PA-New Orleans-Memphis-Chicago-Detroit

[Jason Weiss]

I'm headed for a reunion at Penn State (State College, PA) in early March. A few of us are planning on lighting out from there for a week -- our schedule is flexible, with our only requirements being that we leave from State College and end up in Detroit a week later (and have as many adventures as possible along the way). As of now, we're thinking 2-3 days in New Orleans, then on to Memphis and Chicago before finishing up in Detroit, but if anyone has any other ideas, I'd be very interested. Specifically, we're planning on stopping off somewhere in Tennessee on the way down to New Orleans -- Nashville? Knoxville? -- and any good ideas for that (or anything else -- around New Orleans, Memphis, etc.) would be great. Thanks!

I would include Nashville & Smokey Mountains in TN and the Great River Road between New Orleans and Memphis.

If you're interested in Civil War sites, there's a lot of them along your route.