Our month trip New Orleans late April 2019

Suggestions for Smokey mountains. 8th- 10th. 2

Ashville North Carolina as a base. Beautiful sceneray, good food & drink, and lots of side trips. Google it and see what you think.

Among all of the regular things people think about in New Orleans, the WWII museum there is excellent. We enjoyed sitting in the small rooms with ongoing video of WWII vets talking about their experiences. The museum has grown since I've been there, so I'll have to go back. The cemetery tour was interesting, also. You can also take a bus tour to Oak Alley Plantation if you have never been to a real plantation before.

It has been a while, but breakfast at Brennans was wonderful. I would go back just for the crabmeat omelet!
And Arnaud's is a great place for dinner. Reservations probably required.

If you want to take a drive to Lafayette, there is a recreated cajun village, with workshops showing the different skills. There are some food shops and the Town Hall usually has a Cajun band playing, food and people dancing

Everyone is welcome to dance. It's called Vermilionville.

Have a Great Time
Mimi

Asheville yes or Brevard. Savannah no unless there is some specific thing you want to see. Charleston is only a few hours north of Savannah and is way better. And I say that as someone who grew up in Georgia, going to Savannah. Disclaimer: we lived in SC for 25 years and went to Charleston at least once a year and have been back every other year since we moved. Can you tell how much we love the place?

I agree that Asheville is a great place to stay but with only 2 nights and wanting to visit Smokey Mtns, it's a pretty long drive from Nashville. I'm not usually a fan of 1 night stays but I would do 1 night on the east side, maybe in Gatlinburg or somewhere else near by (I stayed in the tiny town of Townsend TN), and spend the next day driving through the National Park and then stay in Asheville the next night before driving to Savannah - or to Charleston as the other poster suggested.

I recently used Furkot to plan a road trip, and it was so incredibly useful in terms of planning the routes, finding interesting places to stop along the way (eateries, motels, sights to see), scenic bypasses, tracking driving time. It is my new favorite travel planning website (for road trips). It isn't the most intuitive website to figure out, but if you use it, I am sure you will find it as invaluable as I did.

Sounds like a great trip. My only suggestion: if you plan to visit antebellum homes and Civil War sites in Louisiana and Mississippi, I'd allow another day for that around Natchez and Vicksburg.

Thank you all for your suggestions very helpful. I think we wiil stay one night in Townsend and one in Ashville. Which highways would you recommend starting when we leave New Orleans.

Which highways would you recommend starting when we leave New Orleans

Consider driving at least part of the Natchez Trace Parkway as you go from "Nawlins" to Tenn. Not fast, but a very beautiful drive. As you go from Tenn. to Ashville, see if you can have part of the drive include Hwy. 74 between Andrews N.C. and Dillsboro N. C. Very scenic drive alongside a beautiful river.

Thank you Rick Steves Community, great suggestions 😊enjoy your day

Hi Trish:

Belated entry here. We were a bit underwhelmed with Memphis. We spent a few nights there this spring, and I was surprised that the downtown didn't really offer much. The Peabody Hotel is definitely worth a stop in the morning or evening to see the duck parade (I thought our friend was kidding until I actually saw it). Beale Street is where everything is happening, but it's a few short city blocks. For good barbecue, go to Central Barbecue near the National Civil Rights Museum. We would have been happy with three nights, but then we had no desire to go to Graceland.

As another poster added, Natchez Trace Parkway was a wonderful day of driving through the countryside. We got on at Tupelo, and exited a couple of times on our way south to Natchez. If you have any interest in American Civil War History, Vicksburg is a wonderful stop, as is Shiloh on the way to Nashville from Memphis. We stopped in Corinth on our way to Shiloh (trying to find where family members had been), and were surprised that it had an amazing Civil War Interpretive Center that we knew nothing about. It added so much on our way to Shiloh. Also, Abe's Grill in Corinth. It may not look like much from the outside, but it is a small slice of Americana that you will not find anywhere else. And the best, warm, chocolate chip cookies.

Happy travels, and I'm going to send you a PM, too.

Thank you Mother Duck for taking the time to give great information, I'm very greatful to this forum.If we get bored we will do day trips,like staying a few days in one place. Enjoy your day

If you choose to sample bar-b-que in Tennessee or North Carolina, try some in Texas also (especially smoked brisket). Very different styles of seasoning and preparation = different taste. Kansas City style is also a different style.

5 days in Memphis and 5 in Nashville are quite a lot. What do you plan to do there?

Asheville, NC and Gatlinburg, Tenn are great.

