessee without Sun Studio, ground
Jack? zero for American
0 miles rock’n’ roll.
255 miles
K BEST FOR
MUSIC
The entire route, from
the blues, rock and
soul to bluegrass and
country.
309
27 Memphis to 1 Beale Street &
Nashville Around
Memphis is a warm summer night on the riverside. By the early 1900s Beale
Nashville is a springtime picnic in the sun. St was the hub of African
Memphis is a smoky blues club, offering grit with American social and
a smile, a twisted history and sweet memories. civic activity, becoming
Nashville is a glamour girl – a fine Southern town an early center for what
with cowboy crass, platinum-blonde diamond was to be known as
beauty and beer-soaked stages. Nashville is blues music. In the ’50s
bluegrass. Memphis is blues. There’s a tug of war and ’60s, local recording
between Memphis and Nashville devotees. But why companies cut tracks
choose sides when you can enjoy their differences? for blues, soul, R&B and
rockabilly artists such as
Al Green, Johnny Cash
and Elvis, cementing
Memphis’ place in
the American music
firmament. Sprinkled on
#\ Union City
Kennett #\ Paris
#\
\# Dyersburg KeLnatukceky
Waverly
#\
Blytheville \# \# Milan TENNESSEE
ARKANSAS i River Humboldt \#
Tenn
Osceola \# M iss issipp \# Ripley
erBrowsville \#
Ù[79 \#
VÓU40 ]# Jackson
Lexington
[Ù13
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\#
I# Memphis #\ Selmer äb22 Shiloh National
äb57 Military Park
]## #p330 4
1 Beale St & Around äb57
FG #19 2 Stax Museum of American Soul Music
#3 Sun Studio & Graceland Ù[72
]# Corinth
FG14 Holly MISSISSIPPI
Holly Springs
#\ Springs National
Forest
Memphis’ most famous Gibson Beale Street and blues mingled in 27 Memphis to Nashville
block are BB King’s Showcase (www.gibson the Mississippi Delta to
(p228), the original .com; 145 Lt George W Lee Ave; create modern sound.
nightclub from the The blues are palpable
Mississippi kid who came admission $10, no children once again when you visit
to Memphis and became the National Civil Rights
a star; the New Daisy under 5; htours 11am-4pm Museum (p330), which
Theater (%901-525-8971, chronicles the ongoing
events hotline 901-525-8979; Mon-Sat, noon-4pm Sun) struggles for African
offers a fascinating American freedom and
www.newdaisy.com; 330 45-minute tour where equality in the US. Visit
Beale St; hvaries), which you can see master Beale St on our walking
regularly hosts indie rock craftspeople transform tour (p330).
acts; and A Schwab’s solid blocks of wood
(%901-523-9782; www into legendary Gibson The Drive » Make your way
guitars. Journey back
a-schwab.com; 163 Beale St; into the roots of the over to 3rd St then head south
American popular music to E McLemore Ave, where the
hnoon-7pm Mon-Wed, to 9pm at Memphis Rock ‘n’ ragged edge of Memphis begins
Thu, to 10pm Fri & Sat), with Soul Museum (p274). to show.
three floors of quirk – Its audio tour has over
don’t miss the cool 100 songs, and explains TRIP HIGHLIGHT
antique gallery upstairs. how gospel, country
2 Stax Museum of
e# 0 50 km American Soul Music
0 25 miles
There are few (or no)
#VÓU24 funkier places on earth
6 Downtown Nashville than the birthplace of
soul music. The Stax
#7 South of Downtown
and The West End LINK
YOUR
#\ Dickson Km#8 Grand Ole Opry TRIP
VÓU40 Nashville ^#
I#
p328
Ù[24
Murfreesboro]# j The Blues
Highway
#\ Centerville VÓU65
As long as we’re getting
[Ù24 musical, why not follow
the blues trail south from
Columbia #] äb10 Memphis to the Mississippi
Delta, where American
Mt. Pleasant \# popular music all began?
Shelbyville#\
[Ù43 #Jack Daniel's äb82 e Civil Rights Tour
Distillery 5 #\ Martin Luther King
äb15 #\ äb10 Lynchburg Jr met his end in Memphis,
äb15 äb55 but you can follow him back
#\ Pulaski Ù[64 to the beginning on this
#\ inspirational and historical
Lawrenceburg roadtrip.
Fayetteville
Iron City \#
\# Lexington
ALABAMA VÓU65 äb10
#] Florence 311
THE PROTECTED ART ARCHIVE / ALAMY ©(%901-942-SOUL; www.Foundation that includes
staxmuseum.com; 926 E the Stax Music Academy,
27 Memphis to NashvilleMcLemore Ave; adult/child a public charter school.
$12/9; h10am-5pm Tue-Sat,
1-5pm Sun Mar-Oct, closed The Drive » Head back across The Drive » Take the I-240
Mon Nov-Mar) experience
begins with a moving town on the I-240N, take the east to the Bill Morris Pkwy,
20-minute introductory Union Ave exit and head west. which will take you out of town.
film and the exhibits Take the TN-57 east from there
build on that. This is 3 Sun Studio for about 52 miles, paralleling
the label that used an & Graceland the Mississippi border. Head
integrated house band north on TN-22 to the Shiloh
to back legends like Sam Sun Studio (p271) is National Military Park.
Cooke, Booker T Jones, where the rockabilly
and the amazing Otis dynasty of Jerry Lee 4 Shiloh National
Redding. Ike Turner Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Military Park
is given reverence as Orbison and, of course,
the visionary he was. the king himself (who Located just north of the
His guitar and Tina’s started here in 1953), Mississippi border near
dress are on display (his was born. Today packed the town of Crump, TN,
domestic violence history 40-minute guided tours Shiloh National Military
conspicuously absent). through the tiny studio Park (www.nps.gov/shil;
Named for brother-sister offer a chance to hear 1055 Pittsburg Landing Rd;
founders Jim Stewart original tapes of historic hpark dawn-dusk, visitor
and Estelle Axton, there recording sessions. center 8am-5pm) reveals
was always was a record Guides spin yarns while the drama behind one of
shop in front of the you pose for photos in the early major battles
studio (now it’s a gift the old recording studio
shop that sells CDs). It on the ‘X’ where Elvis
was originally a country once stood. Afterwards,
label, but neighborhood hop on the free shuttle to
demographics changed Graceland (p274). Though
and African American born in Mississippi, Elvis
musicians began Presley was a true son
drifting in. The unique of Memphis: raised in
combination of gospel, the Lauderdale Courts
country and blues public housing projects,
formed what became and inspired by the blues
soul music. You can walk in the Beale St clubs, in
through the guts of the the spring of 1957 the
recording studio, and already-famous 22-year-
enjoy splashy displays old spent $100,000 on a
for Albert King, the Colonial-style mansion,
Staple Singers and the named Graceland by its
great Isaac Hayes, the previous owners. Priscilla
headliner of the 1972 Presley (who divorced
Wattstax festival, the Elvis in 1973) opened
label’s high-water mark. Graceland to tours in
Eventually the label went 1982, and now millions
under, but it is now on a come here to pay homage
campus of the Soulsville to the king and gawk at
the infamous decor.
312
Memphis Sun Studio
of the Civil War. Ulysses National Cemetery, TRIP HIGHLIGHT
S Grant, then a major the final resting place
general, led the Army of 4000 soldiers, 5 Jack Daniel’s
of Tennessee. After a an overlook of the Distillery
vicious Confederate Cumberland River where
assault on the first Union reinforcement Set in tiny Moore County
day that took Grant by troops arrived by ship, (the smallest in all of
surprise, his creative and various markers and Tennessee) is the state’s
maneuver on the second monuments. The visitor most famous product,
day held Pittsburgh center gives out maps,
Landing, and turned shows a video about the Jack Daniel’s Tennessee
the Confederates back. battle, and sells an audio Whiskey (www.jackdaniels
A relative unknown at driving tour. .com; 182 Lynchburg Hwy,
the beginning of the Lynchburg). And strange
war, Grant went on to The Drive » Continue down gets stranger when you
lead the Union to victory consider that it’s also a
and eventually became the Tennessee backroads, and dry county and has been
the 18th president of the make your way north on TN-22 since the soulless scourge
United States. The vast to TN-15 east. The road jogs so of prohibition. Yes, 90
park can only be seen be conscious of signage. After years later dry counties
by car. Sights along the about 45 miles, turn left on TN- still exist in the South.
route include the Shiloh 50 east which leads into TN-55 But, being the South,
east toward Lynchburg. contradiction is en vogue
313
27 Memphis to Nashville and you can and will with I-24 north for the final 32 com; 316 Broadway; h9am-
sip a thimble (or more) miles. 5pm Mon-Fri, from 10am
of the good stuff after Sat). For 130 years this
the Tasting Tour, which TRIP HIGHLIGHT classic Nashville printer
includes an hour-and-a- has been block printing
quarter ramble through 6 Downtown publicity posters. It gets
the inner workings of the Nashville orders from all over
distillery. These enhanced the world, and you can
tours are the only type For country-music fans buy reprints of original
that include a tipple other and wannabe songwriters Louis Armstrong, Hank
than lemonade, and they all over the world, a Williams and Bill Monroe
are only available a few trip to Nashville is the shows past. For music
times a day, Monday ultimate pilgrimage. in the present make
through Saturday, and Think of any song your way to Robert’s
cost $10. It’s best to involving a pick-up Western World (www
book ahead. Free tours truck, a bottle of booze, .robertswesternworld.com;
without a tasting are a no-good woman or a 416 Broadway; h11am-2am).
offered daily on the hour late, lamented hound Name another dive
and are available on a dog, and the chances are where you can buy boots,
first come, first served it came from Nashville. have a burger, a beer or
basis. The distillery itself Downtown is where something stronger and
sells no memorabilia, you’ll find the lion’s share listen to a rockabilly band
so if you want some Old of the honky-tonks, as for free all day every day.
No 7 trinkets, visit the well as the excellent
Country Music Hall Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge
Lynchburg Hardware & of Fame (p328), where (%615-726-7937; www
General Store (160 Craig Elvis’ gold Cadillac and .tootsies.net; 422 Broadway;
St; h9am-6pm Mon-Fri, from Johnny Cash’s guitar are admission free; h10am-late)
10am Sat, from 1pm Sun) in enshrined like religious is equally appealing: a
town – which is actually relics. Visit it on our torn-up linoleum-floor
owned by the distillery. walking tour (p328). dive bar drenched with
Over on Broadway – the boot-stomping, hillbilly,
The Drive » It’s an easy hour- heart and soul of the beer-soaked grace.
downtown strip – be sure
and-a-half drive, mostly off the to duck into Hatch Show The Drive » Nashville sprawls
major interstate, to Nashville. Print (www.hatchshowprint.
Take TN-55 east to TN-82 north a bit, so you will want to drive
to TN-10 south until you merge between downtown and areas
south and west. The gridlike
streets make it relatively easy to
get around.
