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You left out Lafayette, Louisiana too. Its right at the intersection of I49 south from shreveport and I10 east to New Orleans and CANNOT be missed.
I left out all sorts of fascinating places! I could fill a library with fascinating things to do, see, taste, smell, feel, and listen to in the great American South - but I'll let others pick up where I left off.
Fly into Norfolk, VA and start by checking out Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown. Don't forget Virginia Beach - I think it would be interesting to an Australian to compare coastlines. Be sure to indulge in some fantastic seafood while you're there.
Drive west from there through the rolling green countryside of Virginia into the Shenandoah Valley and down to Asheville, NC. Those Smoky Mountains are hauntingly beautiful. Check out Cades Cove in Tennessee and then drive on thru Knoxville and into Nashville. Check out the country music scene there and then drive down to Memphis to hang out on Beale Street and tour Elvis' home. BE SURE TO EAT BBQ while you're there! You have to spend some time in the Mississippi Delta to get the true sense of the American south.
After that, you could circle on down thru Arkansas into East Texas. Fort Worth is the gateway to the American West and the very last shred of "southern" in these parts. You'd get a great taste of the early days of the West as well as some terrific Tex Mex food. Then you can hop on I-20 and drive east through Tyler (a very nice small city) at which point you will immediately realize you're definitely in the South. Anyway, in Shreveport, Louisiana (an hour and a half east of Tyler and three hours east of Dallas) head south through Louisiana to...
NEW ORLEANS! No tour of the American south is complete without visiting this beautiful, enigmatic city! Plan to spend three or four days here. Check out the French Quarter (and the beignets at Cafe du Monde) and the Garden District. Spend a day (and a night) in the Warehouse District. Don't miss City Park in Metairie (a suburb of Nawlins) and the excellent art museum there, and the WW2 museum in the warehouse district. I highly recommend eating your way thru New Orleans! Some of the best food you will ever put in your mouth can be found there. You can diet later.
From New Orleans, head along the coast to Biloxi and spend a day on Ship Island. You could also check out Jefferson Davis' home in Biloxi. It's poignant and interesting. Keep in mind that this entire area was decimated by hurricanes a few years ago but is being rebuilt. Just like New Orleans after Katrina - some things are forever lost, but some things are much improved.
Meander on to Mobile and check out the sights in that beautiful and interesting city. Great southern cuisine abounds there. Spend a day or two on the sugar beaches of Gulf Shores, Alabama - the Redneck Riviera.
Then head northeast to Atlanta! You can't go on a southern tour without checking out that city. Great nightlife and shopping - but it IS a big metro area and typical of that sort of place, so I wouldn't spend more than a day or so there. Then you can head east to Savannah or Charleston - two fabulous coastal cities with lots of beautiful historic homes and neighborhoods, museums, and restaurants. No honky tonk bidness here - no sirree. This is the height of the genteel South - the old South. Terrific southern cuisine here as well.
Mosey on north up the coastline and spend a day or two on the Outer Banks islands of North Carolina. Wild horses still live on those islands - descendants of horses brought over in colonial days. The islands are windswept, isolated, and have a totally different feeling from, say, Virginia Beach or Gulf Shores. More solitary.
Then you can drive on back up to Virginia and fly back out of Norfolk. Nice bit circle.
I'd love to make that trip myself. It would take at least a month but wow, it would be a terrific journey.
Great post Kathryn.They would not let me rep you again.
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