Summertime Tour of the Deep South
chicagotravelgirl
Two dads, two teenage daughters, no whining. The deep south dazzled.
10 Sep 2006
based on 13 votes
Hot South to See at Cool Prices. Summertime is the time to explore Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. Yes, the Living is Easy.
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Explore locations featured in this Traveler List:
Memphis, Vicksburg, Vacherie, New Orleans, Pensacola, Birmingham
- Category: Perfect week or more
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Traveler type: Culture, Sightseeing, Beachgoers
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Appeals to: Couples/romantics, Singles, Families with teenagers, Seniors, Students, Budget travellers , Tourists
- Seasons: Spring, Summer
- Tags: American South, Memphis, New Orleans, Mississippi, Alabama, Pensacola, Plantations, Museum
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| You don't have to be an Elvis fan to appreciate Sun Studio. The small upstairs museum through which you are led by a pleasant, humorous guide is filled with memorabilia from historic recording sessions. It sets the stage for the vintage studio below where the ambiance is rich with momentous recordings by such seminal figures of rock as Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and, yes, the King. The actual vintage microphone used by Elvis and others, soon to be ensconced at the Smithsonian, is there for photo op's, and the instruments in the studio have been used recently by the likes of U2. The playing of the recordings as you contemplate your surroundings deepens the experience. Well worth the price of admission and if you're a fan of Rock N Roll history, an absolute must. |
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| What a surprise! I had been to Beale Street once before in the early eighties and found it weak and overweening. Beale Street today is way hot! Almost three blocks long, it is slowly and steadily building a case as a rollicking alternative to the smelly, played-out frat-party of Bourbon Street. Here the musical heritage is the blues, and unlike Bourbon Street, where vintage jazz is hard to find among the seedy strip joints and redneck cover bands, genuine, passionate blues pours out onto Beale Street from a dozen storefront bars all resplendent with neon and hungry to express a love of the form. We started out at BB Kings Blues Club which has a marketing savvy akin to that of Planet Hollywood or the Hard Rock Cafe but which, I have to tell you, did not dissapoint when it came to the main course: Blues. Other clubs felt even more genuine and no less sincere. The open air bandstand in the city park was a real treat. The guitarist jumped down and played to us face-to-face as we stood looking on. It helps to bring two pretty teenage girls with you. And they loved it. Beale Street is the real deal. Give it another shot - or two. |
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| Much more modest and less gaudy than I had expected, Graceland is a prime example of lavish early seventies home decor (lime green vinyl, bright blue velvet, inert banks of dial TVs). Basically, if a person in 1974 had limitless money to spend on the hippest possible home decor this is what he/she would've done. The fact that Graceland is also a museum and shrine to one of rock's towering figures will factor into your appreciation to the extent that you are devoted to the king; and if you are a rabid fan, you have already been here, or will be coming soon, no matter what I say. But for the rest of us, Graceland is still worth seeing if for no other reason than it takes us back to a certain time, preserved here better than any other place I've seen, and, it has to be admitted, because it says something weird and wonderful about the American character, not only because of what Elvis left behind, but because of the unrelenting tide of oddly religious devotees who converge here as if it were a white shag and formica mecca. You'll notice them because, on first seeing the house, they'll be itching like a man on a fuzzy tree. |
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4. Vicksburg National Military Park
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| The Siege of Vicksburg along with the associated Battle of Gettysburg were, without question, the turning points of the Civil War. In fact, it can be argued that without Grant laying siege to Vicksburg, Lee would never have decided to invade the North. So Vicksburg is - and was - the key! The National Military Park is a long, wide swatch of parkland bordering the east side of the City of Vicksburg, a sixteen mile drive along a narrow meandering road past monuments to the various divisions who fought here (some as white and noble as anything seen in Arlington National Cemetery). The preferred method of touring is to buy a CD at the Visitor's Center which you slip into your car's stereo and follow it as it guides you along the road from spot to spot, explaining what happened there. The problem is that the tour doesn't unfold in chronological order so you end up getting unrelated episodes, which, while they are interesting in their own right, give you little sense of the narrative of the battle. Moreover, the landscape, while still rolling and cut with narrow defiles, is now heavily wooded in areas, so it's difficult to envision it as it was. The best part, by far, is the resurrected USS Cairo, a union ironclad sunk in the Mississippi, forgotten for eighty years and then rediscovered and restored to its original condition. It is quite impressive and gives you an appreciation of 19th century engineering. And the view from the top of the bluff overlooking the bend in the Mississippi (now the rerouted Yazoo River. The Mississippi - fickle river - changed its course away from Vicksburg several decades ago) is splendid and gives you a sense of why this was such a difficult city to conquer. |