MEMPHIS IN MAY
You’ve heard of Coachella, you’ve heard of New 7 South of
Orleans Jazz Fest and you may have heard of Downtown and
Bonnaroo, but Memphis’ Beale Street Music The West End
Festival (www.memphisinmay.org; Tom Lee Park; 3-day pass
$85; h1st weekend in May) gets very little attention, Nashville sprawls a bit,
though it offers one of the country’s best line-ups of and within the shadow
old-school blues masters, up-and-coming rockers of the downtown skyline
and gloriously past-their-prime pop and hip-hop are a number of can’t-
artists. It runs over three days and attracts 100,000 miss clubs and sights for
people to Tom Lee Park each May. No, the Beale music lovers. Our favorite
Street Festival is not actually on Beale St. club in town is the
314
Station Inn (p329). Sit at THIRD MAN 27 Memphis to Nashville
one of the small cocktail
tables, all squeezed Jack White’s move to Nashville and away from his
together on the worn downbeat, Detroit White Stripes roots has been well
wood floor, in this beer- publicized. You can and should visit his excellent new
only dive. There is no operation, Third Man Records (www.thirdmanrecords
haunt more momentarily .com; 623 7th Ave S; h10am-6pm Mon-Sat, 1-4pm Sun), in a
famous than Bluebird still-industrial slice of downtown Nashville two blocks
Cafe (%615-383-1461; from active train tracks. There’s a tiny record shop
www.bluebirdcafe.com; selling only Third Man recordings on vinyl and CD,
as well as White Stripes and Raconteurs (his current
4104 Hillsboro Rd; cover band) albums. The T-shirts, stickers and headphones
are cool, too. They do live shows in the studio’s Blue
free-$15; hshows 6:30pm Room once a month, which are typically open to the
& 9:30pm). Set in a strip public but are only announced a few days in advance,
mall in suburban South so keep your ear to the asphalt. Often these shows
Nashville, some of the (Jerry Lee Lewis’ recent performance comes to
best original singer- mind) become available on limited-edition vinyl sold
songwriters in country in the store. The shows are $10.
music have graced this
tiny stage (Steve Earle, production companies, as a doomed theme park,
Emmylou Harris and agents, managers and these days Opryland is
the Cowboy Junkies promoters who run a splashy, labyrinthine
included), which is Nashville’s country- resort and shopping
how it became the music industry. There’s mall (complete with
central location in not much to see, but you IMAX theater), but the
the popular television can pay to cut your own signature sight remains
series, Nashville. Also record at some of the the Grand Ole Opry
in a strip mall, yet still smaller studios. House (%615-871-6779; www.
a legit cultural force, is opry.com; 2802 Opryland Dr;
renowned author Anne The Drive » Take the I-40
Patchett’s Parnassus tours adult/child $18.50/13.50;
Books (www.parnassusbooks east to the TN-155 north and
.net; 3900 Hillsboro Pike; watch for the signs. You really hmuseum 10:30am-6pm
can’t miss it. Mar-Dec), a modern brick
h10am-8pm Mon-Sat, noon- building that seats 4400
5pm Sun), arguably one of 8 Grand Ole Opry on Friday and Saturday
America’s most famous from March to November.
indie booksellers. The Starting as a radio hour Guided backstage tours
bright space hosts special in 1925, country music’s are offered daily by
events, readings and signature star-making reservation – book online
signings, promotes local broadcast operated out up to two weeks ahead.
authors and even sells of the legendary Ryman Across the plaza, a small,
e-books. Little nuggets Auditorium (%info 615-889- free museum tells the
of independence like this 3060, tickets 615-458-8700; story of the Opry with
may just save our literary www.ryman.com; 116 5th Ave) wax characters, colorful
souls. The most famous from 1943 to 1974 before costumes and dioramas.
sight on this end of town moving out here to the
is Music Row (Music Square suburbs. After a brief run
West & Music Square East), a
stretch of 16th and 17th
Avenues, home to the
315
Eating & Sleeping
Memphis 4 Talbot Heirs Guesthouse $$
(%901-527-9772, 800-955-3956; www
5 Alcenia’s Southern $ .talbothouse.com; 99 S 2nd St; ste from $130;
(www.alcenias.com; 317 N Main St; mains $6-9; aW) Inconspicuously located on the 2nd
h11am-5pm Tue-Fri, 9am-3pm Sat) The only floor of a busy downtown street, this cheerful
thing sweeter than Alcenia’s famous ‘ghetto guesthouse is one of Memphis’ best-kept
juice’ (a diabetes-inducing fruit drink) is owner secrets. Spacious suites are more like hip studio
27 Memphis to Nashville Betty-Joyce ‘BJ’ Chester-Tamayo – don’t be apartments than hotel rooms, with Oriental
surprised to receive a kiss on the top of the rugs and funky local artwork, and kitchens
head as soon as you sit down. The lunch menu stocked with snacks. The innkeepers know all
at this funky little gold- and purple-painted cafe the best local restaurants and bars – just ask.
rotates daily – look for killer fried chicken and Parking costs $10.
catfish, melt-in-your-mouth spiced cabbage and
an exquisite eggy custard pie. Lynchburg
5 Dyer’s Fast Food $ 5 Miss Mary Bobo’s
(www.dyersonbeale.com; 205 Beale St; burgers Boarding House Southern $
$4-7; h11am-midnight Sun-Thu, to late Fri & Sat) (%931-759-7394; www.facebook.com/pages/
Purportedly one of America’s best burgers – Miss-Mary-Bobos-Boarding-House/145161592
anointed so by both Esquire and Playboy – the 212541?rf=117849681617952; 295 Main St; per
meat is smacked flat with a spatula at least person $22; h11am & 1pm Mon-Sat) With just
4in wide then submerged in bubbling grease, two seatings a day, by reservation only, they’ve
continuously filtered like it is life-giving elixir been serving massive and delicious Southern
when, well, it’s probably the opposite. But no meals family-style at this classic boarding house
matter. They’ve been doing it this way since since 1908. The menu rotates, but includes at
1912, and it makes a late-night snack of the least two meats (fried chicken and meat loaf are
gods. staples), six veggies, biscuits and corn bread,
5 Charlie Vergos’ along with dessert, sweet tea and coffee.
Rendezvous Barbecue $$
See Trip j (p236).
Nashville
4 Madison Hotel Boutique $$$
5 City House New Southern $$$
See Trip j (p236).
See Trip g (p206).
4 Pilgrim House Hostel
Hostel $ 5 Marché Artisan Foods Bistro $$
(%901-273-8341; www.pilgrimhouse.org; 1000 (www.marcheartisanfoods.com; 1000 Main St;
mains $9-16; h8am-9pm Tue-Sat, to 4pm Sun)
S Cooper St; dm $20, r $30-50; paiW) In rapidly gentrifying Five Points, this lovely and
bright glass box of a farm-to-table cafe offers
Yes, it’s in a church. No, no one will try to a corned beef Ruben on marble rye, a popular
lamb burger and a delicious warm broccoli salad
convert you but the chatty young live-in staff with brown rice at lunch. It hosts special beer
and wine dinners, too.
may well invite you for a beer down the street, in
Midtown’s trendy Germantown neighborhood.
An international crowd plays cards and chats
(no alcohol) in a sunny, open common area
resembling an IKEA catalog. Dorms and private
rooms are clean and spare. All guests must do a
brief daily chore, like taking out the trash.
316
5 Provence Bakery & Cafe Electric guitars mounted on the lobby walls
and occasional live music remind you you’re
(www.provencebreads.com; 1705 21st Ave S; in Nashville. The location is excellent, in the
heart of the busy West End area near Vanderbilt
mains $7-11; h7am-8pm Mon-Fri, to 8pm Sat, to University. Adjacent to the lobby is Goten, a
sushi bar and Japanese steakhouse with a bit
6pm Sun) A popular spot in the Hillsboro District, of an international-businessman vibe – lots of
meat, lots of cocktails.
lovers of breads will want to stop here for a loaf
4 Nashville Downtown Hostel Hostel $
or a ready-made turkey, chicken salad or tuna
(%615-497-1208; www.nashvillehostel.com; 177
sandwich. It also does frittatas, salads, tasty 1st Ave North; dm/r $28/85) Opened in 2012,
well located and up-to-the-minute in style and
pastries and a French toast made with a peach function, the common space in the basement
with its rather regal exposed stone walls and
compote. Order your flavor and grab a table in beamed rafters is your all-night all-hours mingle
den. Dorm rooms are upstairs on the 4th floor,
the bright dining area that’s popular at lunch. and have lovely wood floors, exposed timber
columns, silver beamed ceilings and four brand-
4 Hotel Indigo Boutique $$$ new bunks to a room. All come with shared
baths. Parking is $12.
(%615-891-6000; www.ihg.com; 301 Union St;
r from $299) Part of a smallish international
chain, the Indigo has a fun, pop-art look, with
a lime-green and electric-blue color scheme, a
chrome staircase and a huge photo mural above
the lobby bar. The king rooms are spacious
and hip with brand-new wood floors, high
ceilings, flat screens and leather head boards.
Mississippi River Econom
power, ecological fragili
TRAVEL IMAGES / GETTY IMAGES © 28Big Muddy
It gave us Huck Finn and the blues. Plantations depended on
it for commerce, slaves used it to escape and the Civil War
streaked it with blood. The Mississippi River is America.
TRIP HIGHLIGHTS 5 DAYS
526 MILES / 847KM
#]#1
GREAT FOR...
99 miles Helena #\# 0 miles
Clarksdale Memphis B
Delve into the #4 One of America's great
Mississippi Delta’s cities, it's full of music, BEST TIME TO GO
blues tradition history and soul
September to
Vicksburg # November and March
to May, when the sun
#6]# 313 miles is warm yet forgiving.
Natchez
Baton Antebellum panache, I ESSENTIAL
# Rouge Huck Finn soul PHOTO
mic #]#8 Mud Island River Park,
ity the Mississippi’s most
518 miles #Venice visited spot.
New Orleans
The river’s most K BEST FOR
glorious city HISTORY
The entire route, for
the story of America, its
people and their song.
319
28 Big Muddy Gulf of Mexico aquarium
teeming with sharks and
It bubbles up in Minnesota where the river is still rays. It’s part of Mud
narrow enough to swim across, but in the South . Island River Park (%901-
it is a commercial artery that ferries fuel, goods 576-7241; www.mudisland.com;
and people from the Gulf of Mexico to the Midwest, 125 N Front St; h10am-5pm
and back again, as it has for centuries. It twists . Tue-Sun, later in summer).
for 2320 miles, and at nearly every bend there’s . Linked to Memphis by a
a story. monorail, you can rent
kayaks, canoes and bikes
and explore.
5 4 p326
The Drive » Pick up the Blues
Highway, US 61, in Memphis and
drive through the city’s rough
edge into the wide open spaces
of the Mississippi Delta, where
the blues were born.
TRIP HIGHLIGHT slaves to freedom. Learn 2 Tunica
the details at the Slave
1 Memphis The gateway to Delta
Haven Underground Blues country is the
Memphis is one juke joint mock-up that
of the river’s most Railroad Museum is the Tunica Visitors
soulful cities, and the (%901-527-3427; www.slav Center (p228), where
Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul ehavenundergroundrailroad interactive digital
Museum (p274) delves museum.org; 826 N 2nd St; guides offer background
into the social and adult/child $10/8; h10am- checks on famed blues
cultural history that 1pm Mon-Sat). It’s set in a musicians and can’t-
produced the blues in modest clapboard house miss destinations on the
the Mississippi Delta. laced with tunnels fed by Blues Trail itself. You
That sound eventually trapdoors. will learn, for instance,
morphed into rock’n’roll that Robert Johnson,
when Elvis sang ‘Hound The Mississippi River the original blues star,
Dog’, an old blues tune, Museum (www.mississippi was born in Tunica,
in Sun Studio (p271), rivermuseum.com; 350 East Mississippi, yet this
which you can visit as 3rd Street; adult/child $15/10; small riverside town
part of our walking h10am-5pm Apr-Oct) is has morphed into a
tour (p330). But long the place to learn more maze of casinos, which
before Elvis and Otis, about the cultural and aren’t worth your time.
this section of the river natural history of the Best to check out the
was used to shepherd Big Muddy. Check out Visitors Center and keep
the scale model of the moving.
lower Mississippi which
includes a 40,000-gallon The Drive » Blitz through
the flat, green, big sky delta on
US 61, before heading west on
US 49, across the river and into
Arkansas.
320
Jonesboro #] 180 miles to Mississippi R iver 28 Big MuddyJackson3 Helena
Missouri
‚ #] A depressed mill town
#H still hoping for a second
wind, it was once home
p325 to the late Sonny Boy
Williamson, a regular
ARKANSAS VÓU55 TENNESSEE on King Biscuit Time,
America’s first blues
#\ VÓU40 radio show. BB King
listened religiously as a
#Bald Knob #æ#]1 Memphis child, and it was Sonny
#IVÓU40 [Ù61 who introduced King to
#Tunica #æ2 Holly Springs his first audience on that
p330 National radio show. The show,
#Helena #æ#\3 #\Lula Forest which begins weekdays
Sardis at 12:15pm, is still
Lake ÓVU78 running, and broadcasts
out of the Delta Cultural
Pine Bluff Ù[278 #] Center (p230), which
##] #æ4 is also a terrific blues
Arkansas Clarksdale Tupelo museum. You’re welcome
River to watch the broadcast
Grenade live, and you may even
Reservoir get on the air. Down the
street is Bubba’s Blues
GF18 ÓVU55 Corner (p230), the type
of record store – owned
Greenville #] \# [Ù82
LINK
Leland ToNmabFtiiogorbneeasetl YOUR
TRIP
Ù[61 MISSISSIPPI
k Cajun Country
Delta Head west from New
National Orleans, and delve into the
Forest blackwater bayous and
spiced cultural gumbo
#ÓVU20 Vicksburg ^# Meridian that is Louisiana’s Cajun
#æ#]5 Country.
