Road trip New Orleans to Chicago
 

We're taking a trip to see family and usually do it in one day, but we're considering going slow one way or the other. We usually stop in Memphis for ribs and I'm thinking of stopping to see the Wickliffe mounds in Ky. Is there anything else of interest off of Hwy 55 in Mississippi or off Hwy 57 in southern Illinois or western Ky not too out of the way? We have an 8yo.

This exact same question was just asked (except going the other direction I believe) I'll see if I can track it down.

I do like Natchez & Vicksburg, but you'll have barely gotten started at tht point.

Kentucky is the home of Lincoln's birthplace. You could tie that in to the trip with a stop in Hodgenville, Ky. Kentucky is also known for horses both Lexington and Louisville have Horse tours. You could due the Bourbon Tour which is very popular touring some bourbon distilleries such as Maker's Mark, Heaven Hill. Louisville has Muhammad Ali center and Louisville slugger museum.

Our main goal is the music. We fly into Memphis in October. We don't know anything about the town, so our idea now is immediately to set off south along Hwy 61 to Clarksdale, and spend a day at the Delta Blues Museum there. We will be in the area for at least Friday night, so can anyone recommend one or two real juke joints?

Then it's on for at least a day at the Vicksburg battle site, then to Natchez for the ante-bellum architecture (Is this the best place?)

After that, we wend our way via back roads to Lafayette, LA, which we understand is the cultural/musical heart of Cajun Country. Is this right? We see we can't avoid Baton Rouge. Is there anything there, musically or otherwise?

Then we fall into New Orleans for three days and nights, for Preservation Hall, etc. We always like to turn in the car rental when we get to our final destination, so one question: Is the city walkable? And if not, is public transportation reliable and easy to figure out?

New Orleans is very walkable & a car is more of a hindrance than a help. Natchez contains probably the highest concentration of well-preserved antebellum homes. http://www.natchezpilgrimage.com/, www.neworleanscvb.com

Bronx - I'm only of limited help because we're not blues fans, but I am familiar with the areas you've mentioned.

Many or most people consider Memphis to be home of the Blues, so you'd probably want to spend some time there. If you google "Memphis Blues" or similar, you can probably find lots of info.

While I've traveled US 61 between Memphis and Clarksdale more times than I can count, we weren't looking for music venues so I can't give you any specific recs.

Natchez is probably the best place to visit ante-bellum homes.

Baton Rouge is primarily a state capitol/college town so there is lots to do. But as far as music venues, I can't give you specifics but I'd probably google that as well.

Lafayette, Breaux Bridge and the area southeast along US 90 to New Orleans would be the "heart" of Cajun country. This site will give you some starters: www.cajuncountry.org Also along this route are quite a few of some ante-bellum plantations which are worth a visit - Oak Alley, Houmas House, Nottaway, to name just a few [look at seelouisiana.com/plantations]

Central New Orleans (the French Quarter) is very walkable. We never rent a car. The St Charles Street trolley goes into the Garden District and there's a trolley along the waterfront. Taxis are also easy to use.

Hope this helps.

Music oriented visitors: Also check into Sun Studios (everyone seems to have recorded here, or over at Stax, also here in town) and the Gibson Guitar factory tour. And Beale St of course, or what's left of it, but the best places for music are the real bars, none of this Hard Rock, big theme restaurant nonsense.

Non-music things: The National Civil Rights museum is very moving. The Memphis Zoo is one of only 4 zoos in the US that has Pandas and is otherwise a very nice small zoo besides.

Enjoy your trips.
Cliff, in Memphis

ps, if you were going on north on 55 through St. Louis (my original home city area), there's quite a bit to do through there, but I personally only know natural areas (lakes, countryside) up I-57.