Recently I was lucky enough to visit Nashville, Memphis, Natchez and New Orleans, what an amazing trip!
We flew with Delta Airlines in Delta Comfort which meant we had a lot more leg room and wider seats than standard economy so it was really worth the upgrade, we had a choice of around 100 movies to choose from and were fed 3 times!
First stop was Nashville, we picked up our Chevrolet Suburban and off we went to the Renaissance Nashville, a beautiful central hotel. We had a tour on our first morning of Studio B where Elvis made most of his music, the tour guide himself could of been part of Elvis’s family…he really knew his stuff! We even got the chance to record our own CD in Studio B with the same Microphone the King himself used! (Here’s hoping for a Christmas number one!!)
Our evening was spent at the Famous Grand Ole Opry the oldest live broadcast radio station! The country music was amazing! We then headed to Broadway where you just have to experience the Honky Tonks!
Onward to Memphis… After a 3 hour easy drive we arrived in Memphis – The home of the King! We stayed at the Springhill Suites on Main Street, a lovely tree lined street in the centre of Memphis. We had an evening at BB Kings with an amazing meal at Itta Bena on Beale Street. On day 2 we visited Gracelands the home of Elvis Presley, this was even better than I imagined and actually quite an emotional experience.
Next Stop Natchez.. a 5 hour beautiful drive from Memphis along the Natchez Trace Parkway. Now, I didn’t know a lot about Natchez and wasn’t sure what to expect, we were greeted with a quaint beautiful town with so much history, we visited a unfinished Antebellum house with a sad story of its unfinished history from the Civil War.
The last stop…. New Orleans! What a place! You can stay in either the Downtown area or the French Quarter both within walking distance of each other. We stayed in the Provincial in the FQ which was amazing, beautiful rooms with a courtyard, perfect for afternoon/evening cocktails (try the Hurricane!) Here we took a trip on the Creole Queen on the Mississippi River and a tour of the city where we learnt more about the devastating floods back in 2005.
Bourbon Street is something to be seen! Its Saturday night every night! There’s plenty more chilled jazz/soul bars away from here if you wanted something a little less hectic! The shopping also looked pretty good here; unfortunately we didn’t have time to sample any! Although we did manage a sneak peek in Tiffany’s!