Jackson #]
Mississippi River i Historical
VÓU20 Bienville Mississippi
National Detour from the river in
Forest Mississippi to absorb the
heartbreaking and soul-
#Natchez #æ#]6 ÓVU55 Ù[49 #] stirring history of the river’s
Homochitto namesake state.
National Brookhaven Laurel
Forest
Ù[61 #]
Hattiesburg #]
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Rouge ÓVU12 VÓU10 #]
^# Biloxi
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#]
#Donaldsonville #\ #æ7 New Orleans Gulf Islands
#`ß I#The River SNeaatsihonorael
8#æ#] 428
GF20 Road äb90
p262
\#
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##æ9 Venice
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0 50 miles
JOHN COLETTI / GETTY IMAGES ©by an old-school bluesDelta Blues Museum
vinyl savant – that is (p231), downtown, has
28 Big Muddya dying breed. If you the best collection of
time it right, you can blues memorabilia in the
join the three-day King delta, including Muddy namesake. Sometimes he
Biscuit Blues Festival Waters’ reconstructed has moonshine behind
(p230) in October, the Mississippi cabin. It will the bar.
one-day only Live on The soon go, along with his
Levee (p230) concert, instruments, records 5 4 p326
held each June, or the and costumes, into the The Drive » US 61 parallels
two-day Arkansas Delta ‘Muddy Wing.’ Creative,
Rockabilly Festival multimedia exhibits the Mississippi all the way to the
(p230) in May. also honor BB King, Louisiana border, but Helena will
John Lee Hooker, Big be your last glimpse of it until
The Drive » Double back Mama Thornton and WC you reach Vicksburg, 144 miles
Handy, whose original south.
across the river on US 49, skirt 1912 compositions
Moon Lake and head south in popularized the 12-bar 5 Vicksburg
a straight shot for 16 miles on blues. There’s live music
US 61. in Clarksdale at least four Most famous for a pivotal
nights a week (typically battle that turned the
TRIP HIGHLIGHT Wednesday to Saturday). Civil War into the Union’s
favor, this charming, if
4 Clarksdale Cat Head Delta Blues & struggling, town offers
Folk Art (www.cathead.biz; sublime Mississippi River
Clarksdale is the hub of 252 Delta Ave; h10am-5pm vistas from its bluffs.
Delta Blues Country. This Mon-Sat) is the best place And it was control of
is where you’ll find the to inquire about local
Crossroads (p221), where shows, but if you land
legend has it that Robert here on a weekend, head
Johnson made his famous to directly to Red’s (p231),
deal with the devil and a ragged downtown
became America’s first juke joint run with in-
guitar hero. And it’s your-face charm by its
here where live music
and blues history are
most accessible. The
OIL!
Think land traffic is hazardous? On July 24,
2008, a cargo barge collided with an oil tanker
on the Mississippi in New Orleans, causing a
500,000-gallon oil slick. Within minutes 100 miles of
the river were closed to boat traffic, costing the Port
of New Orleans up to $250,000 per day. Downriver
waterfowl were covered in the thick, black sludge,
and there were concerns about contamination of
urban tap water supplies and the estuaries along
the Gulf Coast. Thankfully the clean-up was swift,
but the spill served as a reminder that this great and
powerful river is not indestructible.
322
New Orleans Streetcar
that river that drove Sun Apr-Oct), downtown, The Drive » From Vicksburg,
General Ulysses S Grant delves into such topics
to besiege the city for 47 as the famed 1927 flood, US 61 once again drifts inland,
days, until its surrender and a background of the rolling over mogul-like foothills
on July 4, 1863. Inland Army Corps of Engineers before bending back to the
at Vicksburg National who have managed the riverside in Natchez.
Military Park (p224), you river – for better and
can drive, or pedal, along worse – since the 18th TRIP HIGHLIGHT
the 16-mile Battlefield century. Kids will dig its
Dr that winds past 1330 aquarium and rambling 6 Natchez
monuments and markers, around the dry-docked
including statues, battle research vessel, the Historical antebellum
trenches, a restored M/V Mississippi IV. mansions will greet you
Union gunboat and a Art buffs shouldn’t miss in Natchez, Mississippi.
National Cemetery. It the wonderful Attic In the 1840s there
makes for a fascinating Gallery (%601-638-9221; were more millionaires
afternoon. The Lower www.atticgallery.net; 1101 per capita here than
Washington St; h10am-5pm anywhere in the world.
Mississippi River Mon-Sat). There are some When Union soldiers
Museum (%601-638- fabulous finds here. marched through with
9900; www.lmrm.org; 910 orders to torch the place
Washington St; h9am-5pm 5 p326 during the Civil War,
Tue-Sat year-round, 1-5pm there weren’t any men
in town. Legend has it
323
28 Big Muddy the women greeted the 61 bleeds into the I-110 south, meticulous research
soldiers at their doors, which merges with I-10 in Baton and the written records
and Southern hospitality Rouge. Take US 44 south to of the Creole women
saved the city. Those LA-70 west to LA-18 toward who ran the place for
mansions are open to Donaldsonville, just off of generations.
visitors during the twice Louisiana’s River Road (actually
annual ‘Pilgrimage a series of highways that skirt Next, step into the
seasons’ held in the both sides of the Mississippi). River Road African
spring and fall. The American Museum (www
Visitor and Welcome 7 The River Road .africanamericanmuseum
Center (p224) is your best .org; 406 Charles St;
pilgrimage resource. You Elaborate plantation admission $5; h10am-
may visit the Auburn homes dot the east 5pm Wed-Sat, 1-5pm Sun)
Mansion (p205) year- and west banks of and learn the region’s
round. the Mississippi River seldom-told African
between New Orleans American history.
When Mark Twain and Baton Rouge. You’ll learn the truth
passed through, during Indigo then cotton and about slave ships, the
his riverboat captain sugarcane brought vicious toils of slavery,
days, he crashed in a great wealth to these slave revolts, the
room above the local plantations, many of Underground Railroad,
saloon. Under the Hill which are open to the reconstruction and Jim
Saloon (p205) remains public. Crow from antiques,
the best bar in town, artifacts, photographs
with terrific free live Laura Plantation and video interviews.
music on weekends. The (www.lauraplantation.com; When slaves escaped
name works, because 2247 Hwy 18; adult/child the Donaldsonville
the saloon is built into a $20/6; h10am-4pm), in plantations, they ran
hillside and overlooks a Vacherie on the west or floated south to New
captivating bend of the bank, offers the most Orleans, where they
Mississippi. dynamic and informative could blend in with free
tour. It teases out the African Americans,
4 p326 distinctions between rather than north, where
The Drive » Cross the Creole, Anglo and they would have to cross
African American Mississippi, Tennessee
Louisiana state line and US antebellum life via and Missouri to find
freedom.
PHATWATER CHALLENGE
The Drive » From
If you’re into aquatic self-propulsion (ie you really
dig kayaking) then you’ll enjoy the Phatwater Donaldsonville take the I-10
Challenge, a marathon kayak race (the future east, skirt Lake Pontchartrain
Olympic sport you’ve never heard of) that runs and follow it all the way into the
downriver from the Port of Grand Gulf 42 miles to Crescent City.
Natchez, MS. For one full day barge traffic is halted
as paddlers own the Mississippi. Join the party and TRIP HIGHLIGHT
you can stop for breaks on beaches and sand bars,
and you may even see a 12ft gator or two. The race 8 New Orleans
wraps with a bluegrass jam at the historical Under
the Hill Saloon. No city is better
associated with the
Mississippi River than
New Orleans – for better
and worse. New Orleans
324
is best experienced on DETOUR: 28 Big Muddy
foot, so be sure to enjoy MISSOURI
our walking tour (p262).
This city, packed with Start: 1 Memphis
life, passion, music
and angst, has been Whether you’re more interested in the great Mark
formed, nourished and Twain (www.marktwainmuseum.org; 415 N Main St; adult/
flooded by the river for child $11/6; h9am-5pm), who grew up on the river
centuries. Jackson Sq as Samuel Longhorne Clemens (1835–1910) in
(%504-568-6968; www Hannibal, or you’re partial to St Louis, Lewis and
Clark, and the Gateway Arch (%877-982-1410; www
.jackson-square.com; Decatur .gatewayarch.com; 707 N 1st St, Jefferson National Expansion
Memorial; observatory adult/child $10/5; h8:30am-9pm
& St Peter Sts) is a clear Jun-Aug, 9:30am-5pm Sep-May), Missouri has as much
choice for just soaking Mississippi River gravitas as any other state on its
up the local street scene. shores. And don’t leave St Louis until you grab a Bud
Don’t miss the French at Anheuser-Busch Brewery (www.budweisertours.com;
Market (N Peters St from cnr 12th & Lynch Sts; admission free; h9am-4pm Mon-Sat,
St Ann St to Barracks St): 11:30am-4pm Sun, to 5pm Jun-Aug, from 10am Sep-May).
New Orleanians have The tour through this cereal-smelling Victorian-era
been trading goods for complex shares trade secrets. For instance, at one
over 200 years from this time the brewery used Mississippi River water to
spot on the Mississippi make beer, and stored barrels in artificial caves
riverbanks. The river dug into the cool riverbanks. Don’t worry, you’ll be
is nearby, up the levee, rewarded with two frosty ones.
and you get nice views
over the sweet, brown, dependable jazz venue. 9 Venice
polluted, sloshing water Local legends like the
from there. Sweet Olive String Band This is the mouth of the
and Meschiya Lake make Mississippi and you’ll
When the moon rises their way across that see the river spread into
over the Mississippi, small stage regularly. rivulets that flood a vast
it’s time to seek night estuary protected by the
music. For live music 5 4 p326 Fish and Wildlife Service
that’s on the river, you The Drive » From New as the Delta National
can’t really go wrong Wildlife Refuge (www
with the Rivershack Orleans take the 428E .fws.gov/delta). There are
Tavern (%504-834-4938; through Algiers and head redfish and speckled
3449 River Rd; h11am- south on LA-23, a continuation trout in the wetlands,
of the Great River Rd that and tarpon, snapper
midnight Mon-Thu, to 3am follows the river’s west bank and grouper in the Gulf.
until it ends 70 miles south Charter a boat for a day,
Fri & Sat). Alternatively, of New Orleans amid the or you may wish to cast
head to Chickie Wah stilted vacation homes, oil off a defunct offshore oil
Wah (%504-304-4714; infrastructure and sport fishing platform.
www.chickiewahwah.com; marinas of Venice.
2828 Canal St; hshows
around 8pm). Not on the
river – but it’s close
enough (as is all of
Frenchman St) – it’s a
325
Eating and Sleeping
Memphis 1 and are filled with old furniture and musical
instruments. The old commissary, the Juke
5 Alchemy Southern Tapas $$ Joint Chapel (equipped with pews), is an
atmospheric venue inside the cotton gin for
(%901-726-4444; www.alchemymemphis.com; live-music performances. The whole place
reeks of downhome dirty blues and Deep South
940 S Cooper St; tapas $10-13, mains $23-28; character – possibly the coolest place you’ll
ever stay.
h4pm-1am Mon-Sat, until 10pm Sun) A flash
28 Big Muddy spot in the Cooper-Young district, it serves
tasty Southern tapas like diver scallops with
truffled cauliflower purée, roasted asparagus Vicksburg 5
with Benton’s bacon, and cornmeal-dusted and 5 Rusty’s Riverfront Grill Southern $$
flash-fried calamari. The kitchen stays open (www.rustysriverfront.com; 901 Washington St;
mains $17-29; h11am-2pm, 5-9:30pm Tue-Fri,
until 1am. 11am-9:30pm Sat) Set at the north end of
downtown, this downhome grill is known for
5 Cozy Corner Barbecue $$ its terrific ribeye, but it has a nice selection of
Southern-style seafood fare too, including crab
See Trip n (p275). cakes and blackened redfish, and a nice New
Orleans–style gumbo.
