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You haven’t experienced hospitality until you’ve visited the USA’s South.
Welcoming guests has been elevated to an art form here. Southern society is built on a longstanding tradition of gracious manners that have well and truly weathered the changes in social convention that have swept the rest of the western world. It’s one of the things that makes the South such a wonderful travel destination.
Add to that an incredible cultural and musical heritage to explore, and superb Southern cuisine to enjoy, and you have all the makings of a once-in-a-lifetime holiday.
Here’s a checklist of our top ten things to do in the southern states of the USA.
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1. Tour Charleston in a horse and carriage
Charleston, South Carolina has been named the USA’s best travel destination by various prestigious travel publications. As one of the South’s oldest cities, it has an extraordinary history to uncover and a wealth of beautifully preserved antebellum (pre-Civil War) architecture. However, like a true Southern belle, this town doesn’t give up its secrets easily. One way to burrow beneath what you’ll read in your guide book is to book a horse and carriage tour. Your horseman/guide will share their insider knowledge with you, and offer tips for other interesting things to do during your stay.
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2. Visit Graceland
Elvis has well and truly left the building, but his legacy lives on at Graceland — the former home of The King, which is located in the city of Memphis. Despite the commercialisation (trust us, there’s not much you can’t put Elvis’ face on, as you’ll discover in the gift shop on your way out) the home itself is an intimate and touching memorial to the global star. It’s surprisingly modest, delightfully kitsch, and won’t fail to bring a smile to your face (perhaps even a tear or two for what is essentially quite a sad story).
Leave enough time to visit the museum that showcases Elvis’ gobsmacking collection of classic cars and two private jets. It’s situated on the opposite side of Elvis Presley Boulevard to the mansion. While you’re there, try a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich in the diner. Elvis, this one’s for you. Delicious!
3. Go on a Savannah ghost tour
Sister city to Charleston and equally historic, Savannah, Georgia is also said to be one of the most haunted cities in the whole of the USA (the visitor centre is reputedly built on top of a yellow fever graveyard!). As night falls the city does take on an ethereal quality, and ghost tours are a popular tourist pastime. As the locals say, ‘beware of the haints’.
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4. Do Dollywood and see the Smoky Mountains
Who didn’t adore the late, great Dolly Parton? So, you’ll want to take this opportunity to learn more about the life of this country music star and renowned philanthropist by visiting her namesake theme park — Dollywood, which is located at Pigeon Forge in the foothills of Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains. Parton was born nearby and it was a humble start to life, as illustrated by the park’s immersive Dolly Parton Experience. It goes some way to explaining the singer’s drive and ambition, which seemed to know no bounds. It’s well worth spending a couple of extra days here to explore the wider region, and many vacation rentals in the Smoky Mountains offer ridiculously gorgeous views.
5. Tap along at a Nashville honky-tonk bar
Nashville, Tennessee is the place to be in the USA if you want to make it as a serious country music artist. The colourful District is lined with honky-tonk bars, where local musoes on the up play for tips, hoping to get that big break in the process. Legendary venues like Tootsies Orchid Lounge have given rise to some of the biggest names in the business. Pull up a pew, grab a beer, and if you like the act you leave a small donation. It’s as simple as that. Many would-be performers struggle to get this far. You’ll often see those with just a guitar and a dream playing in the street just to get noticed. Some might call it busking; they call it an audition!
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6. Go backstage at the Grand Ole Opry
No visit to Nashville would be complete without a night at the Grand Ole Opry — the venerable country music venue and WSM radio show that’s been launching the careers of the legends of the genre since 1925. The Opry is hugely famous in the USA and attracts a motza of visitors every year. The hallowed performer’s circle in the centre of the stage has almost spiritual significance and first-time performers have been known to break down in tears just stepping into it. Take a back stage tour to see it up close.
7. Hear the blues in Memphis
Country music aside, the South is the spiritual home of many music genres, including jazz, gospel, and of course the blues, which originated in the African-American communities of the Deep South around the turn of the 20th century. Memphis, Tennessee is recognised as the heartland of blues music and to be honest there is a sort of melancholy that hangs over this slightly-rough-around-the-edges city. Spend an evening flitting between the ear-splitting blues bars that line downtown Beale Street.
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8. Meet the famous Peabody Ducks
Ah, the strange case of the Peabody Ducks. Now we all know that the USA is the spiritual home of the weird and the wonderful. Well, at the five-star Peabody Hotel in Memphis — at 11am sharp each day — the suited-and-booted ‘Duckmaster’ summons five resident ducks from their purpose-built rooftop penthouse to come down in the hotel lift and waddle along a red carpet to a fountain in the centre of the lobby. There they spend their day frolicking in the water feature, before returning to their ducky-digs at 5pm. It’s been going on since 1940 and draws quite a crowd — so get there early for a prime possie. And be warned: once the lift doors open these down-covered divas move like lightning down the red carpet. Prime the sports setting on your camera.
9. Step back in time at Frogmore Plantation
Our view of life on a Southern plantation during the infamous period of the slave trade (during the 18th and 19th centuries) may have been influenced by Hollywood’s Gone with the Wind, but in reality life for a slave was much more brutal. There are many surviving plantations to visit across the South, but Frogmore Plantation — located outside picturesque Natchez, Mississippi — provides perhaps the most complete picture of day-to-day life for a slave. It’s still possible to visit the slave quarters and Frogmore also has one of the oldest complete cotton gins in the USA. It’s a working cotton farm to this very day.
10. Explore New Orleans’ French Quarter
A three-hour drive south of Natchez will bring you to New Orleans, Louisiana — a travel destination like no other. There’s a massive amount to see and do here, so we won’t go into too many specifics — except to reiterate that sometimes the best things in life are free. Once you’ve had your fill of wandering the backstreets of the buzzing French Quarter, park yourself on a park bench on the Rue de Chartres (in front of the St Louis Cathedral) and enjoy the passing parade. You won’t have to spend one penny to be totally entertained — although the street jazz musicians will no doubt appreciate a modest tip.
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This post was published thanks to Prestige Vacation Rentals.
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Do you have any suggestions to add to our list of top things to do in the southern states of the USA? We would love to hear from you. Join the conversation on our Facebook page.
Additional images: Depositphotos, Bigstock, and Envato
About the writer
Adam Ford is editor of Top Oz Tours & Travel Ideas, and a travel TV presenter, writer, blogger, and photographer. He has travelled extensively through Europe, Asia, North America, Africa, and the Middle East. Adam worked as a travel consultant for a number of years with Flight Centre before taking up the opportunity to travel the world himself as host of the TV series Tour the World on Network Ten. He loves to experience everything a new destination has to offer and is equally at home in a five-star Palazzo in Pisa or a home-stay in Hanoi.
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