sahj86

Hi,

I'm planning a 2.5 week road trip to the Southern States in April next year.

We are 2, 29 year old Australian girls and would like to experience Southern Hospitality, BBQ and awesome food, a few cool off the beaten path country bars, and some amazing landscapes. We will check out all the cities and major sights but we are both from rural Aus and feel comfortable in small towns.

We can fly directly to Dallas and would like to end in Memphis.

Any itinerary or stop over suggestions would be great.

Thanks
Sarah

tomfuller

Maybe not your cheapest option from Dallas to Memphis but how I would do it. Take the Texas Eagle from Dallas to Chicago. Spend 6 hours in Chicago (lots to do and see).
Take the "City of New Orleans" out of Chicago at 8PM and arrive in Memphis (downtown) between 6-7AM. Walk across the street and have breakfast at the Arcade Restaurant (Elvis hangout).
After breakfast, head north to see Beale Street.
You can spend some time in Memphis or rent a car sometime after 9AM when Hertz opens.
Renting and returning the car from Memphis makes more sense to me than renting in Dallas YMMV.

ElendilPickle

We were just planning a trip similar to yours for this May! We're postponing it until next year, but between Dallas and New Orleans, we were going to stop at the Dr Pepper Museum in Waco, spend a day or so in Austin, visit the Blue Bell ice cream place in Brenham, then spend the night in Lafayette, LA to visit Cajun stuff.

From there we planned to see either Laura Plantation or Oak Alley Plantation on our way to New Orleans (tons to do there).

After New Orleans, we wanted to drive along the Mississippi to Vicksburg (Civil War battle site), then to Memphis.

Lee Ann

dwdvagamundo

I'd pick up the car in Dallas and drive to Lafayette, LA, to hear some Cajun and zydeco. Also, visit the Atchafalaya Basin (swamp). Then you could follow US 90 down to New Iberia and have a look at Avery Island, then continue to New Orleans. Amazing food and music and general funkiness.

From New Orleans, backtrack west along the Mississippi to see one or two of the plantations, then pick up US 61 in Baton Rouge and follow it to Memphis.

You could either alternatively or as an addition continue along US 90 east parallel to the Gulf of Mexico to see some of that. Go as far as Mobile, ALA. , or you could continue to Pensacola, FL, which has an old Spanish Fort and a big air museum. Then you could come back on I-10/I-12 to Baton Rouge

Continuing on US 61 north of Baton Rouge, stop in St. Francisville, LA (charming smaller city) and Clarksdale, MS, for the blues museum and some music. There may be some places in Vicksburg where you could hear music as well. Then you'll have come to Memphis.

I would suspect that not too many people who post on this Forum would know of any funky country bars. And you may not want to go into some of them anyway. I would stop in an interesting looking out of the way town and ask some twenty-somethings where they go. Ditto for finding good BBQ--go to a smaller place and ask. That's probably the best way to experience southern hospitality as well.

BigRuss

UGH - Tom's shilling for Amtrak again.

You want to be in the South, that does NOT mean you hang out in Chicago after a ridiculously long train ride nor does it indicate you want to fritter away 33 hours on the train from Dallas to Chicago (22+) and Chicago to Memphis (10+).

Check the various rental companies (Orbitz could agglomerate) and see who will charge you a big drop charge for going Texas-Tennessee and who won't.

The "amazing landscapes" are first and foremost in the Rockies and along the Continental Divide (not to mention the coasts). Louisiana is swampy and flat, especially in the Southeast and along the River Road. So is East Texas.

Mississippi isn't going to challenge The Red Centre for prominence in a National Geographic article.