5 Sweet Grass Southern $$$
(%901-278-0278; www.sweetgrassmemphis
.com; 937 S Cooper St; mains $21-27; h5:30pm-
late Tue-Sun, 11am-2pm Sun) Contemporary
lowcountry cuisine (the seafood-heavy cooking
of the South Carolina and Georgia coasts) wins Natchez 6
raves at this sleek new Midtown bistro. Shrimp 4 Mark Twain
and grits, a classic fisherman’s breakfast, is a Guesthouse
See Trip g (p217).
crowd-pleaser. However, the vibe can be a bit
stuffy. Guesthouse $
4 Sleep Inn at Court Square Hotel $$ New Orleans 8
(%901-522-9700; www.sleepinn.com; 400 N 5 Elizabeth’s Cajun, Creole $$$
Front St; r from $114; aW) Our pick of the
cheaper downtown digs, this stubby stucco (www.elizabeths-restaurant.com; 601 Gallier St;
box, part of a jumble of corporate sleeps, has
pleasant, airy rooms with flat screen TVs. mains $16-26; h8am-2:30pm & 6-10pm Tue-
Parking is $12.
Sat, 8am-2:30pm Sun) Elizabeth’s is deceptively
Clarksdale 4 divey, way too dark and probably too laid-back.
The food is overly simplistic at times; startlingly
5 Abe’s BBQ $ out-of-the-box at others. But it tastes as good
See Trip j (p236). as the best haute New Orleans chefs can offer.
Be sure to order some praline bacon, no matter
4 Shack Up Inn Inn $ the time of day: fried up in brown sugar and, as
(%662-624-8329; www.shackupinn.com; Hwy far as we can tell, God’s own cooking oil.
49; d $75-165; paW) At the cheeky Hopson 5 Gautreau’s Modern American $$$
Plantation, this self-titled ‘bed and beer’, 2 miles (%504 899-7397; 1728 Soniat St; mains $22-35;
h6-10pm Mon-Sat) Chef Sue Zemanick has
south on the west side of Hwy 49, evokes the seemingly won every award a rising star can
garner in American culinary circles. Gautreau’s,
blues like no other. Guests stay in refurbished her HQ, is unsigned and tucked away in a
sharecropper cabins or the creatively renovated
cotton gin. The cabins have covered porches
326
residential neighborhood. Savvy diners enjoy a good deal in high, this stately 1883 Italianate
fresh, modern American fare – gnocchi with mansion in the Garden District is both elegant
truffled parmesan cheese and grouper in salsa and relaxed, boasting extraordinary original
verde, for example – within a local culinary features: a stained-glass-topped staircase,
treasure. elaborate marble fireplaces, richly carved
woodwork throughout etc. To top it off, there’s a
4 Columns Historical Hotel $$ lovely 2nd-floor porch overlooking oak-draped
St Charles Ave and a damn inviting bar.
(%504-899-9308; www.thecolumns.com; 3811
St Charles Ave; r incl breakfast weekend/weekday
from $170/134; aW) A steal in low season, still
STRETCH . Country Music Hall
YOUR LEGS of Fame & Museum
NASHVILLE
Head directly to downtown’s Country
Start/Finish: Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum (www
Music Hall of Fame & Museum .countrymusichalloffame.com; 222 5th Ave
Distance: 2.7 miles S; adult/child $22/14, audio tour additional
Duration: Three hours $2, Studio B Tour 1hr tour adult/child $13/11;
h9am-5pm). Here you can gawk at Patsy
Nashville will spin you around Cline’s cocktail gown, Johnny Cash’s
and leave your ears ringing with guitar, Elvis’ gold Cadillac and Conway
the sound of steel guitar. But Twitty’s yearbook picture (back when
it has a brainy side too, with he was Harold Jenkins). Exhibits
great museums, and grand old trace country’s roots from the original
government buildings not far from banjo-pickin’ hillbillies of the early 20th
those addictive honky-tonks. century through to today’s tattooed and
pierced stars, while listening booths
Take this walk on Trips give you access to the vast archives of
sound.
gr
The Walk » Head north for one block on 5th Ave
328
and make a right on Broadway.
The District
Lower Broadway between 2nd and
4th Aves is famous for its neon-lit
honky-tonks, the crowds of tourists in
painfully new cowboy boots, and the
kid on the corner singing his heart out
on a battered guitar. For rockabilly
tunes, we love Robert’s Western World
(p314). Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge (p314) is
a classic beer-drenched joint, too. Both
have free live music from 11am. And
don’t miss Hatch Show Print (p314), a
long-running block print company with
a tremendous archive.
The Walk » Continue down Broadway until
it dead ends at 1st Ave and the Cumberland
River. Head upriver to Church St and make a left.
Between Church and Union St you’ll find Printer’s
Alley.
Printer’s Alley
Cobblestone-paved Printer’s Alley, now
lined with bars and restaurants, used to
be home to the city’s thriving printing
industry. Beginning in the early 1800s,
horse carts carried paper and ink to
the alley’s mostly religious publishing
houses. The printing of Christian
hymnals gave way to secular music
Charlotte Ave Legislative Deaderick St Public
Church St Plaza Square
8th Ave N 7th Ave N Union St 3rd Ave N RiverfProarnkt
6th Ave N
10th Ave N Printer's #
Industrial Blvd Alley
12th Ave N
Church St 2nd Ave N
WEST Commerce St Ryman Cumberland R iver
END Broadway Auditorium 1st Ave N
McGavock #
St
The
e# 0 # District
0
12th Ave S Frist Center # 9th Ave S McGavock St 6th Ave S Shelby St
for the Pedestrian
J%Demonbreun St Country Music Bridge
Visual Arts Gateway Blvd
10th Ave S Lafayette St Hall of Fame
Station & Museum
Inn
#
# 5th Ave N
Clark Pl 4th Ave N
500 m
0.25 miles 8th Ave S Shirley St Howell
Peabody St Park
publishing, which helped attract the $10/7/free; h10am-5:30pm Mon-Wed &
large record labels in the 1940s and ’50s. Sat, to 9pm Thu & Fri, 1-5pm Sun) is on par
with those you’ll find in the world’s
The Walk » Take Church to 5th Ave. Make a great cities. It has a collection that
spans indigenous American pottery
left and walk two long blocks to Nashville’s most to Picasso to mind-melting modernist
historical venue. sculpture; contemporary works are
installed on the 1st-floor gallery.
Ryman Auditorium
The Walk » Continue on Broadway to 12th
Ryman Auditorium (www.ryman.com; 116
5th Ave N; self-guided tour adult/child $13/6.50, Ave and make a left. In four blocks you’ll find our
backstage tour $17/10.50; h9am-4pm) is favorite place in town for night music.
a soaring Gothic Revival building
commissioned in the late 1800s by Station Inn
crusty old riverboat captain Thomas
Ryman, after his soul was saved by a Station Inn (%615-255-3307; www.stationinn
popular Christian evangelist. These .com; 402 12th Ave S; hopen mic 7pm, live bands
days, the 2000-seat Ryman hosts 9pm), an unassuming stone building,
distinctly secular acts such as alt-rock and beer-only dive, is the best place in
giants The National. town for serious bluegrass. The room
is lit only by stage lights, neon signs
The Walk » Take 5th Ave to Broadway, make a and the lightning fingers of bluegrass
savants. We are talking stand-up bass,
right and walk for several blocks. banjo, mandolin, fiddle and a modicum
of honey-throated yodelling.
Frist Center for
the Visual Arts The Walk » Walk two blocks to Demonbreun St,
This massive art museum (www.frist which leads you back to the Hall of Fame.
center.org; 919 Broadway; adult/senior/child
329
STRETCH . Beale Street
YOUR LEGS
MEMPHIS This is where the blues bloomed from
a wild Mississippi Delta seed into
Start/Finish: Beale Street American popular music. From the
Distance: 2.5 miles WC Handy House Museum (%901-522-
Duration: Three to four hours 1556; www.wchandymemphis.org; 352 Beale St;
adult/child $6/4; h11am-4pm Tue-Sat winter,
Memphis is alive with blues, soul 10am-5pm Tue-Sat summer), a homage to
and rock ’n’ roll, pulsating out of the Father of the Blues, to the original
bars, concert halls and…museums? BB King’s (p228) to the Elvis statue,
A gritty city of warm smiles, smoky Memphis royalty is honored here. And
barbecue and deep history, its this pedestrian street remains a giant
best sights are huddled close and street carnival, with free live music
demand a stroll. nightly.
Take this walk on Trips The Walk » Walk a block over from the
ejnrs pedestrian rave to the FedEx Forum campus on
3rd St.
330
FedEx Forum & Around
The FedEx Forum, home of the
Memphis Grizzlies, hosts two special
attractions on its sprawling plaza. The
Gibson Beale Street Showcase (p311)
offers a 45-minute tour of the factory
where the iconic guitars are crafted.
Around the corner, the Smithsonian-
affiliated Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul
Museum (p274) shows Memphis’ many
influences and how this cross-cultural
stew revolutionized American music.
The Walk » Continue down 3rd St, turn right on
Vance Ave and head left onto Mulberry St until you
see the preserved Lorraine Motel.
National Civil Rights Museum
Housed across the street from the
1950s-era Lorraine Motel, where the
Reverend Dr Martin Luther King
Jr was fatally shot on April 4, 1968,
is the gut-wrenching National Civil
Rights Museum (www.civilrightsmuseum.
org; 450 Mulberry St; adult/student & senior/
child $10/9/8; h9am-5pm Mon & Wed-
Sat, 1-5pm Sun Sep-May, to 6pm Jun-Aug).
Extensive exhibits include a detailed
timeline, and incredible human cost
of the movement for African American
freedom and equality.
The Walk » Continue on Mulberry to Patterson
Ave. Hang a right, then another onto South Main St.
iver Mid America Mall
N 2nd St
Wolf R S 3rd St äb70 Danny Thomas Blvd Marshall Av
Riverside Dr 4th St Beale St
L& Union Ave
# Beale Street Sun
HuTlainlVbgaoAntvceAPeovneALtvoinetodceAnvAeve S Lauderdale St K&Studio
#
St Lind#eF&neAAdvrEeoxuFnodrum
Pontotoc Ave
S Main Vance Ave
S 2nd St
3rd St
St
S
Mulberry
# # National Civil
Rights Museum
South
Main Patterson Ave
Street
e# 0 500 m
0 0.25 miles
South Main Street Sun Studio
Head to this up-and-coming arts Sun Studio (p271) is where founder
district and make like Elvis – pop into Sam Phillips took a chance on a
Arcade (p236) for breakfast. Crowds series of scrawny nobodies barely out
still descend for sublime sweet-potato of their teens. (Ever heard of Elvis,
pancakes. We absolutely love Hoot & Johnny Cash or Roy Orbison?) Tours
Louise (www.facebook.com/hootandlouise; are led by enthusiastic guides, many
109 GE Patterson Ave; h10:30am-6:30pm of them country singers themselves.
Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun), a new vintage- Descriptions of the studio’s history are
inspired boutique two doors down from interspersed with loudspeaker clips,
Arcade. If it’s late, find Earnestine & such as Elvis’ first recording. Pose with
Hazel’s (531 S Main St), a spooky brothel- the old-school mic in the recording
turned–dive bar, named after its late studio then hop the free shuttle back to
madams. Beale St.
The Walk » If you have it in you, head back to
Beale, and walk to Union Ave, via Lauderdale St, for
more Elvis lore.
