NeilWT

Hello all,

We are a 30-something couple from Scotland, looking for advice on planning a US trip from Chicago to the Deep South.
We’ve done things slightly backwards, as flights are already booked arriving in Chicago on 27th August and departing from Atlanta on 13th September, so that gives us 17 nights to join the dots.
Our interests on this trip include music (Blues, Jazz, Cajun, Soul, Country, Hip Hop), good food, architecture, wildlife, parks, gardens, museums, history.

Current rough itinerary is as follows. Difficult to judge the distances & travel times involved. Does this seem too ambitious for the number of days available?

Chicago, IL – stay 3 nights
- Art Institute, view skyscrapers
- Original plan was to take overnight sleeper train (for better experience, views & less environmental impact) from Chicago to either Memphis or New Orleans; but I fear this may take too long so we may, reluctantly, take an internal flight to NOLA
New Orleans, LA – stay 3 nights, pick up a hire car for rest of the trip
- Take riverboat trip(?)
- Drive north via Baton Rouge, LA to experience a little of Cajun country
Natchez, MS – stay 1 night
- View antebellum houses
- Take Natchez Trace Parkway / Highway 61 north
Vicksburg / Jackson, MS (optional) – stay 1 night
Clarksdale, MS – stay 1 night (in Shack Up Inn)
- Red’s Lounge, Ground Zero Blues Club
Memphis, TN – stay 2 nights
- Sun Studio, Stax Museum, possibly Rev Al Green’s church service
Muscle Shoals / Huntsville, AL (optional) – stay 1 night
Nashville, TN – stay 3 nights
- Grand Ole Opry, Bluebird Cafe
Chattanooga, TN (optional) – stay 1 night
Gatlinburg / Sevierville / Pigeon Forge / Cherokee, TN (optional) – stay 1 night
- Fiona has a bit of a Dolly Parton obsession, so Dollywood is a possibility!
- Drive through Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Atlanta, GA – drop off hire car (expensive one-way fee?), fly home late evening

Any and all comments/suggestions welcomed, including places to eat/drink/be merry! Thanks
Neil & Fiona

tomfuller

The City of New Orleans train leaves Chicago at 8:05 PM every night. It arrives in Memphis about 6:30AM (downtown-Main St.).
The Roomette for 2 of you would be about $310. After seeing the sights in Memphis including Graceland, rent the car there.
See the things on your list except New Orleans and Atlanta.
Return the car to Memphis and then take the early morning City of New Orleans to New Orleans.
The Amtrak Crescent leaves New Orleans at 7:00AM and will take you to Atlanta for your flight home.

NeilWT

Thanks for your reply, I'll look into the NOLA to ATL train service.
Is there a particular road route you would suggest to take in all the locations starting/ending in Memphis? I guess we could treat it as a return trip (or trips) rather than one big loop.
Is Graceland worth a visit? We appreciate Elvis, but are not massive fans, so weren't sure about that one. Thought it might be a bit "cheesy"?

tomfuller

If you like Dolly better than Elvis, by all means go to the Great Smoky NP and Dollywood.
Head east on I-40 to Nashville then Pigeon Forge then Chattanooga, Alabama, Mississippi, Northern LA, and drive the Natchez Trace back toward Memphis.

dwdvagamundo

In Chicago, take in one or more of the blues clubs.

Graceland is worth a visit if you're music fans. It's not cheesy--good to see where someone with "all the money in the world" chose to live. If you're going to drive, you might also consider Tupelo MS, where Elvis grew up.

While we always travel by car or plane in the US (we live in Atlanta), tomfuller's train itinerary may work well for you, at least as far as NOLA. I'll give some more thought to a road itinerary for you.

dwdvagamundo

Here's my suggested itinerary:

Train/plan to NOLA from Chicago. Do take a riverboat cruise as they are a blast.

Pick up car heading out of NOLA and take Highway 61 to Memphis, stopping along the way as needed. I Natchez Trace Pkwy doesn't go where you want to go. I don't think you'll need three nites to go from NOLA to Memphis. I'd probably tour Natchez by day then drive to Vicksburg for overnite. Then to Memphis via Clarksdale, which is a fairly easy drive.

