I've been reading the October issue of Budget Travel magazine and just now found an article about budget traveling all the way across the country. Haven't read it yet, but I did look at the map that goes with the article, and -- why am I not surprised? -- the cross country route stays miles and miles away for The South. If you read enough such articles, you might find one in twenty that is routed through The South. Those folks don't know what they are missing. They probably are victims of the assumption that The South has nothing to offer but Memphis, New Orleans and Nashville. Boy oh boy, have they been fooled.

I could travel for years and years without going north of the Mason-Dixon line, and never get bored.

Some people go to New Orleans and walk down Bourbon Street and think they have seen it all. Then they take the Interstate up to Memphis and see Beale Street and Graceland. Next stop, Nashville, Printer's Alley and Ryman Auditorium. Then "Hi Ho Ohio, we have seen the south!" They haven't even scratched.

You can spend seven days driving Florida's coastline and every stop is different. Start at Pensacola, don't skip the Keys, and then go up to Jacksonville. Seven days will do it unless you fall in love with some of the beaches and inlets along the way.

While you are down that way, check out Georgia from tidal flats to the mountains. It's a peach of a state. Then you are ready for Tennessee. The eastern two-thirds of the state is more scenic than the west, but you owe it to yourself to see it from the Smokies to Big Muddy. You haven't really seen Tennessee unless you have been to Sparta, Crossville, Watertown, Loudon, Etowah, Woodbury, Dayton, Puryear, and Paris Landing.

Next, spend some time in Alabama and Mississippi. This is the place to get out and talk to people. Stop at the country stores, go fishing in a bayou, watch the races at a dirt track. Then broaden your scientific knowledge with a stop at Huntsville's spaceflight center. Kentucky has Mammoth Cave, Chruchill Downs and Boonesbourgh. You might need to go to Cumberland Gap and see where three states come together.

Virginia is wall to wall with beautiful mountain ranges, broad scenic valleys, and a coastal plain soaked in American History.

I've saved the best for last. The Carolinas! High mountains to Pamlico Sound and on to the outerbanks, North Carolina is a place of variety. Don't miss Ashville, Charlotte or Raleigh. South Carolina is the jewel of the Atlantic. Palm trees, white sand beaches and a laid back population. For history, go to Charlston. That's a good place to sit on a bench looking out across the water. You will find somebody to talk to there. Don't pass up the true Old South which still lives in inland South Carolina.
See? A perfect cross country trip, and I never left the south.
How"been there"ard