5alive

Jaguar, if I were taking your trip, I would re-read one of my favorite books in college, The Struggle for Black Equality by Howard Sitkoff. It will make the Civil Rights movement come to life, particularly in Alabama and Mississippi.

Here's a link to the Amazon post of it if you need it: http://tinyurl.com/95cx4e9

Cranachin

If the timing of your trip is still flexible, I recommend waiting until March so that you can go to Natchez during Spring Pilgrimage (starts March 9 and runs into April).

http://www.natchezpilgrimage.com/nat...pilgrimage.php

Also take note that Shrove Tuesday is February 12. New Orleans will be crazy in the days leading up to it. Mobile (the home of the first Mardi Gras celebrations in the US) will be less so. Mississippi Coast cities with parades include BIloxi, Gulfport, Pascagoula, OCean Springs, and Pass Christian (pronounced "Kristi-ENN"). Pensacola, FL, has festivities as well.

By the way, the Natchez Trace connected Natchez with Nashville, not Memphis (and the modern Natchez Trace Parkway does the same; it is a slow road, not a freeway, although it is limited-access).

If you like military history, the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola is a bit out of your way (an hour east of Mobile) but well worth a visit. You could visit several old forts in the Pensacola area as well, or Fort Morgan near Mobile (all have Civil War connections).

If you want to see beaches, and don't want to go as far as Destin, I recommend Dauphin Island or Gulf Shores (both in Alabama near Mobile). Mississippi beaches are man-made and not as pretty as Alabama and Florida beaches.

Gretchen

I'm not sure if Alabama "upstate" is going to happen on your trip, but you mention "civil war", and another poster mentions a book about the civil rights movement. In Montgomery, a capital of the old confederacy, there is one of the finest "monuments" ever designed to commemorate the civil rights movement. It is at the Southern Poverty Law Center. It is not to be missed if you are nearby.
Monroeville, Alabama, is where Harper Lee was from.

rizzo0904

I wanted to mention Pensacola as well. You can watch the Blue Angels practice....for free. Here are the 2012 dates...I'm assuming the 2013 set up will be similar.

The Blue Angels, the oldest flying aerobatic team, first performed in 1946. They perform more than 70 shows at 34 locations throughout the U.S. each year and have been seen by more than 427 million spectators worldwide.

2012 Practice Show Schedule
MARCH 27, 28*
APRIL 3, 4*, 5,6, 10, 11*, 17, 18*, 24, 25*
MAY 1, 2*, 8, 9*, 15, 16*
JUNE 5, 6*, 12, 13*, 19, 20*, 26, 27*
JULY 17, 18*
AUGUST 8*, 9, 14, 15*, 21, 22*
SEPTEMBER 5*, 11, 12*, 18, 19*
OCTOBER 17*, 23, 24*, 30

happytourist

Little Rock has the Clinton Library (definitely worth a visit--has a replica of the Oval Office) and the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, which explains the school integration battles of 1957. Downtown Hot Springs is a national park which preserves the old elegant old bathhouses from the 1920s. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is in the far northwest corner of Arkansas (about 3 1/2 hours from Hot Springs). I would recommend you overnight at a B&B in Eureka Springs in the Ozark Mountains. We stayed at Arsenic and Old Lace B&B several months ago and highly recommend it.

happytourist

I forgot to add that you can also visit a Civil War site, Pea Ridge, if you go to the Fayetteville/Eureka Springs area. That would give you three places to visit: Crystal Bridges Museum, Pea Ridge and Eureka Springs, which has several attractions of its own.

Much as I love Hot Springs, I would suggest you stop at Little Rock on Interstate 40, then go to the Fayetteville area. Crystal Bridges is in Bentonville, but the towns all run together.

jaguar7777777

Wow, some great ideas. Thank you! We've already booked our flights and we land in Austin on the 20th Feb, going home from Little Rock on the 6th March. So we won't be able to take in the Blue Angels or the 'Pilgimage' I'm afraid. My latest itinerary is Austin, San Antonio, Lafayette, New Orleans, Fairhope (Alabama)- visiting Bellingrath Gardens on the way. Then Jackson MS (hope to visit a Plantation and Vicksburg civil war museum and cemetery, Memphis (hope to visit Beale Street, Graceland and the Martin Luther King Museum) and Little Rock.

BigRuss

What's in Little Rock? Arkansas is generally so far off the must list for anyone who's not an Arkie that it barely rates.

Too bad about the Blue Angels - we went to the Naval Station in Pensacola a couple of weeks ago and the flight museum there is awesome.

5alive

Yes, Gretchen: Montgomery, Alabama was exactly what I was thinking, but I didn't know about the Southern Poverty Law Center monument. I was thinking of Holt Street Baptist Church, where Dr. King gave his first ever civil rights speech (to start the bus boycott) and also the Greyhound Station where the Freedom Riders were met with violence.