We live on St. Simons Island, 80 miles south of Savannah and love Savannah, but you should include Charleston, SC. Cut some days from Memphis and Nashville add Charleston.

I might take away a night from Memphis or Nashville and add it to the Smokey Mountains.

We spent a week in the area and stayed in Gatlinburg while we were there. Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are really really touristy. But kinda fun if you want to people watch.There is also an artisan trail off the beaten path in Gatlinburg. I liked that as it had things that were made in the area.

The national park is beautiful. In the Smokey Mountains, do the Cades Cove driving path. It is a primitive settlement and it gives a great history of the area. There are a few days a week that it is closed and you can do it by bicycle. We saw deer and wild turkeys when we were there. Hubby is a fly fisher so he hired a guide to take him fishing. He had a great time.

Across the boarder into NC is Cherokee and there is still a reservation there. We enjoyed walking around the little town.

Ashville is nice too, the Biltmore is a cool place to go, but it has gotten really expensive.

You have quite a few heavy driving days. Keep in mind that Memphis and Nashville are going to have heavy traffic. Try to avoid 8-9 am and 4-6 pm.

New Orleans:
- The Voodoo Museum in the Quarter
- Oak Alley Plantation, or Houma House Plantation.
- Friday lunch at Galatoire's. It's not just a meal, it is a quintessential old-school creole New Orleans experience. You have to get there early in the morning to put your name in, but it's worth it. If you can't take the time, then go for dinner. They take reservations for dinner (upstaire dining room only, which isn't quite as cool, if you want to sit downstairs have to take your chances) It's business casual for lunch, jacket required for dinner.
- Do a swamp tour, an airboat trip through the swamps, very cool, you get to see a lot of alligators and birds
- Audubon Aquarium
-WWII Museum
-Beignets and coffee at Cafe du Monde, any time of day, but especially for breakfast or late at night (open 24 hours)
- Drago's Oyster Bar

I think 5 nights in Memphis is a lot, I'd cut that down to 2. 3 tops. You could do it in one. Nashville has more than Memphis, but I'd keep that to 3, max. Loveless Cafe is a quintessential Southern diner with stick to your ribs southern dishes, especially for breakfast. The Hermitage is a good visit.

With the time you save cutting nights off your Memphis and Nashville stays, visit Chattanooga, it is a beautiful city, with a lot of great outdoor activities. Lookout Mountain is a nice spot.

Camp in Great Smokey Mountains National Park. You can rent cabins so you don't have to worry about camping gear. Otherwise stay in Gatlinburg.

We went to Savannah and Charleston for the first time three years ago. Before we went, everyone said "oh skip Savannah, just go to Charleston", but we're really glad we went to both.

Houston - I was born and grew up here, moved back after college, I love it, but I always say "it's a nice place to live, but I wouldn't want to visit." Is there anything particular you want to see here? We're not really a tourist town, don't have a lot of sites, and are generally a nondescript modern Sunbelt American city. If you want a real flavor of Texas, I'd recommend San Antonio instead. It is a really neat city. Take a bicycle tour of the Spanish Missions, it'll be the perfect weather for that in April. Don't just stick to the Riverwalk, visit the Prince William District and have brunch at historic Guenther House. Lots more to do in San Antonio that I can't think of right now.

If you're dead set on Houston, at least the weather will be really nice when you're here. If you're at all interested in space exploration, Johnson Space Center is worth a visit. Galveston, an island an hour drive south of Houston, is nice. The beaches aren't anything to write home about, but the historic Victorian downtown is extremely well preserved and lots of shops, restaurants. The Elissa, a tall ship from 1877 is worth a tour, as is the Texas Seaport Museum, and the Oil Rig Museum, an old decommissioned oil rig that's been turned into a museum so you can see what life is like on one. They're all right next to each other. Gaido's is the institution restaurant on the island since 1911. Back in Houston, we have several very good art museums, especially the Menil. We have too much good food and varied cuisines for me to even begin to list some, we've emerged as one of the top 5 food cities in the US in the last few years. Ok, I'll try to list a few standouts - Pass&Provisions, UB Preserve (formerly Underbelly), Reef (unique Gulf Coast seafood restaurant). Also, we have a very large Vietnamese population, with excellent Vietnamese food all over the city, but especially along Bellaire Boulevard just inside and outside Beltway 8 (Sam Houston Tollway)

I would take 2 days away from Memphis (believe me, 3 full days will be enough) and add Charleston which is driving distance from Savannah and very worthwhile. If not Charleston, then Beaufort.

I think Savannah and Charleston are both incredibly lovely and a nice contrast to each other. They have a different feel to them and it's worth experiencing both.