New York to Orlando

My wife and I are in the early stages of planning the holiday of a lifetime in 2016. We anticipate coming to New York some time in late June early July for a few days and then taking a leisurely road trip from New York to Orlando to meet up with the rest of the family for a holiday in Disney World. There a couple of places on the way that are must see's for my wife namely Memphis (Graceland) and Nashville (Grand Old Opry) Other than that we are very happy to take a relaxed scenic route to Orlando and would like to explore and detour along the way to take in the most interesting places. I am a very enthusiastic wildlife photographer and would also be interested in visiting some well know nature/wildlife reserves if there are any on route.

Time is not a big issue, I understand that if I was driving without a stop it would take about 15 hours and it is 1075 miles. I think we could happily take a week to 10 days to complete the journey.

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

There are actually quite a number of wildlife sites as well as CW/Elvis sites besides just the Grand Ole Opry and Graceland more or less on your way. What's even better is that you have the time to enjoy them at a relatively easy pace. Since you mention no interest in cities other than your wife's two targets, I'll highly recommend that you skip I-95 down through Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington and instead take I-78 west to I-81 south. That would take you near to Gettysburg, Shenandoah National Park, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park on your way to Nashville, as well as set you up for stretches on the scenic but slower Blue Ridge Parkway which runs parallel to I-81. From the Smokies through Nashville to Memphis I-40 is the main road, although US-64 offers a slower and, to me at least, more interesting route along the southern part of the state, particularly between Nashville and Memphis where you can combine a stretch on the Natchez Trace Parkway out of Nashville with US-64 past Shiloh. In Memphis itself, besides Graceland, your wife might want to check out Sun Studios where Elvis got his start along with other legendary singers such as Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins, as well as Beale Street which houses the current Memphis music scene. You might enjoy Mud Island.

The next leg would have you leaving Memphis on US-78 down through Tupelo (and Elvis' Birthplace) to Birmingham and then US-280 through Auburn to Columbus GA. A couple of short side trips here would be to Warm Springs GA and FDR's Little White House and/or to Andersonville. US-82 would then provide the connection to I-75 south. But rather than just hurtling down the Interstate to Orlando, you'll probably want to make another little side trip to Okefenokee Swamp.

AZBuck

Hi Buck

Thank you, this is great, I must admit I thought that we might briefly visit Washington DC to take in the iconic sights such as the Lincoln memorial and the the White House etc but frankly your suggestion looks a whole lot more interesting. I am going to read up a bit on the places you suggest. Before posting my question I read other similar posts that others had written who were planning or had taken similar journeys, one of the suggested travel itineraries was taking the train from New York to Washington and then hiring a car for the rest of the trip. Would this make sense to you or am I missing out on some great scenery and other interesting places by doing that. Thank you so much for your detailed reply. Howard