Tennessee**
The musical melting pot of the south combines hillbilly
country with wild western and the delta blues - resulting
in Elvis, and the whisky is sweet yet sour.
Memphis**
[for Elvis***]
Elvis Presley still lives here [in the fan's
mind], along with Martin Luther King, the martyr of the civil rights
movement.
Graceland, built by Elvis, can be found
a couple of miles out of town.
Social issues are addressed at the National Civil Rights Museum
in the motel where Martin Luther was shot.
Beale St is a major blues based tourist attraction, and the Rock'n'Soul
Museum is near by; also check out Sun Studio.
The city also has a historic district with some Victorian properties,
and museums including the Dixon Gallery and Brooks Museum for art,
plus the Chucalissa Archaeological Site for Native American interest.
Nashville* [for country music***]
the country music centre of the world, where the rising stars of
the scene come to get noticed and recorded.
Try the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum to get in the mood,
and the Grande Old Opry House for live performances, see also: instruments
being made and more performances at the Gibson Bluegrass Showcase;
waxy impressions of country stars in the Music City Wax Museum;
famous cars in the Music Valley Car Museum.
Great Smokey Mountains National Park*
for hiking and mountainbiking trails and
a wide variety of wildlife watching including Bears and Elk. The
park continues into North Carolina.
Consider also:
Jack Daniels Distillery, for sour mash smooth sippin' whiskey; Chattanooga
for its choochoo and museums.
Kentucky*
Pretty
upper class as these states go due to international racing interest,
so pleasant grasslands abound, and whiskey washes away the bad bets.
Louisville*
[for horse racing***]
horse racing capital of the USA during May
for the Kentucky Derby otherwise try the Kentucky Derby Museum,
the Colonal Harland Sanders Museum [as in KFC], and the Lousiville
Slugger Museum for baseball history and bat making.
Bardstown* [for bourbon***]
essential stop for bourbon whisky enthusiasts,
with some distilleries including Jim Beam, and the Oscar Getz Museum
of Whiskey History.
Stop by during the Kentucky Bourbon festival to get seriously hammered.
Lexington* [for thoroughbreds***] some
urban interest to be found Downtown by way of the Ashland, Hunt-Morgan
and Mary Todd-Lincoln Houses but this place lives for racing, so
trot on down to the Kentucky Horse Park, and American Saddlebred
Museum.
Mammoth
Cave Park* a huge cave system.
Hodgenville Abraham Lincoln
Birthplace National Historic Site, Boyhood Home, and Museum, though
the historic sites are dubiously attributed.
Fort Knox the famous gold and
safety repository and General Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armour.
North
Carolina*
The
Appalachian Trail runs through the scenic splendour of the Blue
Ridge Mountains which dominates the western side of the state.
The coast also has scenic attractions.
North
Carolina Mountains* drive
from the Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, to the Great Smokey
Mountains National Park, North Carolina, May-Oct for a spectacular
scenic route through these mountains, the state's main tourist attraction.
Stop by at Asheville for the Biltmore Estate, a 19thC mansion.
Visit Cherokee for the Museum of the Cherokee Indian and the Oconaluftee
Indian Village.
Coastline* barrier islands exist all
along the coast.
In the north try Edenton and Elisabeth City for historic buildings;
Bodie Island for a base to explore the less touristy barrier islands
such as Roanoke Island, with the Fort Raleigh National Historic
Site; and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore of protected dunes
for wildlife, unspoilt coast and lighthouses.
In the south the dune islands of Cape Lookout National Seashore
are smaller and less accessable. Visit the lighthouse.
South
Carolina*
The
Blue Ridge Mountains begin to rise in the north west of the state,
but the main attractions here lie along the coast.
Charleston** for the international visitor this is the
best place to visit in the state, with the main interest in the
historic district between the Ashley and Cooper rivers.
There are excellent traditional buildings from as early as
the 18th
C, open to the public , the Charleston Museum, and classy eateries
and
nightlife.
Myrtle
Beach local citizens and students flock to this popular and well developed
north coast beach resort in their millions, so it gets crowded during
the spring break and summertime.
Other than beach attractions and amusement parks there are dozens
of golf courses and plenty of evening entertainment for the huddled
masses.
Florida/Louisiana+ | Mississippi+ | Best
of USA
|
