My mother has "Nashville at Christmas" on her bucket list. We have decided to make the trip this year sometime in early December. We can be gone about 5 - 10 days total and are driving from Houston, through Lufkin, Nacogdoches, Texarkana, Hope, Little Rock, Memphis, Jackson and, ultimately, Nashville.

We will be driving this trip and are looking for interesting side-trips along the way, as well as recommendations for places to stay along the route and upon our arrival.

ANY information would be greatly appreciated

Kelli

This isn't a trip report.

Ask the editor to remove the trip report tag.

In Memphis I would eat at some place on Beale Street.

In Jackson I would eat at Casey Jones Village/Buffet. It is like a Cracker Barrell restaurant,but with a train.
Nashville is a cool city. Enjoy your trip

In Hope, AR, stop to eat at the Washngton State Park. http://www.historicwashingtonstatepark.com/
Their food is very good, the portions are quite generous, and it is inexpensive. You can see the state's largest magnolia tree in the park, too.

Stop and dig for diamonds at Murfreesboro, Arkansas.

Memphis
See Elvis/Graceland (1/2 day)
See Beale Street
See Peabody Ducks perfomance
Places to eat- Gus's Fried Chicken, Peabody Sunday Brunch
Great BBQ-Rendevouz, Central, Neely's,
My favorite place in Memphis to eat is Blues City Cafe

Nashville
Loveless Cafe
Great place for a cheap snack is Las Paletas(popsicles- and yes they are that good)As a matter of fact, I see they are ranked the #5 Restaurant in Nashville on Tripadvisor(although I don't consider it a restaurant)
Ryman Aud. Country Music Hall of Fame, See The Hermitage, If you are into Southern Gospel Music there is a big event at Gaylord during that period.

In Little Rock consider eating at Dam Goode Pies, Whole Hog Cafe, andBrave New Restaurant.
I like Petit Jean, Mount Nebo, Mount Magazine, and especially like Upper Buffalo National River area-all in Arkansas. There are many great hikes that lead to outstanding waterfalls in Arkansas in the Upper Buffalo region.

You could stop at Hot Springs National Park. It is my very least favorite national park, but you might want to stop for an hour or two there. Bill Clinton likes BBQ there at McClards. There are lots of state park/lakes in Arkansas that you can see Bald Eagles during the winter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luZIX63ARsA&feature=plcp

Top 5 best greasy places to eat in Memphis on link above

I highly recommend staying at the Gaylord in Nashville. It will be a premier location for seeing Christmas in Nashville.

I don't tend to post negative reviews but I did for Casey's in Jackson, TN. I am sure it was a nice place at one time---long ago. It is a dump now and the food was so so.