I am just beginning to plan a fall road trip along the Mississippi River. My ambitious 9-year-old wants to start out at the top and end at the bottom. We will have 15 full days of travel, with a day on each side for main travel (we have to fly since we live in CA), but I am not sure that will allow for much exploration if we try and tackle the whole road. Or is it?

I think to start I'd love to make a list of 'must see' for the whole road, then decide what looks the best for us. We like to do some touristy things, like going up the arch in St. Louis. But what we really prefer is to explore the area and do things that are truly unique. Our favorites places are state & national parks, hiking trails, etc. Being from SoCal the entire geography of the area will be new to each of us.

Oh, and we also LOVE finding fun and different places to eat

My son and I are seasoned road trippers having completed two trips that lasted 21-days each where we got in the car with my mom and drove without out much of a plan other than some main sites we wanted to see. They were both awesome! My husband on the other hand has been on one, a 10-day trip up our coast (awesome too, but very planned), and likes things very organized and to know exactly what we will be doing and where we will be staying. I need to mesh our two preferences together and make this trip A+.

TIA for any advice you can offer up.

You could start in New Orleans and go from north from there. What month? It will be very hot the rest of the summer.

1 or 2 Day in New Orleans-Must do for me would be Cafe Du Monde
I really like Commander Palace for a great meal. You might want to do some kind of swamp tour.

Next see a couple (or more) of the Plantation Homes on the River Road between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. I would suggest Oak Alley and The Nottoway. Spend the night in the Nottoway if you can.
There are several others that we have visited and enjoy, but those two are the most impressive.
I would also suggest seeing some homes at Natchez. There is a black park ranger at The Melrose, in Natchez, that is absolutely the very best of any tour guide I've had. I mean he is truly outstanding.

If you are into Duck Dynasty, your not far from Monroe, LA. Vicksburg is also worth a stop. Be sure and see a cemetary at Natchez or New Orleans, they are interesting and old.

From there head to Memphis. See Graceland/Elvis. See The Peabody Ducks. Eat BBQ. I would suggest dining at Blues City Cafe and Rendevouz. Blues City is my favorite.

You could make a side trip to Nashville and also see Mammoth Cave and Corvette Factory and Museum. Then head to St. Louis. I'm a huge national park nut. Mammoth Cave isn't one of my favorites. Its just a huge huge ugly cave. Nothing like Carlsbad or others. It is not decorated, in other words. The wild cave tour there is awesome, but you have to be 16 years old. Corvette Museum and Factory is interesting.

I just looked at my pictures and the rangers name was Barney. It would be worth actually planning a day on doing it when he was scheduled to be there.

We just did a good chunk of the Wisconsin Great River Road. Here's a link to my trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...rip-report.cfm

Hope it helps a little.

Lee Ann

I will speak to the portion of the River Road that I have visited at one time or another. Don’t forget a pair of binoculars because this is great bird watching country. You can’t miss the bald eagles. They have come back from the verge of extinction and are pretty easy to spot these days.
In the Twin Cities I have fond memories of the lovely Minnehaha Falls and the park overlooks the Mississippi. http://www.minneapolisparks.org/?PageID=4&parkid=252 When the budget isn’t an issue I like to stay at the Nicolet Island Inn, located on an island of the Mississippi. It has nice walking paths and is near the Guthrie Theater. Even if you don’t see a play, the building is interesting and worth a visit. It also has a nice balcony overlooking the river.
Heading south;
Red Wing is a historic town right on the banks of the river with lots of nice shops. http://www.redwing.org/ I like to stop for coffee at the St. James hotel and browse around the place, even though I’ve never had a chance to stay there.
From Red Wing you can cross over to the Wisconsin side or stay on the Minnesota side. If staying in Minnesota I like to picnic at Hok-si-La Park about 15 miles south. It is on “Lake Pepin” which is actually a very scenic widening of the Mississippi River.
Immediately to the south you’ll find Lake City. http://www.lakecitymn.org/ I enjoy Rabbits Bakery in the morning. We sit outside with coffee and a roll and enjoy the view overlooking the marina. Also enjoyed the Lake City Pearl Button Museum that is small part museum and large part antique store.
Wabasha is a charming town and it was really decked out in all of its autumn finery last time we visited. We enjoyed our visit to the National Eagle Center.
Take a slight detour south to the town of Kellogg. In it you will find the unusually large and very unique Lark Toy store. http://www.larktoys.com/ We almost didn’t stop but were glad we did. I very much enjoyed the hand carved wooden carousel. There are rooms and rooms but my favorite was way at the far and and houses a wonderful selection of children’s books.
At this point you must backtrack to Wabasha and cross the river into Wisconsin. A visit to the Nelson Creamery is a must. They have cheese and wines but most people seem to stop for Ice cream. Eat it out back. http://www.nelsoncheese.com/
You can travel on either side of the river at this point. I recommend a stop in La Crosse, Wi to take in the views from Grandad’s Bluff.
Staying on the Wisconsin side you’ll find the old fur trading town of Prairie du Chien. It was settled in the late 1600’s I believe. http://www.prairieduchien.org/ or http://www.midwestweekends.com/plan_..._du_chien.html

The Villa Louis is a mansion built on the site of a fur trading fort. http://villalouis.wisconsinhistory.org/ I enjoy the tour but in addition there are many special weekend activities such as Civil War Reenactments, The Fur Traders Rendezvous.
One of my favorite things to do in this area is to take a boat cruise of the backwaters of the Mississippi. Mississippi River Explorer Cruises offers a very informative narrated tour and it is especially nice to see the things you can’t see from the road or even from tours of the main channel. http://www.mississippiexplorer.com/p...e-du-chien.php It leaves from Lawler Park, a nice little riverside spot for a picnic.
About ten miles south is gorgeous Wyalusing State Park. http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/wyalusing/ The scenic overlook truly is remarkable. From high up on a bluff you can see the Mississippi River and the Wisconsin River merge. I find it an amazing view and not to be missed.
These are just some of my favorite highlights from my part of the world. I’ll be curious to see how far your trip will take you. Sounds fun.

Does your son/family have a love of music? New Orleans, the Bayous, the Great River Road, the Mississippi Delta, Memphis, St. Louis... it's like a crash course in culture, music, food...

I can only speak to the parts of the Great River Road in Mississippi that we've visited. The Natchez Trace, Vicksburg, riding along the levees and berms next to the river, then Clarksdale and the Delta Blues Museum, finally into Memphis. Totally, utterly magical.

I can only offer a trip report I filed a few years ago. Can't wait to go back.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-the-lobby.cfm

North to south or the opposite would depend on when you are making the trip.

If you are interested in US Civil War history, stop in Vicksburgh, MS and visit the battlefield and siege site. Then up to Memphis.

A stop at St. Louis, MO for the arch and museum is neat and very nearby are Native American mound sites, Cahokia I think.

How could I forget? Any trip to the upper Mississippi should include a stop at the National Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque,Iowa. It is affiliated with the Smithsonian, I believe.

http://www.mississippirivermuseum.co...0%28228%29.JPG