Beastmomma

sonja recently mentioned on beastmomma that she and hubby will be driving through the SOUTH this summer, and i was wondering --- are you going on a road trip sonja?

morgan and i are thinking about going on a roadtrip, and we've never been SOUTH, and think it might be kinda fun... we only have a week though so it has to be kind of a short trip.

any suggestions? we'll be coming from nyc.

Cool! We are shooting for a week in June. We are going to NC to see Jaspreet's digs at Duke, then Georgia to a lake where Tom's aunt and uncle live, then drive through Alabama to Tenessee. In TN we are going to visit my sister outside Memphis, but also see the illustrious Graceland to pay respects to the King and mingle with the obsessed. Then we are going to drive up through Kentucky to Ohio where we will hopefully see a concert and visit Tom's folks, then go home to Pittsburgh in time to see Gillian Welch at the Three Rivers Arts Festival to cap off our journey. We won't have much time in each place, but on our journies I'd like to see: friends, unique landmarks, a beach, some famous art, and Elvis!! I hear Savannah is pretty, and I'd like to squeeze that in if I get a chance but it might not fit into our loop. Crissy: What are your plans? Jaspreet: What are your Southern must-see recommendations??

sonja - wow! it looks like your itinerary is even more ambitious than ours, and you've got the same timeframe! we were thinking about heading down eastside to north carolina,then over to tennessee (although to nashville, not memphis), then up to kentucky (where morgan has relatives) and then heading up to madison to visit annie and sam. then morgan will leave, and i will stay in madison for a little while longer.

the heading up to madison part might be a little difficult, and so i might go there on my own not on this roadtrip.
it all seems rather "drivey" for a week though --- i'm usually a park myself somewhere and explore type of person. not the go go go traveler.

we don't really know what we want to see.
so far, our initiatives are:
- we want to go on a roadtrip
- we want to be places we've never been (the south)

we don't necessarily want this to be a friend / family prioritized trip (we go on plenty of those).

yes jaspreet! what say you about good south sees?

i'd love to get down to georgia, but i don't think it's going to be this time around...

how long does it take to drive around anyway?

I recommend that, while in Memphis, you drive about an hour south to Clarksdale, Mississippi, home of John Lee Hooker, Robert Johnson, and Ike Turner. And, as you might have gathered, lots of blues. Including the Delta Blues Museum. Several music clubs, one co-owned by the actor Morgan Freeman who also owns a restaurant in the area. Sun Records is also there. If I'm not mistaken, Sun is the record label for which Elvis first recorded a song. As it happens, Clarksdale is also the town where I was born.

There are lots of Southern must see recommendations. They vary from state to state. In the South, there are generally rich music and nature places--- see ErinB's entry above. Also, there is lots of good food and people,like me.

thanks erin!
so now morgan and i are just thinking of doing the nc, tn, ky part.. and skipping wisconsin.
jaspreet, can you be a bit more specific? what nature places?! i heard a "new" national park was created in 2003 in south carolina. i don't really know what that means.

I can't be more specific Crissy, because I do not know myself. I know that in NC Asheville is beautiful there is the Bilmtore estate. There is also the outer banks.

A few "nature places" in the southern U.S.: the Smoky Mtns National Park is beautiful - southwest of Asheville, NC; more southwest of Asheville is the Nantahala River with river rafting - stunning small river fed from the bottom of a 400 foot deep lake - also great mtn biking near here. In Sylva, NC - on the way to the Nantahala from Asheville, stop at Spring Street Cafe owned and operated by my friend Faye. She is one of the most talented self-taught chefs I've ever met, uses mostly locally grown and raised food stuff. Keep going west from the Nantahala and you'll reach the Ocoee River in East Tennessee near Cleveland, also good river rafting for the less faint of heart than the Nantahala. It's also a dam-controlled river and still has the old flume for diverting the water for hydroelectric power generated by the Tennessee Valley Authority. If you'd rather go south, the mtns of north Georgia are nice - go to Helen or Dahlonega. Great road and mtn biking here. Ok, back to TN - Chattanooga is not far from the Ocoee and has a cool aquarium devoted more to local freshwater critters: you walk up a ramp from the ground floor in a spiral and eventually end up outside on the top of the bldg.
If you want more nature, go to the Obed-Emory Wild and Scenic River Area for mtn streams.
Asheville, as Jaspreet said, is a great little town. The Biltmore House was built half of forever ago by the Vanderbilts. It's the house that was featured in a movie with Peter Sellers and Shirley MacLaine. The views of the Blue Ridge Mtns are great. The drive in was designed by Fredrick Law Olmstead (sp?).