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| There are a few iconic locations in the United States: Monument Valley in the West, the Statue of Liberty in the East, Mount Shasta in the Northwest... but what location is truly representative of the South? I would suggest Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie, Louisiana. This emblematic anti-bellum mansion with its wedding cake exterior, soaring columns, stately veranda, arranged in dignified repose at the end of a rustic lane bordered by twin rows of 300 year oaks dripping in Spanish moss has got to be it. For years filmmakers and advertisers have known it, as Oak Alley has appeared in countless movies, television shows and magazine ads, and during the summer months travelers on a budget can enjoy it as well by staying in one of the half dozen cottages on the grounds for what amounts to a pittance. We stayed in a three bedroom cottage, nicely appointed, impeccably clean with a full modern kitchen and all the amenities for $135.00 per night, breakfast included. In the morning we walked the grounds and marveled at the beauty of this working sugar plantation established in the 18th century. Mansion tours are available for $10. |
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Let's get this straight right out of the box, the French Quarter never flooded. So if you love the Crescent City for the charm of the Vieux Carre, little has changed from your pre-Katrina experience, except that there are fewer tourists, and (if it's possible) there's a more open-hearted welcome from your hosts who desperately need your tourist dollars to get the good times rolling again . Not that anything's missing in the spirit of the town. Sure, some of the restaurants are closed at inconvenient hours (call ahead to be sure your itinerary doesn't get derailed) and some weak-kneed multi-nationals have pulled up stakes citing insurance concerns (but you can find the Virgin Record store in any town, so no loss), but the essence of New Orleans is alive and well. Gumbo and the French Market, street performers and hot brass, beignets and chicory coffee, and easy-on-the-wallet prices that will let you soak up the Big Easy for a week at the cost of a single night in a dumpy room in New York City. Yes, and what about crime? You've been hearing the stories. Well, look, it may be cold comfort, but New Orleans has never been a very safe city. Part of the price you pay for the earthiness and liberality of the place is the fact that it has never aspired to be overly authoritarian (if you want that, go to Houston - and see what a charming time you'll have). But if you have the daring and pizzazz to take a risk, New Orleans will reward you in spades. Now, as always, New Orleans is alive and real. |
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7. National World War II Museum (Formerly National D-Day Museum)
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| If you love museums, you must see this. If you honor our nation's grandest hour, you must see this. If this museum was located in Washington DC, it would be the buzz of every travel journal in the world. But because it's in New Orleans it's still in the process of being discovered, and with the post-Katrina tourist malaise, it's struggling again to rise from obscurity. Let me say this, the World War II Museum meets and surpasses the museums of The Smithsonian. It's heart and earnestness is on display in every display. It knows that the allied victory in World War II was the pinnacle of American greatness and it lays it out for you in eye-opening detail with expert use of video and audio archives and comparative displays that help you appreciate the enormity of what occured from 1939 to 1945. The great story of America's triumph must never be lost or diminished. The National World War II Museum is working hard to be sure it isn't. Please pay them a visit. You will not regret it. |
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| The sugary white sand of Pensacola Beach rivals that of Clearwater Beach in Tampa but with much less in the way of crowds and overdevelopment. Still in the process of shedding its image as a jewel in the crown of the Redneck Riviera, Pensacola Beach is posied to emerge as one of Florida's premier waterfronts. Having suffered recent set backs in its development due to Hurricane Ivan in 2004, Pensacola Beach's loss is your gain. While the developers take a deep breath and figure out how to build their exclusive hotels and condos while shifting the insurance risk onto the tax payers, you can still enjoy its miles of unrestricted beaches. The surf is warm and welcoming from June to September and the prices are those of southern Alabama not Dade County. So come down and enjoy. |
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9. Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
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| Few museums have taken a slice of American history and presented it as movingly and informatively as The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Covering the years from 1952-1968, this brand spanking new musuem expertly unfolds the story of black Americans struggle for civil rights, culminating in a video presentation of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech which restores all the original emotional punch by coming at the conclusion of the heart-rending narrative provided by the exhibits. Virtuoso use of video and audio segments and recreations of physical settings, help to take you back in time and relive the feelings and atmosphere of the Jim Crow South and the groundswell movement against it. Especially interesting are the 15 minute movie that proceeds the self-guided tour laying out the history of blacks in Birmingham, and an appalling video of Southern Whites in 1964 trying to rationalize their cruel treatment of blacks. The park across from the musuem is also worth seeing. It's statues of water cannons and attack dogs used to intimidate protestors are deservedly unsettling and a reminder of what it takes to win back rights once they are taken away. |
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Compliment chicagotravelgirl
