Touring The Deep South USA 2018

As you know, we love doing something different on holiday. A few years back, we enjoyed organising our own USA self-drive, visiting Aspen, Denver, South Dakota, and Montana. We absolutely loved the freedom and flexibility of creating our own tour. The only thing that could have made this trip better would have been an all-American RV… So, using a well-established and highly recommended company, Cruise America/Cruise Canada RV Rental and Sales, we got in touch to see how to make this happen. They provided all the help and advice required for any first-time users and even had their own comprehensive 25-minute video to watch on their website before we travelled. These types of holidays take a lot of organising. But this is part of the fun. We looked at many pre-planned routes and picked one we liked, then set about tweaking it to suit our exact requirements. We created our own “must do” list, checked out Google Maps and started planning times, distances and campgrounds (so we could hook the RV up). KOA and GOOD SAM Campgrounds are great, but did you know you can also legally stay in the car park of a Walmart at a Manager’s discretion? Interesting fact, but it didn’t really fit with the scenic campsites and vistas we were hoping for! We arrived in Orlando and booked a hotel for the night. We didn’t want to set about driving straight away with jet lag, plus the RV collection is lengthy (approx. 2 hours) as there is a lot to explain and paperwork to complete. Our first leg was Orlando to Perry KOA Campground (200 miles). This was our first overnight stay in the RV and we’d chosen a very rural campground with all the facilities we could need. Even a swimming pool. Debbie and Brian (the camp owners) were brilliant and showed us the ropes and made us feel very welcome. Next to the Gulf Shores, Alabama. We stayed at the Island Retreat Park. This campsite was great and had all the usual facilities including laundry rooms and a swimming pool. This was a popular visitor destination for the locals, which wasn’t surprising given the miles of clean, white sandy beaches and the mid-30s temperatures. Lots of fantastic, local bars and restaurants to relax in. Then New Orleans! We stayed here for three nights. This is an amazing, lively city with so much going on. Because of this, we chose a campground outside of the city and caught a shuttle in daily so we could benefit from dipping in as we liked. Often in cities, we get a “Hop On/Hop Off” bus pass, but we had inside information that the Streetcar (Red and Green Trams) had a better route. And it only cost $3 a day. There wasn’t a commentary on the tram, but we found other ways to learn more about the city. We did a self-guided walking tour around the Washington Ave area using the green Streetcar. Super safe and very interesting. When in New Orleans, you simply must visit the Bars on Bourbon Street, which all have a variety of bands and musicians playing throughout the day and night. Great atmospheres. You can also do Ghost or Voodoo walking tours, hire a horse driven carriage around the city or explore the city by boat. I loved the Natchez Mississippi River Paddle Steamboat Cruise. There was a brilliant live band, and for a small supplement, you can also have dinner on-board. Next up, Memphis! We had to do Memphis – home of Elvis and the Blues - as part of our Deep South experience. We stayed at The Graceland RV Park which was only a 5-minute walk from Graceland itself and the museum. The town is only 10 minutes in a taxi and approx. $15. For entertainment, Beale Street is the place to be with many bars playing the Blues into the early hours. The best tour we went on was the Mo Jo Music Bus and a visit to Sun Studio - I can highly recommend. You can also visit the Civil Rights Museum, visit The Peabody Hotel to see the famous Ducks and even see the hotel where Martin Luther King was shot. And finally, Nashville. This was the much-anticipated highlight of the trip, helped of course by being a country music fan. We stayed about a 10-minute drive out of the city and, like most campgrounds, they provided shuttles in and out of the city for a small charge. New Orleans and Memphis were busy, but these had nothing compared to Nashville! We did a “Hop On/Hop Off” Bus on the first day to see the sights of interest and work out where we wanted to visit again later. There are over sixty bars on Broadway 4th & 2nd Street, all playing live music 24/7. If the music in one wasn’t your thing, you could simply go next door! So many places to see, including The Ryman Auditorium, Tootsies Bar, The Johnny Cash Museum, Hattie B’s Chicken Shop, Music Row Recording Studios and The Grand Ole Opry House. The Grand Ole Opry is something else; it’s the home of country music and anyone who is anyone in country has performed there. We saw a show celebrating their 93rd birthday and saw a range of stars from past and present. Absolutely brilliant. After two and a half weeks touring, we could have dropped the RV and flown home from Nashville, but we decided to leave the bright lights and instead head up to the beautiful scenery of The Great Smoky Mountains. The lakes, rivers and mountains were truly stunning and full of autumn colour. We then travelled through South Carolina and back into Florida travelling down the coast to a place called St Augustine, on the south east coast. It is said to be the oldest continuously occupied settlement of European origin in the United States. A great final destination; one of those little, gems that you occasionally find on holiday and know you will always remember. We absolutely loved this trip and our ability to plan the perfect route and the flexibility to change it when we were there based on new things we were finding out. A great US adventure which has inspired us to create more trips like this elsewhere in the world. Fancy your own adventure? Here at Travel Counsellors, we specialise in doing these sorts of bespoke holidays for you. However you want to travel and wherever you want to stay, we can get involved as much or as little as you like. If time-consuming planning isn’t your thing, just give me your “must do” list and I can create you the perfect itinerary.