pwillems

Hi all,

During the coming winter season, I would like to take my car from San Antonio and start going east. I have 2 weeks starting Dec. 20th and 3 cities I absolutely would like to visit are Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC. New Orleans would be great too since I think it's on route to those cities.

I am a european guy working in San Antonio, so I am not that familiar with any nice cities in the southeast. So to not miss out on any of all beautiful towns, I would like to ask your help with what cities I can visit after Charleston SC. The idea is to after hitting those cities, returning to the west, to San Antonio but with the possibility to stop in whatever city you can recommand.

Are there places I could spend Christmas and/or New Year's eve? Laidback, casual or hip places, it doesn't really matter.

I like culture, architecture, music, outdoor things, food and drinks but also doing absolutely nothing/relaxing.

Thanks, Peter

Gretchen

All three might be a stretch, with the driving time, so you might just do your first idea of Charleston and Savannah on this trip.
Then take a trip to NOLA from San Antonio all by itself.

Daniel_Williams

Hi pwillems,

You're looking at 2 long days of car travel each way.

You could throw New Orleans in the mix but there won't be much room for "other" in there. Let's say you did 1 day travel to New Orleans, 4 days New Orleans, 1 day travel to Savannah, 3 days Savannah, 3 days Charleston, 2 days travel back to San Antonio (not exactly a city but maybe some Civil War site like Vicksburg as a stop on the way back?). That's 14 days. Beaufort SC would be a possible excursion out of Savannah.

I've been in all in the Christmas-New Year's period and they all have a terrific energy at that time of the year. The City Market in Savannah has a street party going on New Years Eve and I remember seeing all sorts of acrobats entertaining by Jackson Square in New Orleans; fireworks were to be seen in both. Plenty of places to just chill too; I liked the energy Adolfo's in the Faubourg Marigny in New Orleans.

I'm sure you'll have a great time in these fascinating Southern cities as I did! Best wishes, Daniel

Seamus

Welcome to San Antonio! We have a little group of Fodor's posters in the area and we periodically have a little casual get together, especially when another Fodor's denizen plans to be in the area. If you'd like to be included, drop a message to me at email jphinc at grandecom dot net.
Glad to help with nay questions you might have about SA, too.

pwillems

Thanks guys for the tips and recommendations.

Although it would be a far drive, do you think I really need to stay 2 to 3 days in each city? Do I really miss out if I only spend 1 full day there and move on to another city just to have seen as much as possible in 2 weeks time?

Let's say I would have more time, what coul I do after NOLA, Savannah and Charleston, on the way back to San Antonio? Is Atlanta worth my time? What about Jackson, MS?

Thanks again for the help guys!

dwdvagamundo

Great suggestions Daniel. New Orleans is a fun place around Christmas.

If you have a some extra time on the way back (three full days in each of Charleston and Savannah might be too many), you could drive down the Atlantic coaston I-95 (or more scenically, US 17) to the Sea Islands. Then keep going to Jacksonville, FL and pick up I-10 to go across the Florida panhandle, back past New Orleans and back to Texas. Some great beaches for walking both on the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. You could even go a little bit south of Jacksonville to St. Augustine, oldest city in the US--has a very picturesque Spanish fortress and some nice beaches nearby.

You also could head north to Memphis Tennessee, (home of Sun Records, Graceland, Beale Street) and then down into the Delta to Clarksdale, MS. Great blues museum there.

You could also (either separately or in conjunction with a trip to Memphis) head straight back east from Savannah on I-16/I-75 to see my home of Atlanta. Not such a great place to visit but certainly worth seeing. Then continue west to Vicksburg on I-20 or south through Montgomery back to I-10 on the coast.

However, I think the southern route would be better given your interests and the fact that it is shorter.

Daniel_Williams

Of course you could spend only 1 day in each of Savannah, Charleston and New Orleans and then zip off to other cities and towns. Up to you. But you need to decide; do you want a whirlwind tour as you express in your second post or do you want time for "doing nothing/relaxing" and exploring the culture and architecture as you state you want to do in your original post? My personal take is that all cities have easily 3 rich days of exploring possible, especially if you include some surrounding attractions; it just depends if you want to avail yourself of the variety that the cities have to offer or if you just want a cursory look.

pwillems

dwdvagamundo,

Thanks for that useful information, I really appreciate your input.

Daniel_Williams,

You are right, it will depend a lot on how much time I want to spend in every city. I think that, given the fact that I do like to just stroll around and absorb what those cities have to offer, a more laid back approach might be the best. Your idea about how many days where and when sounds very interesting.

Also the comments on Christmas in New Orleans makes it an easy decision. Driving further down the road to Savannah and Charleston and returning back might be the best. Now it is just figuring out where to spend NYE and how I need to divide my time to actually be at that place on NYE.

On another note; what about the driving circumstances? Do I need to fear snow, heavy rainfall,...?

As a first timer here on this forum, I really like all the friendly help. Thanks guys

dwdvagamundo

pwillems--

Re Atlanta: Not much of architectural interest. It burned during the American Civil War, then again in the early 1900s and civic "planners" feel compelled to tear down most old buildings.

Atlanta has American Civil War and Civil Rights:
Atlanta History Museum has a really good intro to the Civil War and Atlanta's place in it. For the most part, however, all that is "gone with the wind"(and the bulldozer) on the ground. M. L. King Center and surrounding walking tour is a good intro to Atlanta's place in the Civil Rights struggle and some interesting buildings. We also have a huge Coca Cola Museum in which you can discover the "Coke Formula" if you think carefully about what you're seeing, and a large Aquarium that I've not been to but that gets high marks.

If you do come this way, stop in Madison, Georgia--lots of antebellum homes--probably the biggest concentration I know of anywhere. Just walking up and down the streets looking at them is a lot of fun.

Also quite a few good restaurants and music venues.

Only been to Jackson, MS, once and never felt any desire to go back.


Montgomery, AL or Birmingham, AL would be better places to see. On the way to Montgomery is Tuskegee University which has a lot of stuff to see: George Washington Carver's lab, Booker T. Washington's home. Montgomery has some Civil Rights things as well.

If you go that way, you could also stop in Mobile, AL, which has some interesting things--Bellingrath Gardens which is huge, although not sure what would be blooming that time of year--and some interesting architecture.

vincenzo32951

Driving and weather: You probably won't have much to worry about in that part of the US.

BTW, here's my brief trip report on Savannah:
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...avannah-ga.cfm

palmettoprincess

I really wish I had anticipated your weather question. I laughed and nearly choked on my drink. There is about a one half of percent chance that you will see any significant snow.

pwillems

You never know. I've seen it snow in Dallas here last winter so i just thought I'd ask. But your answer reassures me, thanks