Florida and Southern States
Blessed by nature, steeped in history and enriched with culture, this is a destination for all seasons. Welcome to the South Region: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas.
Florida, the “Sunshine State”, is the ultimate holiday destination: sunshine and exceptional beaches, fantastic cities like Miami and Orlando, great shopping and world-class attraction, a tropical climate, sophisticated hotels, exotic hideaways, friendly people, fabulous cuisine and the chance to indulge your every fantasy, whether you want a cocktail on a panoramic sunset cruise or the extravagance of a luxury spa resort.
Georgia offers enriching experiences for everyone: from its southern rivers to its historic heartland, from antebellum homes to manicured gardens, from local festivals to national forests. Don’t miss attractions including the Georgia Aquarium, the High Museum’s Louvre Atlanta exhibit, historic downtown Savannah, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in Macon, the blooming beauty and butterflies of Callaway Gardens and the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
Enjoy golf? A vacation in North Carolina offers more than 500 courses that wind their way across some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world. Pinehurst Resort presents eight world-class golf courses while visitors also enjoy the spa, tennis, swimming, fishing and biking among many other lawn sports. Along with great golf, visitors can find mouthwatering food possibilities from a typical southern meal of barbeque, hushpuppies and sweet tea to fresh seafood washed down with an array of award-winning wines all grown in the Tar Heel State. Then near the Queen City of Charlotte, the Lowe’s Motor Speedway is a mecca of motorsports and visitors can also experience the excitement of racing themselves through rides, attractions and entertainment at the NASCAR SpeedPark.
One of the original 13 colonies, South Carolina’s rich history spans more than 300 years from its founding at Charles Towne in 1670. Travel throughout the Lowcountry and along the Ashley River Scenic Highway where centuries-old plantations, gardens and opulent townhouses recall the antebellum period when planters found immeasurable wealth from rice, indigo and cotton sustained by the labor of slaves imported from Africa. Today, the Sea Island descendants of these slaves still speak Gullah, a melodic blend of Kings English and African dialects, and continue the tradition of weaving sweetgrass baskets using techniques from their native land. Idyllic ocean settings, marshes and breathtaking mountain vistas provide settings for the more than 350 championship golf courses across the state making South Carolina “The Golf Capital of the South.” And, public access to the best of these allows you to play where the pros play.
With four major cities – Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga – and thousands of acres of great outdoors, Tennessee is more than a vacation, it is an experience. From the Mississippi River to the Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee is a place to discover the best of America’s riveting history, exciting outdoor adventure, great musical styles, friendly people and mouthwatering food. History is everywhere with more than 700 monuments, battlefields, legends and other impressions of America’s past. The state’s Civil War battlefields include Shiloh, Stones River, Franklin and Chickamauga. World-famous events, like Bonnaroo, America’s #1 music festival, and world champion barbecue cook-offs take place in Tennessee each year. More than 800 festivals annually highlight Tennessee’s rich culture and unique flair.
Louisiana is the birthplace of jazz music and the home of authentic Cajun and Creole cuisine. It offers mysterious, beautiful landscapes (some of America’s last wildernesses), accented by a history and culture that formed from all corners of the earth: Native American, European, African, Caribbean and French Canadian. New Orleans is Louisiana’s most popular tourist attraction for vacations. History and culture mix with hip shopping, great restaurants and lively nightlife venues both in and beyond the heralded French Quarter. For the tastes, sights and sounds of Cajun Country, travel into the cities of Houma, Morgan City and Lafayette, or into little towns like New Iberia, Breaux Bridge and Eunice. Prepare to eat crawfish and see live alligators and be sure to pack dancing shoes. The lower Mississippi River boasted America’s highest concentration of millionaires at the turn of the 19th Century. Testaments to that wealth still exist on the Great River Road where antebellum plantation mansions boast unusual architecture, period furnishings and antiques, and entertaining stories about life in that era of Louisiana history.
From the imposing Appalachian Mountains in the east to the picturesque horse farms of the central Bluegrass region to the magnificent western lakes, Kentucky boasts natural beauty to match any other state in the Union. Kentucky also offers lively modern metropolitan areas such as Louisville, Lexington and Northern Kentucky with their soaring skylines and vibrant cultural life. The charms of limitless historic and picturesque smaller towns also make vacationers long to linger. Kentucky’s combined 52 state parks and historic sites are widely known as among the best in the nation.
Experience the music of the south as you explore Alabama, a land full of history and excitement. The hit song “Sweet Home Alabama” is one of the best examples of Southern rock and a tribute to Alabama. Artist such as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Otis Redding and The Rolling Stones have all come to the small southern town of Muscles Shoals in Alabama to record hit songs. Hank Williams, the “King of Country Music” and W.C.Handy, the “Father of the Blues”, were born in Alabama. Singer and songwriter Jimmy Buffett grew up in Alabama.
Mississippi founded the Blues, Country music and Elvis. Today, Mississippi still lives with passion, a passion for celebration. During your vacation, you will find picturesque downtowns alive and rich with history and character. Mississippi’s culture and heritage are richer than the soil of the Mississippi Delta. You can see it in the state’s museums, historic homes, in the impact of the Mississippi River and in Mississippi’s contributions to literature and fine arts.