It's hard for me to see working Muscle Shoals or Huntsville into this itinerary given the time you have. If you do, be sure to visit the Helen Keller home and the birthplace of WC Handy all near Florence, AL. Not much to do IN Muscle Shoals, AFAIK.

However, I'd suggest leaving that out and taking I40 from Memphis to Nashville, then from Nashville to Knoxville. Continue east on I40 to Winfield Dunn Parkway (Tenn. 66) and go south. You'll be in the region of Dollywood, Smokies, etc. Caution: I've never tried this route but it looks like the most direct. In any event, stay on the north side of the Great Smokey National Park (Dollywood, Pigeon Forge area) and don't try to drive all the way through, as traffic is generally pretty bad. And taking this route will permit you to visit Chattanooga, which is really worth a visit.

However, if you want to drive right through the Park, I'd take the Blue Ridge Mountains Parkway east off of US441 to Asheville, then take I26 south to I85 to Atlanta. Asheville is about four hours from Atlanta.

After leaving the Smokies, head back west on I40, but take I75 when the two come together. Take I75 to Chattanooga and then to Atlanta. If you find you have time to spare, you could then drive up to Huntsville, Florence and Muscle Shoals and back to the ATL.

I think the whole thing is doable if you don't mind going at a fairly high velocity.

VisitNatchez

You may want to stay an extra night in Natchez to see more than just the antebellum houses. There are 10 to choose from that are open year-round. We also have live music on the weekends in several different venues. Since you are into nature, we have the Saint Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge which is great for birding. There are even tours you can take via canoe on the Mississippi River. The guide takes you on the backwaters of the river on a guided tour. (He can even do overnight)
Eating delicious food in Natchez will not be a problem! All of our restuarants in the downtown are locally owned, ranging from BBQ to Fat Mama's "Knock You Naked" Margaritas to eating right along the Mississippi River. We are home to the Rhythm Night Club Fire, the second deadliest night club fire in the US. The fire resulted in a lot of blues musicians writing songs about it. (Howlin' Wolf's Natchez Burning) There is now a museum onsite of where the Night Club once stood. We also have a very unique African American Museum on Main Street. The building used to be the Post Office. Across the river in Ferriday, LA there is also the Delta Music Museum that will give you a lot of info on the music history. You will find 4 Mississippi Blues Trail Markers in Natchez and 1 in Ferriday. Natchez is part of the Americana Music Triangle and by the sound of it, you will be travelling majority of the Triangle. If you want me to connect you with people in the cities you are travelling to, I would be more than happy to send them an email. My email is [email protected]

Here are some other suggestions:

When you are in Clarksdale, be sure to stop by Theo Dasbach's Rock 'n Roll Museum. Theo is actually from the Netherlands and fell in love with Clarksdale and moved here to open his museum. Po' Monkey's Lounge is also in Clarksdale and is open on Thursday nights. It is one of the last working Juke Joints in the United States. The Dockery in Cleveland is also worth your time. If you have a chance, cross the river into Helena, Arkansas and take a look into Bubba's Blues Corner. It is an awesome record store.
If you have extra time in the Nashville area, you should really check out Franklin, TN and the village of Leiper's Fork if you want to see the REAL live music! Puckett's in Leiper's Fork has open mike night every Thursday and people come from all over to play.

jent103

I agree - as far as I know, there's not much to do as a tourist in Muscle Shoals. Judging by the rest of your itinerary, I imagine you're going for the music history aspect - are there studio tours you can take? If not, I'd skip that.

Your time in Memphis and Nashville seems good. If you want to see an Opry performance, make sure you're in town on a night it's playing.

http://www.opry.com/calendar?show_date[min]=&show_date[max]=&artist=&show_type=All&venue=All&page=3

I'd add more time to the Smokies - if you're going to make the drive over there, make it worth your while. Putting it at the end of your trip will be good; the first Monday in September is a major US holiday that marks the end of summer, so doing it after that will mean it's a bit less crowded. Chattanooga is great; make sure to visit North Chatt and the Bluff View district.