Tulip86's Southern Roadtrip
 

Hi everyone!

This October we're going on a huge roadtrip to the South, Florida and Texas.

We've never been, and know few people who have, so I'm looking for any tips, must-see places, great places to stay... any info is very much appreciated.

Our route isn't set in stone, but will most likely take us to Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Southern Mississippi and Alabama, Tampa, Miami, Savannah, Charleston, Chattanooga, Oxford, Memphis and Little Rock.

So whether you live there, go to school there, or have visited there.. do you have any tips to make this roadtrip the trip of a lifetime?


Tulip86

I grew up in New Orleans and Cafe du Monde and going to the French Market are my top two recommendations!

that is a HUGE trip!! how much fun!! is this a college tour?

new orleans, my favorite city (transplanted alabamian living in the midwest here). so many things to do, so many great restaurants! definately see the quarter if you have not been. but plan a trip outside of that to the garden district. one of the most fun times i ever had there was when my husband was in meetings all day and i jumped on the st. charles streetcar & took a self guided tour of the garden district. also, they have a fabulous art museum, great (pricey) antiquing on magazine street. new orleans is a great city to just walk. as much european as it is southern. just very unique.

when in florida, if you want beach time, plan on a few days in the "scenic hwy 30-a" area of the panhandle. the most gorgeous beaches in the world. seaside, watercolor, grayton beach, alys beach, rosemary beach are just a few of the communities to check out. plan on renting a bike and eating fabulous food.

disney/universal while in florida? it really is fun.

when in miami, try to get down to some of the keys.

if you have future college students, by all means tour each state's college campuses. as an alumnae of the university of alabama i have to say..VISIT TUSCALOOSA :)! take a UA campus tour!

charleston and savannah are both fantastic towns. charleston in particular has an incredible food scene. both are wonderful, historic walking towns. if you have not been, take a guided tour. check out the outlying beach areas also. a side trip to ashville, nc would be wonderful.

good luck and have fun!!

Driving down I-10 from Dallas to Houston make a stop in the college town of Huntsville. they have an old fashioned soda fountain on the square called Kings, and you can stop and see the birthplace of Sam Houston in a charming little park across from the University. There is also a giant statue of him on I-10 seen for miles around right on the highway.

I second Charleston! I loved it. But be sure to get reservations for the popular restaurants if want to eat there: Husk, 82 Queen and SNOB in particular. We luckily got reservations for all three calling 6 weeks in advance. We could only get Husk for lunch and 82 Queen for Sunday brunch. So be prepared. While waiting for our table at SNOB, a walk up asked the hostess when the next table would be open and she said in about 10 days.

Um.... I -10 runs east-west from San Antonio to Houston. No where near Dallas :p

Ugh I know that just getting my freeways mixed up....I meant I-45....need to do something about these middle aged brain wave malfunctions!

Cebrain, trust me.... I sympathize!

Another endorsement for Florida 30a. It's where I grew up and, barring a great venue somewhere else in the country, where we will be getting married next fall! Seaside is where the Truman Show was filmed.

I grew up in the Chattanooga area. Beautiful river front and great downtown area.

Take I-10 San Antonio to Houston to New Orleans to Mobile and then Selma and Montgomery - you rest at Orange Beach outside Mobile.
From there you can hit I65 to the 'Ham or I-85 through Auburn to the ATL or continue on to Tallahassee and Jacksonville, FL

Thanks for all your responses!

@bingo2 this is a yay-we-finished-grad-school-trip :) But we really do want to visit a college. Ole Miss probably or Bama probably.

@blazer19 that sounds good, Cafe du Monde is on the list! I need to get my hands on some beignets as well! First time in New Orleans for both of us. @bingo2 thanks for the New Orleans tips as well! Can't wait to stroll around town.

@HQWest/cebrain We'll definitely take the I-10, at the very least from Houston to Mobile, and then on to Florida-30.

Probably not going to Disneyworld, though I'd love to, just because we're quite strapped for time and we were at Disney Paris a short while ago.