331
Florida & the DRIVER’S LICENSE
South Driving & DOCUMENTS
Guide
Foreign visitors can legally drive in the
Thrumming big-city USA for up to 12 months with their home
boulevards, high-speed driver’s license. However, getting an
causeways, coastal highways International Driving Permit (IDP) is rec-
and winding backcountry ommended; this will have more credibility
roads connect every corner of with US traffic police, especially if your
Florida and the deep South. home license doesn’t have a photo or is in
a foreign language. Your automobile asso-
Driving Fast Facts ciation at home can issue an IDP, valid for
one year, for a small fee. You must carry
¨¨Right or left? your home license together with the IDP.
Drive on the right To drive a motorcycle, you need either a
¨¨Legal driving age? 16 valid US state motorcycle license or an
¨¨Top speed limit? 75 mph IDP specially endorsed for motorcycles.
(on interstate)
¨¨Best bumper sticker? INSURANCE
Remember Who You Wanted
To Be Don’t put the key into the ignition if you
don’t have insurance, which is legally re-
quired, or you’ll risk financial ruin if there’s
an accident. If you already have auto insur-
ance (even overseas), or if you buy travel
insurance, make sure that the policy has
adequate liability coverage for a rental car;
it probably does, but check.
Rental-car companies will provide
liability insurance, but most charge extra.
Always ask. Rental companies almost
never include collision-damage insurance
for the vehicle. Instead, they offer an op-
tional Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) or
Loss Damage Waiver (LDW), usually with
an initial deductible of $100 to $500. For
an extra premium, you can usually get
this deductible covered as well. However,
most credit cards now offer collision-dam-
age coverage for rental cars if you rent for
15 days or less and charge the total rental
to your card. This is a good way to avoid
paying extra fees to the rental company,
but note that if there’s an accident, you
sometimes must pay the rental car com-
pany first and then seek reimbursement
from the credit-card company. Check
your credit-card policy. Paying extra for
some or all of this insurance increases the
cost of a rental car by as much as $15 to
$30 a day.
RENTING A CAR
Car rental is a very competitive business.
Most rental companies require that you
have a major credit card, that you be at
least 25 years old and that you have a valid
Road Trip Websites Florida & the South Driving Guide Border Crossings
AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATIONS
American Automobile Association (www.aaa.com) Offers roadside assistance
24 hours per day.
Better World Club (www.betterworldclub.com) Offers the same services, and
donates 1% of its profits to environmental nonprofit organizations.
ROAD RULES
Department of Motor Vehicles (www.dmv.org)
CONDITIONS & TRAFFIC
Federal Highway Administration (www.fhwa.dot.gov)
MAPS
Google Maps (www.maps.google.com)
Rand McNally (www.randmcnally.com)
driver’s license (your home license will BORDER CROSSINGS
do). Some national companies may rent
to drivers between the ages of 21 and 24 Rental cars from Canada and Mexico are
for an additional charge. Those under 21 eligible to cross the border and operate
are usually not permitted to rent at all. Car in the US. Leased cars are also eligible,
Rental Express (www.carrentalexpress. though you must have a letter of permis-
com) rates and compares independent car sion from the leasing company. If you
rental agencies in US cities; it’s particularly own your car, you will more than likely be
useful for searching out cheaper long-term allowed to cross the border without filling
rentals. out a customs bond, but the border officer
does reserve the right to ask for the bond
National car-rental companies: to be completed.
Alamo (www.alamo.com)
Avis (www.avis.com) MAPS
Budget (www.budget.com)
Dollar (www.dollar.com) Rand McNally (www.randmcnally.com)
Enterprise (www.enterprise.com) is a long-time publisher of high-quality road
Hertz (www.hertz.com) maps. But they won’t show you any more than
National (www.nationalcar.com) Google or Map Quest. National Geo-
Rent-a-Wreck (www.rentawreck.com) graphic Road Atlas (www.nationalgeo-
Thrifty (www.thrifty.com) graphic.com) is the best ink-and-paper map
going, with special attention paid to national
Rental cars are readily available at all parks and forests.
airport locations and many downtown city
locations. With advance reservations for ROADS & CONDITIONS
a small car, the daily rate with unlimited
mileage is about $35 to $55, while typi- The vast majority of all roads you’ll en-
cal weekly rates are $200 to $400, plus counter will be free, and paved. Though
myriad taxes and fees. If you rent from a gravel roads, otherwise known as fire
non-airport location, you save the exorbi- roads, do exist, as does the rare tollway,
tant airport fees, but may pay a fee for a which requires a fee of 50¢ or more. Inter-
drop off out of state. states are eight lane (at least), high-speed
freeways. Highways can be two to six lanes
An alternative in Miami and Atlanta is in width and are the most common long-
Zipcar (www.zipcar.com), a car-sharing distance strip of asphalt in America. In the
service that charges hourly/daily rental
fees with free gas, insurance and limited
mileage included; pre-payment is required.
333
Road Distances (Miles)
Florida & the South Driving Guide Road Rules Atlanta, GA 210
Charleston, SC 270 320
Chattanooga, TN 225 120 435
Clarksdale, MS 580 390 710 380
HDuillr,hNaCm-Chapel 220 380 310 445 775
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Jackson, MS 770 640 560 755 1000 810
Laffayette, LA 590 380 700 385 155 760 890
Lexington, KY 790 580 540 600 365 960 950 230
Little Rock, AR 285 380 855 280 495 470 1020 625 855
Louisville, KY 640 515 835 475 150 860 1130 265 355 555
Memphis, TN 360 420 615 305 460 530 1065 590 815 80 520
Miami, FL 505 385 700 340 80 725 965 210 440 425 135 385
Nashville, TN 790 660 585 780 1025 830 30 910 975 1045 1150 1080 1015
New Orleans, LA 295 250 550 135 285 510 890 415 645 210 350 175 210 910
Orlando, FL 680 470 740 490 335 850 840 185 135 745 425 710 395 865 535
Oxford, MS 585 440 380 555 800 625 215 690 750 820 925 860 765 235 690 640
Savannah, GA 530 330 650 295 65 710 915 160 390 445 215 410 80 940 235 345 735
Tampa, FL 310 250 110 365 640 350 465 580 750 585 765 670 630 485 495 640 280 580
640 455 435 575 790 680 265 705 770 835 940 880 810 280 705 660 85 745 335
Asheville, NC
Atlanta, GA
Charleston, SC
Chattanooga, TN
Clarksdale, MS
Durham-Chapel
Hill, NC
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Jackson, MS
Laffayette, LA
Lexington, KY
Little Rock, AR
Louisville, KY
Memphis, TN
Miami, FL
Nashville, TN
New Orleans, LA
Orlando, FL
Oxford, MS
Savannah, GA
cities, traffic can back up between 7am ¨¨All passengers in a car must wear seat belts
and 9am and between 4pm and 7pm for or you may be cited and fined. All children
rush hour. In the country, traffic is virtually under three must be in a child safety seat.
nonexistent. ¨¨As in the rest of the US, drive on the right-
hand side of the road. On highways, pass in the
ROAD RULES left-hand lane (but pushy drivers often pass
wherever space allows).
If you’re new to US roads, here are some ¨¨Right turns on a red light are permitted after
basics: a full stop, unless signs dictate otherwise. At
¨¨The maximum speed limit on interstates is four-way stop signs, the car that reaches the
75mph, but that drops to 65mph and 55mph in intersection first has right of way. In a tie, the
urban areas. Pay attention to the posted signs. car on the right has right of way.
City street speed limits vary between 15mph
and 45mph. PARKING
¨¨Police officers are generally strict with
speed-limit enforcement, and speeding tickets In the countryside parking is generally free.
are expensive. If caught going over the speed In cities you will have to pay at a parking
limit by 10mph, the fine is upwards of $150. meter (the cheapest), in a designated lot
or structure, or you can look for free neigh-
334
Driving Problem-Buster Florida & the South Driving Guide Fuel
¨¨What should I do if my car breaks down? Call the service numb er of your
car-hire company and they will call out a tow truck. If you’re bringing your own
car, it’s a good idea to join AAA (American Automobile Association), a 24-hour
roadside assistance service which can be called out to breakdowns at any time.
You can join, on call, at the time of your breakdown.
¨¨What if I have an accident? For minor accidents you can simply exchange
insurance information with the other party and then call your insurance (and/
or rental-car company) immediately to report it. If you distrust the other party,
call the police, who will fill out an objective report.
¨¨What should I do if I get stopped by the police? Show your license,
passport (if necessary) and proof of insurance (mandatory). And whatever you
do, act natural.
¨¨What if I can’t find anywhere to stay? This is likely only a problem in big
cities during a major event or festival. If you head out of town (not too far) on the
interstate, you are likely to find a cheap corporate motel that will have a room.
borhood street parking. There is usually rougher areas, though driving through
a time limit, and occasionally permit-only any neighborhood in daylight is rarely a
parking, so read the signs, or you may get problem. Be sure to keep all valuables out
an expensive ticket. of sight and doors locked while parked to
avoid theft.
FUEL RADIO
Gas stations are extremely common, ¨¨90.7 FM, WWOZ, New Orleans’ best jazz
except in national parks and high in the station, and one of the best in the country.
mountains, though you will never be more Featured in the HBO series Treme.
than 50 miles (at the very most) from ¨¨960 AM, WABG, broadcasting blues from the
a gas station. The vast majority sell un- Mississippi Delta
leaded, unleaded plus and premium gas, ¨¨89.9 FM, WEVL, Memphis’ only listener-
as well as diesel. Unleaded is cheapest and supported, independent radio station, broad-
will be fine for your rental car. casting blues, rock, world, and bluegrass
music.
SAFETY ¨¨100.1 FM, WRLT, Lightening 100, Nashville’s
independent radio station brings a number of
Country roads generally lack road lights, local and well-known artists into the studio.
and unless you are used to dark highways ¨¨107.9 FM, Atlanta’s premier hip-hop station
it can be intimidating. Generally, these are deluxe.
also the highways where cows or deer may
try to cross the road. Be very careful. Cows
kill. Seriously.
Cities such as Atlanta, Memphis, Mi-
ami and New Orleans certainly have their
335
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OUR READERS collaboration and assistance. It’s MARIELLA KRAUSE
a joy and privilege to work with and
Many thanks to the travelers who know you all! Thanks to Jay Cooke for sending me
used the last edition and wrote to to Florida the first time, which meant
us with helpful hints, useful advice AMY BALFOUR there’d be a next time and a time
and interesting anecdotes: Dave after that. Thanks also to Tim Bauer
Connelly, Mark Sauerhoff. Thank you Jennye Garibaldi for for making sure I ate during write-
entrusting me with this great up and for holding down the fort at
AUTHOR THANKS assignment! Big thanks to my home. And thanks to all the amazing
friends and experts in the Carolinas: artists of Wynwood for providing a
ADAM SKOLNICK Mike Stokes, Jay Bender, Dan Oden, day of art-filled inspiration.
Lacy Davidson, Deborah Wright,
Thanks to Stephanie Greene, Dana Paige Abbitt Schoenauer, Barbara PUBLISHER
McMahan, Carla Carlton, Phoebe Blue, David Kimball, Noell and Jack THANKS
Lipkis, Kristin Schofield and Kimball, and Jennifer Pharr Davis of
Louisville Basketball in Louisville; Blue Ridge Hiking Co. Climate map data adapted
Jennifer Bohler and Shanna from Peel MC, Finlayson BL &
Henderson in Nashville; Nealy ADAM KARLIN McMahon TA (2007) ‘Updated
Dozier, Walter Thompson, Chloe World Map of the Köppen-Geiger
Friedman, Lydia Hardy, and Chi Thank you to the Lonely Planet crew: Climate Classification,’ Hydrology
Bui in Atlanta; and Keith, Peggy Adam Skolnick and the rest of the and Earth System Sciences, 11,
and Melissa in Natchez. My love South team, the fabulous editorial 1633–44. Cover photographs: Front
and appreciation goes out to best team of Suki Gear, Bruce Evans, (clockwise from top): Oak Alley
Savannah buds Alicia Magee, Anna Alison Lyall and dear departed Plantation, Louisiana, Massimo
Cypris Jaubert and (by proxy) Jennye Garibaldi; mom and dad for Ripani/4Corners; Flamingo
Joe Bush. Thanks also to my co- raising me right; and Rachel Houge, mailbox, Sanibel Island, Florida,
authors, Jennye Garibaldi, Clifton who I married right after I turned Ocean/Corbis; Ford Thunderbird,
Wilkinson and the whole Lonely this book in. Sun Studio, Memphis, Andrew
Planet team for your guidance, Woodley/Alamy. Back: Magnolia
Plantation Gardens, South Carolina,
Pat Canova/Alamy.