Gretchen

the monument was designed by Maya Lin and is truly a work of art that touches the heart. It is a small granite area. On the back wall is MLK's quote "and the waters will come down like thunder". In the center of this small area is a beautiful black granite table (maybe 10 feet in diameter) from the middle of which comes a stream of water that spreads out over the table top. AND then, etched into the the top of the table are concentric rings with the dates and events of civil rights movement--Emmett Till, the church bombing, marches, MLK's assassination, and SO many more. The water just flows peacefully over these memorable events in a long battle. It is awe inspiring.
The civil rights marchers to Selma "trained" at Miami University in Ohio, my proud alma mater.

Gretchen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Memorial

The table is bigger than I said. But you will see how beautiful it is here.

5alive

This is really, really great. I hope the OP makes time for it...but if not, the thread will hopefully be of use to other visitors to the Deep South.

bachslunch

Agreed re Little Rock that the Clinton Library is well worth a visit if you're in the city. The state capitol building there is also a very attractive example of its kind. There's also a small art museum worth a brief pop-in, and the old capitol building has local history exhibits.

The state capitol building in Jackson, MS is very good. And the state capitol building in Baton Rouge, LA is one of the best in the US, to my way of thinking.

Re Montgomery, AL, see my trip report from a couple years ago:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...ry-alabama.cfm

Cranachin

The state capitol in Austin is no slouch either!

jaguar7777777

Gretchen, thank you for posting the pic of the Civil Rights Mounument in Montgomery. It looks terrific, but we probably won't get to see it on this trip if we stick to driving up the Natchez Trail. I enjoyed your trip report, Bachslunch, the Rosa Parks museum sounds fascinating.

Cranachin

<<My latest itinerary is Austin, San Antonio, Lafayette, New Orleans, Fairhope (Alabama)- visiting Bellingrath Gardens on the way. Then Jackson MS (hope to visit a Plantation and Vicksburg civil war museum and cemetery, Memphis (hope to visit Beale Street, Graceland and the Martin Luther King Museum) and Little Rock>>

If this is still the case, you won't be taking the Natchez Trace anywhere. Remember, it goes from Natchez to Jackson to Nashville—not Memphis!

jaguar7777777

Thanks Cranachin, I probably didn't think it over properly. I hope to drive on the Trace Parkway from Natchez as far as I can, until I take the 55 to Memphis. I appreciate that getting from Fairhope AL to Natchez will take me about 5hrs.

Cranachin

Are you still planning to go to Vicksburg? If so, you might want to exit the Parkway on US 61 at Port Gibson (which is a pretty little town). You also could exit onto Fisher Ferry Road or MIssissippi Highway 27, which would allow you to stay on longer but maybe go a little more out of the way.

Otherwise, you can take the Trace as far as Ridgeland, north of Jackson, where it intersects I-55. (Well, you might be able to go only as far as Clinton and then have to detour the last few miles to I-55 due to roadwork that is expected to still be in progress at the time you visit).

You can find more info here http://www.nps.gov/natr/index.htm

Note, however, that the maps don't show the exits (although they have lots of detail on what to see along the way). A listing of exits can be found here http://www.natcheztracetravel.com/na...ppi/exits.html (but I think the exit for MS-18 is southbound only, and you will be northbound).

The Trace is pretty, but it is a bit slow. Max speed limit is 50 mph.

As for Fairhope to Natchez, I have traveled much of that stretch (as far as McComb on US 98, and also up US 49 to Jackson) more times than I can count. Definitely a slice of the South! US 98 is a nightmare getting through Mobile to the Mississippi line, but after that it is much better. Today both 98 and 49 pretty much bypass the small towns in Mississippi (and even Hattiesburg, the largest city in the area). If you want to see them, you have to get off the highway and onto "Old 98" or "Old 49". I don't know what MS-84 is like between Collins and Natchez.

jaguar7777777

That's great Cranachin, thanks. I'll check out the old 98 and 49 roads. I don;t want the drive to take forever, but ont he other hand I'd like to see a bit more of the small Mississippi towns rather than the main highway.
If I have the time I would like to see Vicksburg too.

BizHarris

Oh! This will be a GREAT trip. Here's my proposed itinerary (also check out Garden and Gun Magazine for some ideas) consider flying into Memphis and doing a day or two there, and driving down Highway 61.

1)You can stop and stay in Clarksdale, MS at the Shack Up Inn and eat at Rust and go out to hear REAL blues music where it originated at Red's and Ground Zero.

2) You can connect with John Ruskey at the Quawpaw Canoe Company for a REAL canoe trip on the Mississippi River, which is truly amazing.

3) Then you can take some day trips out from there to Indianola and Greenwood, MS... hearing music at Club 308, seeing the BB King Museum, and getting a massage at the Alluvian Hotel and Spa (where you can also stay) and eat at one of the restaurants in Greenwood (I'd recommend the Delta Bistro, Lusco's (for old time ambiance) or Giargina's (pronounced Gardinia's).

You can also trek down/over to Greenville, MS for a steak and Delta Hot Tamale's at Doe's Eat Place.

4) From there drive down to Vicksburg, MS to gamble, see a new view of the river, see some Civil war sights, and eat a little more. You can also head down to Natchez to see antebellum homes.

5) End your trip in New Orleans for a few days then fly home. You'll have experiences two major Deep South Cities AND the Mississippi Delta. Birthplace of the blues, a major site of Civil Rights history, and a GREAT place to experience southern cuisine.