Now we're trying to find airbnb's, hotel/motel options, rent a car. So much to do :)

Looks like you will be going up I-95. Make sure you stop for the tour of the Space Center. It is a fabulous tour and well worth the time and money. Also, once you get to Daytona, take A-1-A north and go to St Augustine. It is going to be celebrating its 450th Birthday next month. It is the oldest permanent Eropean city in the country. Lot's to see and do. Between Jacksonville and Savannah is also a place off the beaten path but a great place to visit - Jekyll Island. It is the former playground of wealthy northern industrialist now part of the Georgia park system. They have a great tour and the inn is not expensive.

Hushpuppies, don't forget hushpuppies! With seafood on the coast and BBQ inland. Now, what constitutes BBQ causes more hard feelings than the Hatfield/McCoy feud. You may just have to do a BBQ and bourbon tour of the upper South next year, since you aren't getting to Lexington, NC or Lexington, KY!

I would also recommend going to the beach at some point along the Gulf coast (someplace like Orange Beach, AL or Pensacola, FL) even though it will be October. the beaches are gorgeous and there's great seafood. also, depending on what part of October you are there it may be warm enough to get in the water.

I would definitely recommend going to San Antonio or Austin over Dallas.. especially if you have a limited amount of time in each place. Those cities have some cool things to see, and you could do either in a day. Also, sites are more "condensed" so you could do a lot without having to travel all over the place. And with San Antonio especially, you could do it all on foot.

I'll have to think of my list of things to do in Houston... Warning: it may be long :)

Beaches in Florida:Rosemary Beach or Seaside. They are in the Panhandle.Tallahassee is a true southern town, the state capital and right off I-10. If you go stop there, drive by the sorority houses at FSU. Beautiful, historic houses.

How about some important places from the civil rights era? This site gives some info: http://www.civilrightstravel.com.

I also wanted to mention that traveling any major highway in Texas warrants a stop at Buccess. That is an adventure all on it's own!

Thank you so much everyone for all your advice. We just got back and we had the best time!

We took the 30A, went to Dallas and San Antonio, sat on a beach at the Gulf coast, ate beignets at café du monde, saw Charleston, Savannah, Chattanooga, the Smokey Mountains, Hilton Head, Birmingham, St. Augustine, Jekyll Island, Little Rock.... the list goes on.

Great mix of scenery, food, culture, civil rights history, great people and amazing weather.

Cannot wait to go back someday.

Oh I hate that I somehow missed this thread the first time around. I definitely know quite a few of these places very well. Glad to hear that you had wonderful trip and definitely come back again some day!

Tell us more!
I'd love to hear about your adventure. Did you visit a college or two?

No official tours but we took a peek here and there. We planned on visiting Ole Miss but there were no tours available when we were in the area. We did take a peek on the University of Texas campus and drove past Clemson and Baylor. We would have loved a visit but couldn't arrange a tour there either. Most colleges only allow tours for prospective students, and since we're not, we couldn't book one.


We ended up driving from Miami, through the Everglades to friends in Tampa. Then took the 98 to the panhandle, the 30A, the 98 on to Mobile, the 90 through New Orleans, Houston and Katy to San Antonio. Then up to Austin and Dallas, where we saw the State Fair, up to Paris and Broken Bow (OK), the 70 to Little Rock, on to Grenada, Birmingham, Huntsville, Chattanooga, Knoxville and Gatlinburg, through the Smokey Mountains on to Greenville, down to Charleston, Hilton Head, Savannah, St. Augustine and Fort Lauderdale!
And all of that in 3 weeks.

We chose the smaller roads to be able to stop in the little towns, saw so much wildlife.. bears, elk, deer, armadillo, turkeys, alligators, turtles, flamingo... but fortunately no creepy crawlies or snakes :D

We loved the vast differences in culture, food, architecture and history. Especially visiting so many places in a row, the differences are vast. We were very lucky to just stumble upon great little Bar-B-Q joints, local bakeries and hole-in-the-wall restaurants.

Will have to go back quite soon, it truly was the trip of a lifetime!