THIS BOOK Commissioning Editors Jennye Managing Layout Designer
Garibaldi, Suki Gear, Clifton Jane Hart
This 2nd edition of Lonely Wilkinson Assisting Editor Carly Hall
Planet’s Florida & the South’s Coordinating Editors Andrea
Best Trips guidebook was Dobbin, Pete Cruttenden Assisting Cartographers
researched and written by Adam Fatima Basic, Mick Garrett
Skolnick, Amy Balfour, Adam Regional Senior Cartographers Cover Research Naomi Parker
Karlin and Mariella Krause. Alison Lyall Internal Image Research Kylie
McLaughlin
This guidebook was Coordinating Cartographer Thanks to Anita Banh, Ryan
commissioned in Lonely Planet’s Julie Dodkins Evans, Larissa Frost, Genesys
Oakland office, and produced by India, Jouve India, Trent Paton,
the following: Coordinating Layout Designer Gerard Walker
Mazzy Prinsep
336 Managing Editor Bruce Evans
Senior Editors Catherine
Naghten, Karyn Noble
INDEX
11th St Diner 83 Appalachian Trail 19, 105, Mennello Museum of
16th Street Baptist Church 181-9 American Art 65
178 aquariums Mississippi Museum of
Art 223
A Florida Aquarium 68
New Orleans Museum of
Aaron, Hank 252 John Pennekamp Coral Art 249
Abrams Falls 108 Reef State Park 75
Acadian Cultural Center 244 Norton Museum of Art 42
Acadian Village 244 Louisiana Universities Orlando Museum of Art 65
accommodations 25 Marine Consortium Salvador Dali Museum
activities, see individual (Lumcon) 250-1
68-9
activities Mississippi River Museum SCAD Museum of Art 191
Adventure Island 68 320 St Petersburg Museum of
African Queen 76
Alambama Scenic River architecture 14, 23 Fine Arts 69
Asheville 96, 98-9, 188
Trail 158 Arkansas Delta Rockabilly Athens 299, 306
Ali, Muhammad 283 Festival 230 Atlanta 29, 156, 161, 164-9,
alligators 50, 52, 59, 65,
Art Deco Welcome Center 169, 172, 179
69, 250 82-3 Attic Gallery 323
Amelia Island 36, 44 Auburn Mansion 205
Amicalola Falls State Park art galleries, see also Avery Island 250, 253
museums
158, 183, 189 B
Andalusia 211-12 Attic Gallery 323
Anderson, Walter 252 Backstreet Cultural Museum
Angel’s BBQ 167-8 Big Cypress Gallery 51 262
Anheuser-Busch Brewery
Cummer Museum of Art Bahia Honda Rail Bridge 79
325 37-8 Bahia Honda State Park 77-9
animals, see individual Bailey-Matthews Shell
Folk Art Center 95
animals Museum 70
Ann Norton Sculpture Frist Center for the Visual barbecue 20, 163-9
Arts 329 Barber Vintage Motorsports
Garden 42
Anne’s Beach 76 High Museum of Art 156 Museum 160
Apalachicola 58, 61 Bardstown 290, 294
Apollo Beach 39-41 Jacksonville Museum of Barrel House Distilling
Modern Art 38
Company 293
Jepson Center for the
Arts 191
John & Mabel Museum of
Art 69
King Center for
Nonviolent Social
Change 173
337
INDEX B baseball 252, 301 Seaside 58 St George Island State
Park 58
basketball 301, 303, 304-5 South Beach 82
Wakulla Springs State
Battery, the 137 St George Island State Park 59
Park 58
Battle of Brices Cross Roads Birmingham 177-8, 179
201 St Simons Island 146, 150
Birmingham Civil Rights
Battle of Franklin 198-99 Ten Thousand Islands 52 Institute 178
Battle of Kings Mountain 123 West Palm Beach 42 Birmingham Civil Rights
Memorial Trail 178-9
Battle of Shiloh 201, 312-13 Beale Street 271, 275, 310-11,
314, 330 Biscayne National Park 39
Battle of Vicksburg 224,
322-23 Beale Street Music Festival Black Point Wildlife Drive 41
314
Battlefield Drive 224, 322-3 Blanchard Springs Caverns
Bear Creek Mound 200 258
BB King Homecoming 234
Beaufort 132-3, 135 Blowing Rock 92, 98
BB King Museum & Delta
Interpretive Center 234 Benoist, Keith 204 Blue Devils 304
BB King’s 228 Bentonia 235 Blue Front, the 235
BBQ 20, 163-9 Bentonia Blues Festival Blue Ridge Parkway 89-99
235
beaches 16-17, 22, 150 Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor
Berendt, John 211 Center 96
Amelia Island 36, 44
best live music 21 bluegrass music 21, 97
Anne’s Beach 76
best outdoors 17 Blues Highway 227-37
Apollo Beach 39-41
best roads 15 blues music 22, 221-2,
Bahia Honda State Park 227-37, 271, 310-11, 322
77-9 Besthoff Sculpture Gardens
249 Bodie Island Lighthouse
Canaveral National 117
Seashore 39-41, 65 Big Bluff 258
Bonaventure Cemetery 211
Corolla 114 Big Cypress Gallery 51
Boone 91, 98
Cumberland Island 150, Big Cypress Preserve 52
151 Boone, Daniel 92, 283
Biltmore Estate 96-7
Daytona Beach 39 border crossings 333
bird-watching
Driftwood Beach 150 bottle trees 132
Avery Island 250
Fort Lauderdale Beach bourbon 287-95
42-3 Carters Lake 158
Bradfordville Blues Club 58
Gulf Islands National Dry Tortugas National
Seashore 57-8, 251-2 Park 80 Breaux Bridge 241-2, 245
Hunting Island State Park Gulf Islands National Breaux Bridge Crawfish
134 Seashore 251 Festival 242
Islamorada 76 JN ‘Ding’ Darling National Brown Chapel 177
Wildlife Refuge 70
Jekyll Island 150 Brunswick 146
Lake Martin 242
JN ‘Ding’ Darling National Bryant-Denny Stadium 300
Wildlife Refuge 70 Little St Simons Island
147-9 Bryson City 103, 110
Little St Simons Island
147-9, 150 Merritt Island National Bubba’s Blues Corner 230
Wildlife Refuge 41
Marathon 77 Buffalo River 258-9, 261
Myakka River State Park
Miami Beach 43, 82-3 69 Busch Gardens 68
Palm Beach 42 Pea Island National Wildlife business hours 25
Refuge 118
Sarasota 69 Butcher, Clyde 51
Bynum Mounds 202-3
338
C Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Lowndes County INDEX C
118 Interpretive Center 176
Ca d’Zan 69
Cape Hatteras National Martin Luther King Jr
Cades Cove 104, 108, 110 Seashore 117, 119 National Historic Site 173
Caesars Head State Park 124 Capote, Truman 212-13 National Civil Rights
Museum 330
Café Beignet 263 car insurance 332
National Voting Rights
Cajun Music Hall of Fame & car rental 24, 332-3 Museum 177
Museum 243
cars, see driving Rosa Parks Museum 174-5
Cajun people 244
Carter House 199 Selma to Montgomery
Cameron Indoor Stadium National Historic Trail 176
304-5 Carters Lake 158
Civil War 19, 20 see also
Canaveral National Seashore Carters Lake Marina 158 military sites
39-41, 65
Carvers Gap 188 Civilian Conservation Corps
canoeing & kayaking 124
Cat Head 230
Alabama Scenic River Clarksdale 221, 225, 230-1,
Trail 158 Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk 236, 322, 326
Art 322
Biscayne National Park 39 climate 24
cell phones 24
Buffalo River 258-9 Clingmans Dome 104-5, 185
Center for Southern Culture
Crystal River National 221 Clinton Presidential Park 256
Wildlife Refuge 60
Chapel Hill 305, 307 Clinton, Bill 256
Flamingo 49
Charleston 130, 135, 136-7 Club Ebony 234
Grand Isle State Park 250
Cheoah Bald 184 Coastal NC National Wildlife
Hot Springs 185-7 Refuge Gateway Visitor
Cherokee Foothills Scenic Center 116
Islamorada 76 Highway 121-7
college sports 297-305
Jockey’s Ridge State Park Cherokee people 103-4, 158
115-16 Colonel Poole’s 166
Cherry Log 166
John Pennekamp Coral Columbus 160, 212
Reef State Park 75 Chicasaw people 200, 201,
202-3 Confederate gravesites 201
Little St Simons Island 147
Chicasaw Village 202-3 Coral Castle 49
Mississippi River 204
Chicot State Park 242 Corolla 114
Mud Island River Park
320 Chimney Rock Park 96 costs 25
Myakka River State Park Choctaw people 203, 204 country music 21, 22, 314,
69 315, 328
Christ of the Deep 75
Nantahala Outdoor Center Country Music Hall of Fame
103, 184 Churchill Downs 283 & Museum 328
Pea Island National Wildlife Civil Rights Memorial Center Cowpens National Battlefield
Refuge 118 176 123-4
Sea Island 149 civil rights sites 21, 171-9 Crane Point 77
St George Island State Birmingham Civil Rights Creole peope 244
Park 58 Institute 178
Crimson Tide 158-9, 300
St Simons Island 146 Birmingham Civil Rights
Memorial Trail 178-9 Crossroads, the 221
Ten Thousand Islands 52
Civil Rights Memorial Crystal River 60
Tishomingo State Park Center 176
200 Crystal River National
Emmett Till Museum 222 Wildlife Refuge 60
George Washington Carver
Museum 159
339
INDEX C-F Cumberland Island 150, 151 Cherokee Foothills Scenic Elvis Presley Memorial
Cumberland Island National Highway 121-7 Highway 269-75
Seashore 151 documents 332, 333 Elvis Presley’s Birthplace
Cummer Museum of Art 37-8 Edisto Island Scenic Byway 270-1
Currituck Beach Lighthouse
134 Elvis Week 274
114 fuel 24, 335 Emerald Mound 204-5
Cypremont Point State Park Highway 1 35-45 emergencies 24
insurance 332 Emmett Till Museum 222
249-50 maps 333 Epcot Theme Park 67
mile markers 77 Ernest Coe Visitor Center 48
D Overseas Highway 73-81 Ernest Hemingway Home
parking 334-5
Dahlonega 156-8, 161, 184, road distances 334 and Museum 80
189 road rules 333, 334 Erwin’s View Trail 93
safety 333-4, 335 Eudora Welty House 214
Dahlonega Courthouse Gold Tail of the Dragon 104 Eunice 243-4
Museum 158 websites 333 Eureka Springs 260, 261
Dry Tortugas National Park events, see festivals & events
Darien 145-6, 152 80 Everglades 20, 47-53
Dark Corner Distillery 126 Duck 119 Everglades City 52, 53
Davis Bayou 252 Duke Energy World of Energy Evers, Medgar 224
Daytona Beach 39, 44 Museum 125-6
Daytona International Duke University 304 F
Durham 301, 304-5, 307
Speedway 39 Durham Bulls 301 Falls Park 126
De Soto, Hernan 202 Fat Matt’s Rib Shack 164-6
Decatur 156 E Faulkner, William 213-14, 221
Deepwater Horizon 252 Ferguson, Major Patrick
Delta Blues Museum 231 East Ellijay 166
Delta Cultural Center 230 East Ship Island 251 122-3
Delta National Wildlife ED White Plantation 240 Fernandina Beach 36
Edison & Ford Winter Festival International de
Refuge 325
Design District 43 Estates 70 Louisiane 244
Dexter Avenue King Edison, Thomas 70 festivals & events
Edisto Beach State Park 134
Memorial Church 175-6 Edisto Island Scenic Byway Arkansas Delta Rockabilly