Go to Wall Street (still in Asheville) for lots of restaurants - vegetarian and not. And to Malaprop's Book Store right around the corner from Wall Street.

Finally, explore east TN and western NC; you'll find some of the more subtly beautiful places in the U.S.

wow! thanks erin! where are you from / where do you live? i am impressed! by the way, if anyone needs any tips in new england or nyc, i can help out there! ^_^

i'm so excited to look into all these cool nature places! and your friends restaurant sounds awesome!

does anyone know anything about nashville? worth going, or no? better little music towns to go to?

also, we love quirky/funny finds, so if anyone has any suggestions that way, they are most welcome!

thanks again!!!

Crissy, don't be impressed. I was born in Clarksdale, MS, as I said in a previous post, and raised in east TN - Cleveland - and then Nashville. Lived in Chapel Hill/Durham for 11 years, then Burlington, VT, for 3 years, then Sewanee, TN amd western NC - Sylva area - for four year period, now have been in New Orleans area for 4 years. This is where I met J. I've spent more than 20 years canoeing and bicycling in the east TN and western NC area and elsewhere in the southern U.S. and other parts of the country. While I lived in Nashville during jr high and high school, I really can't tell you much about it in detail. Generally, it is a large metropolitan area (> 1 million) but has a small town feeling - neighborhoods are important there. The country music scene is big, obviously. Good music at The Bluebird Cafe in Green Hills. Chet Atkins used to drop in there, I hear. Don't know if it's still there but the Station Inn has/had great bluegrass music. I think the Exit/In is still there - near Vanderbilt campus - and had good music when I lived there in the 1970's. The Loveless Motel is on the outskirts of town and used to be a great place to get country-style breakfasts. I saw it featured on Food Network recently. But when I went there many years ago (probably 20), it was only ok and I can cook better breakfast, my favorite meal of the day. So, go there for the novelty, maybe not the food. Pancake Pantry in town has similar rep but is also disappointing. You might be wondering why I'm telling you where not to go? Just so you don't get trapped by the local lore told to tourists, I think. All my friends who have been there like it - including the Country Music Hall of Fame - but I like other places better. If you're into counter-culture, skip Nashville and go to Asheville. But you will find some good music there - of all kinds, not only country. Also, if you got to N'ville, check out the Warner parks, named for 2 brothers - Percy and Edwin - on contiguous pieces of land. Take a picnic, drive in and find a shelter. They are the largest parks in city limits in U.S. or something like that. And I think they're also designed by FLO as is the drive in to Biltmore House. Well, that's more detail than I realized I could write about Music City. But there it is.

thanks again erin! i am not impressed then, just thankful for your sharing of knowledge!

i'm feeling much more excited about this future roadtrip - not that i wasn't excited before - but now there's actually possibilities! adventures! unknown and known (both comforting).

by the way - for those of you in NC, a friend of mine is going to Asheville in a month or earlier, for a weekend long arts and crafts fair, where her and a friend will be selling their excellent handmade hats and bags. they are very talented, and if you happen to be in the area...

Crissy and Erin are awesome.
Jaspreet: Savannah, GA is a ways out of our loop plan, but I have always been curious about it. Is it a worthwhile destination to squeeze in? I remember you had been there before, and I remember it is near the water...Your opinion?

Savannah is gorgeous and so picturesque. I think it is worth trying to squeeze in and deserving a trip of its own. It is by the water; there are a few beaches there. I liked it.

Cool! Thank you, Jaspreet!

Also, the cafe which is the setting for Fried Green tomatoes is located there.

That was such a good, sad movie. *sigh*
I love road-side attractions like places movies have been filmed. Thanks!

Okay, Crissy, I changed my mind. You can be impressed. The gracious thing for me to have said would have been "Aw shucks, thanks you." From what I can tell, we're all impressive. And Jaspreet's site has brought us all together in a cool community. This is fun. I've never participated in an online community like this. I guess that's for another discussion thread. I agree with Jaspreet - Savannah is lovely. I've never eaten there but have heard that a great restaurant is called, I think, Elizabeth's. Also not far from there (I think?) on the Georgia coast is St. Mary's, a paper mill town (so has that strong odor of the mill). Off the coast of St. Mary's is Cumberland Island, part of which is protected (maybe a wildlife refuge?). It is beautiful with ancient live oaks and Spanish moss, that cool bromeliad that hangs off the oak trees, and worth a boat trip and day hiking or even overnight camping. You might need reservations to camp and be sure take lots of water to drink.

ErinB,
I am glad that you feel at home in this online community. That is what it is for-- i feel like I have another extended family.

Crissy, Have you been on your road trip yet?

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