USA - The Deep South
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Tennessee is a beautiful state. Went white water rafting there and whilst on a quite bit of the stream a bald eagle flew above our raft, amazing experience.
Louisiana is interesting, New orleans and the french quarter are amazing, so many bars where there are jazz musicians jamming it out in the street and stuff. Definitely felt a bit empty after katrina but i went there 6 years ago now (jeez! That long ago..) so might have got more people back. Be sure to go on the ghost walk round the french quarter, was so interesting.
Would also recommend a swamp tour to see some gators.1 -
kentaddick said:
Tennessee is a beautiful state. Went white water rafting there and whilst on a quite bit of the stream a bald eagle flew above our raft, amazing experience.
Louisiana is interesting, New orleans and the french quarter are amazing, so many bars where there are jazz musicians jamming it out in the street and stuff. Definitely felt a bit empty after katrina but i went there 6 years ago now (jeez! That long ago..) so might have got more people back. Be sure to go on the ghost walk round the french quarter, was so interesting.
Would also recommend a swamp tour to see some gators.
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Well, so much! I'd highly recommend Skyline Drive/The Blue Ridge Parkway (469 miles) if you are travelling down from Washington. I'd also say do the Manassas National Battlefield Park just on the Northern entrance to the Parkway. If you're into amusement parks there's Dollywood, Pigeon Forge TN; being a Charlton fan you'll love The Choo-Choo in Chatanooga TN; Jack Daniels Lynchburg TN (and its REO Speedwagon); Beale St. Memphis TN; Graceland, Memphis TN (of course); Stax Recording Studios Memphis, TN; Nashville, TN incl. the Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Nashville's very own full size replica Parthenon! the Belle Meade Plantation - if you're interested in history of race horse breeding; (if you are into cars you cannot miss) The National Corvette Museum at Bowling Green, KY; the Jim Beam Distillery Clermont KY (so many distilleries, so little time!); if you're in Alabama the USS Alabama Battleship at Mobile; and Louisiana has New Orleans of course which is a great place to visit, especially Bourbon St.
Mississippi, not so much really IMO, unless you're really, really keen on Antebellum Plantation Houses.
If you get as far as Alabama, spend a few hours popping across the border into the Florida panhandle and visit Seaside. It's the location of The Truman Show movie and is a truly weird/unique place.
Memphis and Nashville are wall-to-wall music - it's impossible to miss it really there are even frequent street performances.
Enjoy!
The entrance to Beale St. Never did understand the "no reptiles" rule!
Oh, and you'll need the appropriate headwear:
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Bit cliche, but have to recommend Sun Studio in Memphis and Graceland. And I am not even a massive Elvis fan. Tupelo in Mississippi is also worth a visit.
This may be more your thing though...
We visited a town in Arkansas called Helena which was well known for being a central point of the black civil rights movement and still holds some of the values and feelings. We had lunch at a place (Big Mommas Luncheonette or something - will dig out the name). Basically you pretty much sit in her living room and she cooks you up a selection of Deep South cuisine. The fried chicken was flipping amazing. That was 7 years ago - she was ancient then so don't know if it will still be there.
I liked visiting Oxford MS which is where Ole Miss is. Crazy old school campus town - where the Uni football team has a stadium which looks like it holds about 80k or something.2 -
Sorry, one more thing: an interesting fact about Kentucky Blue Grass. That's the grass as opposed to the music!
It isn't blue and it doesn't come from Kentucky. It's a European grass and it's green.0 -
Although some of the towns in rural Alabama are a bit 'small town USA if you catch my drift. Got on a bus and the person opposite asked me where I was from (I have slightly tanned skin). When I said I was British but a quarter Japanese he looked at his mate in confusion and said 'Hank! Where the bejeezus is Japanese?'6
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Spent some time in Memphis, visited the sun studios and the civil rights museum on the site of the Lorraine motel where Martin Luther king was assassinated.
Found the museum a very moving experience.
Beal Street with its blues and Jazz clubs is a must.
Visited Graceland although I'm not an Elvis fan
Went to Helena in Arkansas to a dusty old shop that had the biggest collection of blues records and memorabilia i've ever seen.
Drove highway 61 to New Orleans.
Brilliant trip.
Also drove the Skyline drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
650 miles of Blue ridge mountains.
Charleston and Savannah are worth a look.
Could go on and on about the deep South - I love it.1 -
Thanks everyone. I've never started a thread before so I'm not used to this generosity. You've certainly given me plenty of ideas. Kentaddick - all of your suggestions appeal; cafcfan - so much advice, I'm going to have to google them all, especially Seaside; Damo - that Big Momma meal sounds right up my street; John - definitely fancy the civil rights museum plus more of your ideas.