Disney Hollywood Studios 67 Festival 230
Disney World 14, 63-71 134, 135
diving, see snorkeling & Edisto Island Serpentarium BB King Homecoming 234
Beale Street Music Festival
diving 134
Dollywood 109 Edmund Pettus Bridge 314
Downs, Andrew 186 Bentonia Blues Festival
Drane, Colonel James 204 176-7
Drayton Hall 130-2 Eisenhower, Dwight D 260 235
Driftwood Beach 150 Elizabethan Gardens 117 Breaux Bridge Crawfish
driver’s license 332 Elkmont Campground 110
driving 332-5 Elvis Museum 109 Festival 242
Elvis Week 274
best roads 15 Festival International de
Blue Ridge Parkway 89-99
car rental 24, 332-3 Louisiane 244
Gullah Festival 134
340
Juke Joint Festival 231 Fort Sumter 130, 137 Great Smoky Mountains INDEX F-H
Fort Valley 160 Railroad 103
Kentucky Bourbon Festival Four Roses 291-2
292 Frankfort 283 Greenville 126, 127, 235
Frankfort Cemetery 283 Greenwood 233-4, 237
King Biscuit Blues Festival Franklin 198-9 Grinder’s Stand 200
230 Frazier International History Grotto Falls 108, 109
Ground Zero 231
Live On The Levee 230 Museum 289 Gulf Coast Exploreum 252
French Camp 204, 207 Gulf Islands National
River to the Rails 233 French Camp Museum 204
French Quarter 14 Seashore 57-8, 61, 251-2
Savannah Stopover 147 Fresh Air 168 Gullah culture 134
Frist Center for the Visual Gullah Festival 134
Sunflower River Blues &
Gospel Festival 235 Arts 329 H
fuel 24, 335
First African Baptist Church Hagood Mill Historic Site &
151 G Folklore Center 126
First Ebeneazor Baptist Gainesville 60, 61 Handy, WC 221, 228, 231-2,
Church 173 gas 24, 335 271, 330
Gateway Arch 325
Five Points 37 Gatlinburg 108, 110, 185, 189 hang-gliding 116
Gatlinburg Sky Lift 108 Hank Aaron Stadium 252
Flagler Museum 42 George Washington Carver Hatteras Village 118, 119
hawks 124
Flagler, Henry 77 Museum 159 Hayes, Isaac 312
Georgia Sea Turtle Center 150 Headley-Whitney Museum
Flamingo 49, 53 Gibson Beale Street
293
Flamingo Visitor Center 49 Showcase 311 Heaven Hill 290
Glendora 221-2 Helena 229-30, 321-2
Flannery O’Connor Golden Isles 143-53 Hemingway, Ernest 80
Childhood Home 211 golf 146, 149-50 Hemmed-in-Hollow 259
Graceland 19, 274, 275, 312 Henson, Jim 234-5
Florida Aquarium 68 Graceland Automobile Hickory Nut Falls 96
High Museum of Art 156
Florida City 49-50, 53 Museum 274 highlights 8-10, 12-21
Grand Isle 250 Highway 1 35-45
Florida Museum of Natural Grand Isle State Park 250 Highway 61 Blues Museum
History 60 Grand Ole Opry 315
Grandfather Mountain 92-3 234
Foggy Mountain Gem Mine 91 Grant, General Ulysses S hiking
Folk Art Center 95 223-4, 313, 323 Amicalola Falls State Park
Graveyard of the Atlantic 183
food 20, 23, 25, see also
barbecue, peaches Museum 118 Appalachian Trail 19, 181-9
Great Smoky Mountains Big Cypress Preserve 52
football 159, 299, 300-1, Caesars Head State Park
304, 305 National Park 12-13, 101-10,
184-5 124
Ford, Henry 70 Carters Lake 158
Forsyth Park 144, 190
Fort East Martello 80
Fort George Island 36-7
Fort Jefferson 80
Fort King George 146
Fort Lauderdale 42-3, 45
Fort Massachusetts 252
Fort Matanzas National
Monument 38-9
Fort Myers 70
Fort Pickens 58
Fort Raleigh National
Historic Site 116-17
341
INDEX H-K hiking continued Houndstooth 300-1 Jockey’s Ridge State Park
Hunting Island State Park 115-16
Cheoah Bald 184
134, 135 John & Mabel Museum of
Chimney Rock Park 96 Hurricane Katrina 252 Art 69
Clingmans Dome 104-5, I John Pennekamp Coral Reef
185 State Park 75
Ichetucknee Springs State
Grandfather Mountain 92-3 Park 59-60 Johnson, Lyndon 177
Johnson, Robert 221, 320
Great Smoky Mountains Indian Key 76-7 Jordan, Michael 305
National Park 104, 107, Indianola 222, 234 Juke Joint Festival 231
108, 109 insurance 332
International Motor Sports K
Greenville 126
Hall of Fame 300 kayaking, see canoeing &
Hunting Island State Park internet access 24 kayaking
134 Islamorada 76, 81
Keeneland Association 281-2
Linville Falls 93 J Kelly Ingram Park 178
Kennedy Space Center 64-5,
Max Patch Mountain 187 Jack Daniel’s Tennessee
Whiskey 313-14 67-8
Merritt Island National Kentucky Bourbon Festival
Wildlife Refuge 41 Jackson 205, 214, 216,
222-3, 225 292
Mount Magazine State Kentucky Derby 283
Park 260 Jackson Square 263, 325 Kentucky Derby Museum
Jackson, Andrew 103-4,
Mt Mitchell State Park 283
93-5 204, 263 Kentucky Horse Park 278
Jackson, Jimmie Lee 176, 177 Kentucky Military History
Mt Pisgah Trailhead 97 Jacksonville 37-8, 44
Jacksonville Museum of Museum 283
Natural Bridge State Key Largo 76, 81
Resort Park 280-1 Modern Art 38 Key West 80, 81
Jasper 258, 261 Kill Devil Hills 114, 119
Ponca 258-9 Jean Laffitte National Park King & Prince Golf Course
Southeastern Everglades 240 146
48-9 Jeff Busby Park 204 King, Albert 312
Jekyll Island 150-1, 153 King, BB 222, 228, 230, 234,
Table Rock State Park Jekyll Island Museum 150
124-5 Jekyll Island National 271, 321, 322
King Biscuit Blues Festival
Tishomingo State Park 200 Historic Landmark District
150 230
Wesser Bald 184 Jepson Center for the Arts King Biscuit Time 230, 321
191 King Center for Nonviolent
Whitaker Point 259 Jim Beam 289
Jim Henson Exhibit 234 Social Change 173
Historic New Orleans Jim’s Bluff 258 King, Dr Martin Luther 133,
Collection 262-3 JN ‘Ding’ Darling National
Wildlife Refuge 70 171-9, 330
Historic Pensacola Village Kings Mountain National
56-7
Military Park 122-3
history 23 Kingsley Plantation 36-7
Kirby Storter Boardwalk 52
Holloway’s Pink Pig 166
Homestead 49-50, 53
Homosassa Springs Wildlife
State Park 60
Horn Island 251
horseriding 280
Hot Springs 185-7, 189
Hot Springs Spa & Mineral
Baths 185
342
Knoxville 304 Little Rock Central High Massengale Park 146 INDEX K-M
Krzyzewski, Mike 304, 305 School 256
Kyle’s Landing 259 Matanzas Inlet 38
Little Rock Knob 188
L Little St Simons Island 147-9, Max Patch Mountain 187-8
Lady Jane Shrimp Boat 146 150, 152 Máximo Gómez Park 43
Lafayette 244, 245 Live On The Levee 230
Lafayette Cemetery No 1 LocoRopes 258 McCullers, Carson 212
Louisiana State University
(New Orleans) 215 Memphis 178, 179, 222, 228,
Lake Guntersville 161 301 236, 316, 320, 326, 330-1
Lake Lure 96 Louisiana Universities
Lake Martin 242 Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul
Lane Southern Orchards Marine Consortium Museum 274
(Lumcon) 250-1
160 Louisville 283, 284-5, 288-9, Mennello Museum of
Lansky Brothers 272-3 294, 301-3, 306 American Art 65
Laurel Falls 108 Louisville Slugger Field 301
Laurel Fork Falls 188 Louisville Slugger Museum Mercer-Williams House 190
Laurel Fork Gorge 188 301
Lee, Harper 212-13 Lowcountry 129-35 Meredith, James 224
LeFlore, Greenwood 204 Lower Mississippi River
Leiper’s Fork 198 Museum 323 Meriwether Lewis Site 200
Leland 234-5 Lowndes County
Levitt Shell 273 Interperative Center 176 Merritt Island National
Lexington 166-8, 278, 284, Lowry Park Zoo 68 Wildlife Refuge 41
Lumcon 250
293, 295, 303-4, 306 Lummus Park 82-3 Miami 26-7, 43, 45, 82-3
lighthouses Lynchburg 316
Miami Beach 43, 45, 82-3
Bodie Island Lighthouse M
117 Miami Beach Post Office
Madewood Plantation 240 83
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Magic Kingdom 66-7
118 Maker’s Mark 290-1 Miccosukee Indian Museum
Mamou 242-3 51-2
Currituck Beach Manatee Observation Deck
Lighthouse 114 Middleton Place 132, 135
41
Ponce Inlet Lighthouse 39 manatees 41, 52, 60 Midway 282, 284
St Simons Lighthouse 146 Manning, Peyton 304
Lightner Museum 38 maps 333 mile markers 77
Lignumvitae Key 76 Marathon 77, 81
Lignumvitae Key Botanical Marietta 168 military sites
State Park 77 Marine Corps Recruit Depot
Lincoln Road Mall 82 Battery, the 137
Linville Falls 93 133
literature 210-15, 223 Martin Luther King Jr Battle of Brices Cross
Little Havana 43 Roads 201
Little Rock 256-7, 261 Birthplace 172-3
Little Rock 9 260 Martin Luther King Jr Battle of Franklin 198-99
National Historic Site 173 Battle of Kings Mountain
123
Battle of Shiloh 201, 312-13
Battle of Vicksburg 224,
322-23
Battlefield Drive 224,
322-3
Cowpens National
Battlefield 123-4
Fort Matanzas National
Monument 38-9
Fort Sumter 130, 137
Indian Key 76-7
Kentucky Military History
Museum 283
343
INDEX M military sites continued Mountain Farm Museum 104 Lower Mississippi River
Museum 323
Kings Mountain National mountain music 97
Military Park 122-3 Miccosukee Indian
Mountain View 258, 261 Museum 51-2
National Civil War Naval
Museum 160 Mt LeConte 107, 110 Middleton Place 132
National Museum of Naval Mt Mitchell State Park 93-5 Mississippi River Museum
Aviation 57 320
Mt Pisgah Trailhead 97
Old Exchange & Provost Mountain Farm Museum
Dungeon 136 Mud Island River Park 320 104
Shiloh National Military Muhammad Ali Center 283 Museum of Discovery 256
Park 312-13
Museum of Discovery 256 Museum of the Cherokee
Tuskegee Airmen National Indian 103-4
Historic Site 173-4 Museum of the Cherokee
Indian 103-4 Museum of the Circus 69
USS Alabama 252
Museum of the Circus 69 New Orleans African
Vicksburg National Military American Museum 262
Park 224 Museum of the Horse 278-9
Old Capitol Museum 222-3
Mingo Falls 108 museums, see also art
galleries, civil rights sites, Old Courthouse Museum
Mingus Mill 104 military sites, music muse- 213
ums, sports museums
Mission San Luis 59 Orlando Science Center 65
Backstreet Cultural
Mississippi Museum of Art Museum 262 Oscar Getz Museum of
223 Whiskey History 290
Bailey-Matthews Shell
Mississippi River 15, 204, Museum 70 Parris Island Museum 133
219-25, 319-27
Dahlonega Courthouse Ringling Museum
Mississippi River Museum Gold Museum 158 Complex 69
320
Duke Energy World of Smith Robertson Museum
Missouri 325 Energy Museum 125-6 223
