The time came eventually for me to wind my trip down and head home. I’ve talked a lot about this decision on my blog so I won’t belabor it here, but after a year and a half of full time travel, I made the decision that it was time for me to go home, and started driving east. For several reasons (that are also described on my blog) I decided to take the long way home through the South and make several very short stops in places I have missed. So I left the PNW and made my way south.
Denver, Colorado
Yes, yes. I know Denver is not in The South, not even close. But I had to get from Oregon to Texas some way, and I needed a place to stop somewhere along the 2,000 mile trip between the two. I spent a week in Denver, exploring both the urban pleasures of the Mile High City (where I visited the modern art museum and botanical gardens and drank some tasty craft beers) and the natural beauty of Rocky Mountain National Park.
Dallas, Texas
Ok yes and Texas barely counts as The South too, but close enough. I spent a week in Dallas and had a blast there. I went to a Texas Rangers game at their brand new indoor stadium, explored funky and artsy Deep Ellum, went to the original Six Flags Hurricane Harbor and saw the rodeo at the famous Fort Worth Stockyards.
Hot Springs, ARkansas
Oh Arkansas, my old friend. A mere 14 months after leaving The Natural State I found myself back here trying to take advantage of the things I missed out on the first time. Long story short: I only got to some of them. I spent a day in adorable and historic Hot Springs, where I toured a historic bath house, took a dip in the healing waters, and stayed in a spooky old hotel. I didn’t get to go camping in the Ozarks or do a float on the Buffalo River, but that just gives me more reason to come back again.
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city that has teased me on multiple occasions. I have driven through it at least four times in my life and every time I have said, “man I gotta come back and go to Memphis.” This time I finally did it. I did The Most in Memphis – caught some live music on Beale Street, visited the site where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated, took a paddleboat tour on the Mississippi River, watched the Fourth of July fireworks from my own hotel room, and got to touch the microphone that Elvis sang into at Sun Records. Good music, good food, good drinks, good times.
Savannah, Georgia
You’ve heard of HOT-lanta, but allow me to introduce you to SWASS-vannah. The Deep South, the Low Country – however you picture it, Savannah is hot and and it is humid. I spent a couple of days sweating through my clothes and fanning myself dramatically. I enjoyed the elegance and beauty of the old city, visited the Prohibition Museum and paid homage to the Girl Scouts. I also ate a truly incredible amount of seafood. Savannah is gorgeous, but the next time I go back I’ll make sure to avoid going in July.
Asheville, North Carolina and The Blue Ridge Parkway
Way back in the beginning, I started my trip in beautiful Appalachia, and now a year and a half later I’m wrapping up back where I started. I spent a day in Asheville, North Carolina before heading north for my last leg back up the Blue Ridge Parkway. I mention this on my blog, but by the time I got to Asheville I was pretty tired. I spent most of my time in the city drinking beers and bopping around and listening to bluegrass.
Shenandoah National park
Here it is – my very last stop, Shenandoah National Park. My 35th (??) national park on this trip. Funny story: last year I bought the annual national park pass, which cost me $80 and got me about $650 worth of national park entrance fees. Technically it expired the last day of June, and so I thought I was going to have to pay the entrance fee to get into the last park I intended to visit, which felt like a fittingly ironic way to end my trip. In the end, I got there too late in the day, the entrance booth was closed, so I got to go in for free anyway. Maybe THAT was the most fitting way to end after all.
The places I talked about in this post are on land belonging to Native people in the following tribes: Arapaho, Cheyenne, Ute, Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, Kickapoo, Jumanos, Tawakoni, Wichita, Osage, Caddo, O-ga-xpa, Chickasaw, Yamassee, Muscogee/Creek, Cherokee, Yuchi and Manahoac, certainly among others.
Alyson Gagne 