The very rough plan is to catch a bus to somewhere like Louisville or Nashville, etc, then hire a car and do a loop through the three states I mentioned, with New Orleans as my halfway point.2 -
That sounds really interesting. The worst parts of DC are bad, but they've done a pretty good job at gentrifying it and driving that crime to surrounding areas.captainbob said:Does anyone have any travel recommendations for Louisiana, Mississippi or Alabama (or Tennessee and Kentucky en route)? I'll be travelling solo this summer for three weeks and want to see some of the well-known sights but also plenty of little-known gems. My style of travel is a bit like a Louis Theroux documentary as in I'm looking for stories which is why I'm starting in Washington DC with a four-hour police patrol in one of the toughest districts in the city (possibly worse than South Bermondsey). Hopefully, some of you can help with advice. Cheers.
I've always wanted to see Langley myself, where the CIA is. My old company had an office in Falls Church which is basically the Langley suburb, but never got around to it. I'm pretty sure they do tours, although one of the reasons I haven't made it yet is because they probably frown upon questions like "how many foreign, democratically elected or popular leaders were plotted to be killed in this build? Because I can name about ten off the top of my head."
The Blue Ridge Mountains are meant to be lovely.
I've heard great things about Savannah and Charleston. I believe it's Charleston that is haunted, so defo check out a ghost tour.
If you're interested in the racial/racist history of the US, Birmingham, AL and Atlanta are both interesting. Birmingham is where the bus boycott was, which really brought the civil rights movements of the '50s and '60s to the fore. Also, on this subject, the Guardian journalist Garry Young has written some really interesting books, including"No Place Like Home" on his travels through the American south.
I know a lot of people who dig Memphis, both for the history, but also as a cool, emerging city for young people to live affordable. Same for the Charlotte area.1 -
Take Gene Hackman with you
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When you say "interesting".......;)cafcfan said:Sorry, one more thing: an interesting fact about Kentucky Blue Grass. That's the grass as opposed to the music!
It isn't blue and it doesn't come from Kentucky. It's a European grass and it's green.4 -
SDAddick: I asked for a challenging district from 7-11pm and they've given me the Sixth District. About a dozen years ago, I managed to persuade the NYPD to let me go a police patrol in the Bronx. It was only supposed to be for four hours but I got on so well with the two cops that I was invited to stay for the whole 7 hour shift and then stay up all night on a pub crawl around the neighbourhood (I don't remember much of that).
I'll look into the Langley idea. I had a brief chat at the Hay Festival with Michael Hayden, former CIA and NSA chief which has made me curious about their work - albeit we only spoke about 'Homeland'!
Thanks for all the other suggestions, especially the book; I'll bear them all in mind for sure.
Valiantphil: I'll take Burt Reynolds as well.1 -
@captainbob that's awesome, good for you. Are you a policeman by trade?
Policing has come under scrutiny in the last few years, again, and not necessarily wrongly, but policing in this country is very, very hard. I think the fact that you seek out that kind of exposure is excellent.
The CIA has an incredibly interesting history. There is a group of maybe 20-30 men who had an incredibly large impact on the world from the 1950s-1980s, from Iran to Guatemala to Cuba to Vietnam to Germany to having the then sitting president of the United States killed, and then Iran Contra and Afghanistan in the 80s. And these are men whose names many historian forget.
All that said, I don't know that Langley is necessarily the place to go for a look into that history. If it's something that interests you, "A Legacy of Ashes" is a really interesting book. My drive to go to Langley is in part because I have such a keen interest in this part of history, and it would be interesting to me to stand there and know I'm standing in what was once one of the epicenters of the world. I don't know that it would hold that same appeal to someone relatively new to the topic.
All the best to you. Do you plan to keep a photo diary or a journal/blog or anything? If so, would love to read it.0 -
No, I'm not a policeman but a secondary schoolteacher. I would probably do these things anyway but having unusual stories to tell the kids does motivate me: prison visits in S.America, hitchhiking across the States, arranging a meeting with a Hiroshima survivor last year, etc.SDAddick said:@captainbob that's awesome, good for you. Are you a policeman by trade?
Policing has come under scrutiny in the last few years, again, and not necessarily wrongly, but policing in this country is very, very hard. I think the fact that you seek out that kind of exposure is excellent.
