A good road trip south

[vegemite]

Coming over from Australia and wanted to do a road trip in the south.

I am interested in seeing the "real south" rather than the commercial side of things.

Any suggestions of where to start and end and what to do along the way ?

I have about 5 days to spend doing this and will be there around June 2006.

thanks.

[lhuff]

I'm from Louisiana and have traveled quite a bit in the Southeastern part of the US. I'm guessing this is the area that you are referring to. Are you interested in plantations, bayous, alligators, cotton fields, what? If Louisana or East Texas appeals to you I can give you info on really cool backroads that won't dump you off into industrial areas that often.

Laura

[vegemite]

I'm from Louisiana and have traveled quite a bit in the Southeastern part of the US. I'm guessing this is the area that you are referring to. Are you interested in plantations, bayous, alligators, cotton fields, what? If Louisana or East Texas appeals to you I can give you info on really cool backroads that won't dump you off into industrial areas that often.

Laura

Yeh thats one of the areas I am looking at Laura.

One of my thoughts was to drive from Dallas to New Orleans, and / or New Orleans to Atlanta.

I am interested in all you mentioned above and the whole backroad thing is what I am looking for.

Any info you could give me would be a great help.

cheers.

[Robert Schaller]

Here are some links to Louisiana plantations that were recommended to me by a friend who is a New Orleans, Louisiana native (she's visited all three):

Nottoway Plantation http://www.nottoway.com/

Destrehan Plantation http://www.destrehanplantation.org/

Oak Alley Plantation http://www.oakalleyplantation.com/

Also, St Francisville is a "cute little historical town," and reportedly worth a visit! (I've provided a couple of links.)
http://www.stfrancisville.us/
http://www.stfrancisville.net/town_new/index.html

[lhuff]

That's Perfect. I actually live in Shreveport which is on the way between NO and Dallas. I would suggest staying in New Orleans for a day or two and just exploring on foot or by the streetcar. The streetcar runs from the French Quarter through the Garden District (think very old homes)and back. It was $1.25 for a one way trip a few years ago, not sure if it's changed. If you take I-10 out of New Orleans take the Grammercy Exit (about an hour outside of NO) and go and see Oak Alley and Laura Plantations, they are less than a mile apart on the banks of the Mississippi River.

From there I would go to Highway 90, not sure of the exact directions from Grammercy, may have to go back into NO to catch it. Anyway this road takes you through a lot of small Cajun towns, not always the prettiest route since South Louisiana is Heavily into the Oil and Gas Industry. I would stop in Lafayette, LA and look around. There are some very old Churches and Cajun settlements around there. You are also not far from Evangeline, LA and Shadows on the Teche (another old home) in New Iberia, LA. Both are actually between NO and Lafayette. Oh and don't forget the McIlhinney Tabasco Plant just outside of Lafayette. They show you how they make Tabasco Sauce and there is also a nature reserve on the property.

From Lafayette I really suggest taking I-49, unless you want to travel a bit further east to Lake Charles, LA and cathching Highway 171. It's a pretty cool road, but there are a lot of logging trucks that use that route and the military at Fort Hood tends to use it as a route to their training grounds. Highway 171 takes you into Shreveport. Stay on 171, it's called Mansfield Road in Shreveport, and turn left onto Bert Kouns Industrial Loop (this is the first real intersection if you come this way). There is a Brookshires, a CVS, and a Walgreens all at that corner. Take Bert Kouns all the way until you see signs for I-20. To get onto I-20 West you have to take a left onto Highway 80. I suggest staying on 80 and not taking I-20. I've only gone on 80 as far as Longview (about 1.5 hours east of Dallas), but it is a really pretty road that will take you through small towns and some cattle ranches.

Sad to say, but I've never really spent time in Dallas even though it's only 4 hours from here (by way of I-20).

If you think you want to spend some time in Shreveport, I can give you some good places to go. Try googling a lot of the places I've mentioned and they may point you to some other attractions I've forgotten or didn't know about.
Check out roundamerica.com - There used to be a link to it from this website a few years ago. The guy did a trip using only backroads around the whole US and even included his route. He started from Atlanta.