Stay : Music, Bourbon and Beautiful American girls
This route is designed to discover the different musical styles from the South of the United States (bluegrass, country, blues, rock'n'roll, jazz, zydeco…), but also to allow you a beautiful escape on the Bourbon route and the discovery of the magnificent National Corvette Museum of Bowling Green (KY). Duration: 21 days - Total distance: 3 200 km.
Summary of the stay
Best time to go
21 days
€€ - Charm and comfort
Detail of the stay : Music, Bourbon and Beautiful American girls - 21 days
Day 1: Atlanta
Gateway to the south.
Day 3: Asheville
Steps: Athens, Asheville, Greenville
As the gateway of the Appalachians, it is a university city where Old Time music and bluegrass are honoured. It takes you 2 hours and 40 from Athens. Note that halfway between Athens and Asheville, you can stop at Greenville (SC). The city has discovered an artistic vocation (and therefore musical) there are just few but we are sure to find a good place or listen to music. Car fans, though they are German and not American, can visit the impressive BMW Zentrum in to Greer (10 miles). It is in the nearby factory that the famous X models are manufactured for the world market.
Day 4: Sevierville
Steps: Asheville, Cherokee, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Sevierville, Pigeon Forge
On the other side of the Appalachian Mountains, Sevierville is the birthplace of Dolly Patron, a great country artist and patron of the arts in the region. Its amusement park, Dollywood (in Pigeon Foge), offers a wide range of entertainment related to country, bluegrass, Southern gospel and rock'n'roll. Allow 2 hours and 20 minutes from Asheville, via Cherokee and the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
DOLLYWOOD & DOLLYWOOD SPLASH COUNTRY
Day 5: Lexington
Steps: Renfro Valley, Lexington, Sevierville
On the way to Lexington, stop in Mount Vernon-RenfroValley (KY), its Kentucky Music Hall of Fame & Museum is dedicated solely to Kentucky artists. This museum is adjacent to the Renfro Valley Entertainment Center, where country, gospel and bluegrass concerts are held year-round. It takes 2 hours and 15 minutes to get there from Sevierville.
Day 6: Lexington
Steps: Lexington
Lexington, the "capital" of horse, is located in the middle of the Bluegrass Region, where the bluegrass music was born, but also at the beginning of the Bourbon Trail. The latter is not a marked route on your road, but a set of Bourbon distilleries (7 in 2014) affiliated to the same association and scattered between Lexington and Louisville. However, the actual number of distilleries in the state is much more important, and almost all of them are open to tasting. Lexington is highly advisable for the visit, particularly in June, at the Festival of the Bluegrass Country, the oldest Bluegrass festival in Kentucky. It takes 3 hours from Sevierville.
Day 7: Louisville
Steps: Louisville, Lexington
Louisville, like Lexington, is primarily a large city (the most populated in Kentucky) which lies west of Bourbon Trail and the Bluegrass Region. In addition to its Urban Bourbon Trail (a variant of Bourbon Trail adapted to the city), Louisville houses a tourist area where live concerts are organised regularly: The 4th Street Live.
Day 8: Louisville
Steps: Lexington
In addition to the city's interest in terms of culinary and artistic matters, and where the largest horse race in the United States (Kentucky Derby in May) is organized each year, one night on the spot will ensure you have an excellent musical evening. It takes 1 hour and 15 from Lexington.
Day 9: Bowling Green
Steps: Bowling Green
Here you will find the National Corvette Museum, as well as the only production facility that can be visited. It is a must for all those who are indifferent to this model whose first copy dates back to 1953. It takes 1 hour and 45 from Louisville.
NATIONAL CORVETTE MUSEUM
Day 10: Nashville
Steps: Bowling Green, Nashville
The largest center of the country music and recording industry in the United States. Priority visits: Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum, Johnny Cash Museum, Ryman Auditorium, Grand Ole Opry House. Allow 1 hour from Bowling Green.
COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME & MUSEUM / RYMAN AUDITORIUM / JOHNNY CASH MUSEUM & CAFE
Day 12: Muscle Shoals
Steps: Nashville
Priority visits: Fame Recording Studios, where many of the great voices of soul music and R&B recorded; Alabama Music Hall of Fame, the birthplace of W. C. Handy, considered the father of the blues. Allow 2 hours and 20 minutes from Nashville.
ALABAMA MUSIC HALL OF FAME / FAME RECORDING STUDIOS / W. C. HANDY HOME & MUSEUM
Day 13: Memphis
Steps: Memphis
The city of blues and rock'n'roll. Priority visits: Beale Street, Gibson Guitar Factory, Saint Blues Guitar Workshop, Stax Museum, Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum, Sun Studio, W.C Handy House Museum and, of course, Graceland. Allow 2.5 hours from Muscle Shoals.
STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL MUSIC / GRACELAND / SUN STUDIO / BEALE STREET / MEMPHIS ROCK 'N' SOUL MUSEUM / W. C. HANDY HOUSE MUSEUM
Day 15: Blues Highway
Steps: La Nouvelle-Orléans, Indianola, Greenwood, Clarksdale, Leland, Greenville, Cleveland, Merigold, Memphis
From Memphis, Highway 61, or the Blues Highway, will be your guidepost to New Orleans. On the way, stop in Clarksdale to visit the Delta Blues Museum. South of Clarksdale, take the rest of the day to visit the Cleveland-Greenwood-Greenville triangle area. Priority visits: east of Cleveland, Dockery Farm, in Greenwood, one of the (many) graves of the mythical Robert Johnson, in Indianola, the BB King Museum. Before heading to Greenville, where you can book a hotel for the night, make a stop in Leland. Visit the Highway 61 Blues Museum. In the evening, for entertainment, you can choose between BB King's Club Ebony in Indianola or, if it is open (only on Thursday nights), the Po' Monkey in Merigold. Please note: it is a 50 minute drive from Greenville to Merigold. Count on a minimum of 2.5 hours between Memphis and Greenville. This time is very approximate because of the many stops and detours you will make on the Blues Highway.
ROBERT JOHNSON GRAVESITE / DELTA BLUES MUSEUM / B.B. KING MUSEUM & DELTA INTERPRETIVE CENTER / DOCKERY FARMS / PO' MONKEY'S / HIGHWAY 61 BLUES MUSEUM
Day 17: New Orleans
The largest city in Louisiana is known as the birthplace of jazz, and you'll have no difficulties finding where to listen to good music in the evening. If you want to go even further, allow a few extra days to go to Cajun Country: the zydeco is king! It takes 2 hour and 40 from Jackson.
Day 18: New Orleans
Continue the visit of Nola.
Day 19: Meridian
Steps: Meridian
Jimmie Rodgers, native of the , was one of the pioneers of the country music. Its is located in Highland Park, northwest of the city centre. His tomb is at the cemetery of the city. It takes 2 hours 50 from New Orleans.
JIMMIE RODGERS MUSEUM
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