The CIA has an incredibly interesting history. There is a group of maybe 20-30 men who had an incredibly large impact on the world from the 1950s-1980s, from Iran to Guatemala to Cuba to Vietnam to Germany to having the then sitting president of the United States killed, and then Iran Contra and Afghanistan in the 80s. And these are men whose names many historian forget.
All that said, I don't know that Langley is necessarily the place to go for a look into that history. If it's something that interests you, "A Legacy of Ashes" is a really interesting book. My drive to go to Langley is in part because I have such a keen interest in this part of history, and it would be interesting to me to stand there and know I'm standing in what was once one of the epicenters of the world. I don't know that it would hold that same appeal to someone relatively new to the topic.
All the best to you. Do you plan to keep a photo diary or a journal/blog or anything? If so, would love to read it.
I am thinking of doing some writing so I'll let you know if I set something up. Thanks again for the tips.2 -
Worked out there for a while, cleaned a lot of plates in Memphis and pumped a lot of tane down in New Orleans.4
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Could take in a NASCAR event, if interested. Quite an experience.
http://www.bristolmotorspeedway.com/home/3 -
I'm in Virginia right now, just been to DC - be careful - rough parts of DC are really rough, nothing like Bermondsey.
Obvs in Louisianna you'll be visiting NOLA, pleanty of great stories there waiting to be told. Take a trip to the plantations in Louisiana, a completely different side to the American story there, but very important for understanding the modern USA.1 -
Waltons mountain?1
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" 'night, John Boy".creepyaddick said:Waltons mountain?
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"night, Elizabeth.'"Fanny Fanackapan said:0 -
Thanks. Sobering words, se9. I'll be seeking police advice on how to get to their precinct safely but, more importantly, how to get away at 11pm and back to my hostel.se9addick said:I'm in Virginia right now, just been to DC - be careful - rough parts of DC are really rough, nothing like Bermondsey.
Obvs in Louisianna you'll be visiting NOLA, pleanty of great stories there waiting to be told. Take a trip to the plantations in Louisiana, a completely different side to the American story there, but very important for understanding the modern USA.1 -
Might want to reconsider this part of your plan. I wouldn't drive through some parts of D.C. in daylight.captainbob said:
Thanks. Sobering words, se9. I'll be seeking police advice on how to get to their precinct safely but, more importantly, how to get away at 11pm and back to my hostel.se9addick said:I'm in Virginia right now, just been to DC - be careful - rough parts of DC are really rough, nothing like Bermondsey.
Obvs in Louisianna you'll be visiting NOLA, pleanty of great stories there waiting to be told. Take a trip to the plantations in Louisiana, a completely different side to the American story there, but very important for understanding the modern USA.1 -
DC is generally brilliant, U Street is great fun.captainbob said:
Thanks. Sobering words, se9. I'll be seeking police advice on how to get to their precinct safely but, more importantly, how to get away at 11pm and back to my hostel.se9addick said:I'm in Virginia right now, just been to DC - be careful - rough parts of DC are really rough, nothing like Bermondsey.
Obvs in Louisianna you'll be visiting NOLA, pleanty of great stories there waiting to be told. Take a trip to the plantations in Louisiana, a completely different side to the American story there, but very important for understanding the modern USA.1 -
don't forget to take a white sheet, rope and some matches;)
I have to say I was amazed when I went into a black barbers in Mississippi and asked if it would be OK to come in for a haircut. They all looked stunned, that I should be considering coming in. in fact the barber said he'd never cut a white mans hair before, so I said if he didn't mind, nor would I. Incredible that in some places segregation still exists.2 -
Was in memphis in march wife finally getting to graceland.sillav nitram said:don't forget to take a white sheet, rope and some matches;)
I have to say I was amazed when I went into a black barbers in Mississippi and asked if it would be OK to come in for a haircut. They all looked stunned, that I should be considering coming in. in fact the barber said he'd never cut a white mans hair before, so I said if he didn't mind, nor would I. Incredible that in some places segregation still exists.
We got the bus from beale St to graceland when talking to an American couple the next day was told "your mad white people don't get the bus to graceland".
When we thought about it we were the only white people on the bus.
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Any top tips on car hire in the States?0
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They drive on the wrong side of the road.captainbob said:Any top tips on car hire in the States?
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It'll be an automatic.0
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As a Civil War historian I love the South and have visited many states (both north and south of the Mason-Dixon Line). Flew out to Charleston in April; brilliant, possibly one of the loveliest cities in America. Tennessee also nice, great scenery. Memphis and Gracelands contrasts hugely with Nashville. Enjoy then trip... mostly they love Brits!2