Mitchell, Dr Elisha 93-5 Ernest Hemingway Home Spanish Quarter Museum
and Museum 80 38
Mitchell, Margaret 92
Flagler Museum 42 Telfair Academy of Arts &
Mobile 252, 253 Sciences 191
Florida Museum of Natural
mobile phones 24 History 60 Thomas D Clark Center for
Kentucky History 283
money 25 Frazier International
History Museum 289 Thomas Wolfe Memorial 96
Monroeville 212-13
French Camp Museum 204 University of Mississippi
Montgomery 179 Museum 221
Graveyard of the Atlantic
Morgan, Daniel 123 Museum 118 Walter Anderson Museum
252
Moses H Cone Memorial Hagood Mill Historic Site
Park 92 and Folklore Center 126 Wild Horse Museum 114
motor racing 39, 160, Headley-Whitney Museum Ybor City Museum State
299-300 293 Park 68
motorcycles, see driving Historic New Orleans York W Bailey Museum 133
Collection 262-3
Mount Magazine State Park music 21, 22, 335, see also
260 Historic Pensacola Village individual styles
56-7
Mount Mitchell 187 music museums
Jekyll Island Museum 150
Mountain Crossings at BB King Museum & Delta
Walasi-Yi 183 Lightner Museum 38 Interpretive Center 234
mountain-biking 158
344
Cajun Music Hall of Fame Natural Bridge State Resort Old Trace 199-200 INDEX M-P
& Museum 243 Park 280-1, 284 Ole Smoky Moonshine Holler
Country Music Hall of Neptune Park 146 185
Fame & Museum 328 New Daisy Theater 311 opening hours 25
New Orleans 28, 215, 217, Original Mast General Store
Delta Blues Museum 231
Delta Cultural Center 230 248, 253, 262-3, 324-5, 91
Dollywood 109 326 Orlando 65, 71
Elvis Museum 109 New Orleans Museum of Orlando Museum of Art 65
Graceland 274 Art 249 Orlando Science Center 65
Grand Ole Opry 315 New Orleans African Oscar Getz Museum of
Highway 61 Blues Museum American Museum 262
New York Yankees 301 Whiskey History 290
234 Newfound Gap Overlook outdoor activities 22
Stax Museum of American 105-7 Outer Banks Center for
Neyland Stadium 304
Soul Music 311-12 Nicholasville 280 Wildlife Education 114
Sun Studio 271-2, 312, Nine Mile Pond 49 Overseas Highway 73-81
North Carolina 113-19 Overton Park 273, 275
331 North Carolina University Owens-Thomas House 144
WC Handy House Museum 305 Oxford 201, 213-14, 216,
North Florida 55-61
330 Norton Museum of Art 42 220-1, 225, 300
Music Row 315 Ozark Folk Center State
Myakka River State Park 69 O
Park 258
N Oaks, the 159
Oasis Visitor Center 52 P
Nags Head 119 Ober Gatlinburg Aerial
Nantahala Falls 184 Pa-hay-okee Overlook 49
Nantahala Outdoor Center Tramway 185 Palm Beach 42
Ocean Springs 252, 253 parking 334-5
103, 184 Ochopee 52, 53 Parkway Craft Center 92
Napoleon House 215 Oconaluftee River Trail 104 Parnassus Books 315
NASCAR 299-300 Oconaluftee Visitor Center Parris Island Museum 133
Nashville 198, 206, 314-15, Parton, Dolly 109
104 Paul W Bryant Museum 159
316, 328-9 Oconee Nuclear Station 125 Paul’s 166
Natchez 205, 207, 214-15, O’Connor, Flannery 211-12 Payne, Sunshine Sonny 230
Ocracoke 118 Pea Island National Wildlife
217, 224, 225, 323-4, 326 oil spills 322
Natchez people 204-5 Old Capitol Museum 222-3 Refuge 118
Natchez Trace Parkway Old Courthouse Museum 213 peaches 160
Old Exchange & Provost Penn Center 133-4
197-207 Pensacola 56-7, 61
Natchez Trace Parkway Dungeon 136 Perky, Richter 80
Old River 204 Perky’s Bat Tower 79-80
Visitors Center 201 Old Seven Mile Bridge 77 Petit Bois Island 251
National Civil Rights Old Slave Mart Museum 136 petrol 24, 335
Pharr Davis, Jennifer 94
Museum 330 Pharr Mounds 201
National Civil War Naval
Museum 160
National Museum of Naval
Aviation 57
National Voting Rights
Museum 177
345
INDEX P-S Phatwater Challenge 204, Rum Boogie 228 River Road African
324 Rupp Arena 304 American Museum 324
Ryman Auditorium 315, 329
Philadelphia Phillies 301 Slave Haven Underground
Phillips, Sam 271 S Railroad Museum 320
Pigeon Forge 109
Pigeon Key 77 safety 333-4, 335 Smith Center 305
Ponca 258-9, 261 Salem 127
Ponce Inlet 39 Salvador Dali Museum 68-9 Smith Robertson Museum
Ponce Inlet Lighthouse 39 Sam’s BBQ1 168 223
Pork U 168 San Marco 37
Prairie Acadian Cultural Sanford Stadium 299 Smith, Dean 305
Sanibel Island 70, 71
Center 243-4 Sarasota 69-70, 71 Smoky Mountains 101-11
Preservation Hall 249 Savannah 143-53, 144, 152,
Presley, Elvis 269-75 snorkeling & diving
167-8, 169, 190-1, 210-11,
R 216 Bahia Honda State Park
Savannah College of Art & 77-9
radio 335 Design (SCAD) 190-1
Rainbow Falls 108 Savannah Stopover 147 Biscayne National Park
Raven Cliff Falls 124 SCAD Museum of Art 191 39
Red Mile 279 Sea Island 149-50, 152
Reilly, Ignatius J 215 Seaside 58 Crystal River National
Rice, Anne 215 Selma 176-7, 177 Wildlife Refuge 60
Ridgeway Mountain Bike Selma to Montgomery
National Historic Trail 176 Dry Tortugas National
Trail 158 Sentient Bean 190 Park 80
Ringling Museum Complex Seven Mile Bridge 77
Sevierville 109 Gulf Islands National
69 Shaker Village at Pleasant Seashore 251-2
River Road African American Hill 280, 284
Shark Valley 50 John Pennekamp Coral
Museum 324 Shiloh National Military Park Reef State Park 75
River to the Rails 233 312-13
road distances 334 Siesta Key 69 Key West 80
road rules 334 Signal Hill 260
Roan High Knob 188 Skunk Ape Research Pigeon Key 77
Roan Mountain State Park Headquarters 52
Slave Haven Underground Sonny Boy Williamson’s
188, 189 Railroad Museum 320 Grave 233
Roaring Fork Motor Nature slavery sites, see also civil
rights sites soul music 21, 22
Trail 104, 109 Kingsley Plantation 36-7
rock-climbing 280-1, 258 Old Slave Mart Museum South Beach 82
Rockefeller Monument 105
Roosevelt, Franklin D 105, 136 South Carolina 129-35
124 South Carolina Artisans
Rosa Parks Museum 174-5 Center 132
Roswell 164-6
Rowan Oak 213-14 Southeastern Everglades
Royal Palm Visitor Center 48 48-9
Southern Gothic 214
Southern Poverty Law
Center 176
Southern Shores 119
Space Coast 42, 45
Spanish Quarter Museum 38
sports 297-305, see also
individual sports
sports museums
Barber Vintage
Motorsports Museum
160
346
Graceland Automobile T Tuskegee Institute 174 INDEX S-V
Museum 274 Tuskegee Institute National
Table Rock State Park 124-5,
International Motor Sports 127 Historic Site 159
Hall Of Fame 300 Tutwiler 231-3
Tail of the Dragon 104 Tutwiler Tracks 233
Kentucky Derby Museum Twain, Mark 205, 215, 324,
283 Talladega Superspeedway
296-7, 299-300 325
Louisville Slugger Museum Tweetsie Railroad 92
301 Tallahassee 59, 61 Tybee Island 147
Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Tallahassee Historic Capitol U
Museum 274 59
Universal Orlando 65-6
Muhammad Ali Center 283 Tampa 67-8, 71 University of Alabama 300
University of Florida 301
Museum of the Horse Tar Heels 305 University of Georgia 299
278-9 University of Kentucky
telephone services 24
Paul W Bryant Museum 303-4
159 Telfair Academy of Arts & University of Mississippi
Sciences 191
Springer Mountain 183 220-1
Telfair Square 191 University of Mississippi
St Augustine 38, 44
Ten Thousand Islands 52 Museum 221
St George Island State University of South Carolina
Park 58 Thibodaux 240, 245
301
St Mary’s 151, 153 Third Man Records 315 University of Tennesee
St Petersburg 68-9, 71 Thomas D Clark Center for 304
Kentucky History 283 Ursuline Convent 263
St Petersburg Museum of USS Alabama 252
Fine Arts 69 Thomas Wolfe Memorial 96
V
St Simons Island 146-7, 150, Thompson, Hunter S 282
152 Valle Crucis 91, 98
Thorncrown Chapel 260 Valvano, Jim 304
St Simons Lighthouse 146 Vanderbilt, George 97
Thoroughbred Center 279 Vandy’s 166-7
Staple Singers 312 Vaught-Hemmingway
Till, Emmett 221
Statesboro 166-7, 169 Stadium 300
tipping 25 Venice 325
Station Inn 329 Vermilionville 244
Tishomingo State Park Versailles 282, 292
Stax Museum of American 200-1 Vicksburg 223-4, 225, 322-3,
Soul Music 311-12
Todd-Lincoln, Mary 293 326
Steadman, Ralph 282 Vicksburg National Military
Trail of Tears 103-4
Sugarlands Visitor Center Park 224
107-8, 185 transport 25, see also Viernes Culturales 43
driving vineyards 156-7, 158, 184
Sugarloaf Key 79-80
Tunica 228-9, 320
Summitt, Pat 304
Tupelo 201, 270-1
Sun Studio 271-2, 312, 331
Tupelo-Baldcypress Swamp
Sunburst Horsemanship 204
Center 280
Turner, Ike 312
Sunbury Crab Company 144-5
Turner, Tina 312
Sunflower River Blues &
Gospel Festival 235 turtles 150
surfing 41 Tuscaloosa 158-9, 161, 300-1,
306
Swallow at the Hollow 164-6
Tuskegee 159-60, 173-4
Swamp Rabbit Trail 126
Tuskegee Airmen National
Historic Site 173-4
347
INDEX W-Y W Weeki Wachee Springs 60 Williamson, Sonny Boy
Welty, Eudora 214 229-230, 233, 234, 321
Wakulla Springs 58-9, 61 Wesser Bald 184
West Palm Beach 42, 45 WinStar Farm 282
Wakulla Springs State Park West Ship Island 251 Wolfe, Thomas 96
59 Wetlands Acadian Cultural Wolfsonian-FIU 83
Women’s Basketball Hall of
Walt Disney World 14, Center 240
63-71 whiskey 287-95 Fame 304
whiskey tea 290 Woodford Reserve 292-3
Walter Anderson Museum Whitaker Point 259 Wormsloe Plantation
252 White, Jack 315
Wicked Weed 96 Historic Site 168
Walterboro 132 wi-fi 24 Wright Brothers National
Wild Horse Museum 114
Walterboro Wildlife Wild Turkey 292 Memorial 114-15
Sanctuary 132 Wilder, General John T 188 Wright, Richard 214
Wilderness Waterway 52 Wynwood 43
Washington, Booker T Willet 290 Wynwood Walls 43
159-60, 174 William J Clinton Presidential
Y
Waterrock Knob Visitor Center 256
Center 97 Williams, Roy 305 Ybor City 68, 71
Williams, Tennessee 215 Ybor City Museum State
Watson, Doc 91
Park 68
WC Handy House Museum York W Bailey Museum 133
330
weather 24
websites 25, 333
Weeki Wachee 60
348
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USA- FLORIDA AND THE SOUTH'S BEST TRIPS
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