Route 66 V Deep South : Road Trip! Advise requested :)

Sky King

Hey all!

I've given advise to many visitors looking for info in Kilkenny so hopefully karma will be on my side now that I am looking for advise myself!

So I have 2 weeks in june for a holiday with Herself and we have decided on a US road trip. Both the deep south (Cajun country and all that jazz) and Route 66 really appeal to me, but for different reasons.

Not going to stray near Cali or the west coast on this trip, because that's a whole other holiday imo.... and I have already been to NY, Chicago and Connicecticut and Florida

So looking at either Route66 and finishing up in vegas, or perhaps Nashville Tenesee down to New orleans.

Would appreciate any input from y'all who have been there or any suggestions generally

fricatus

Can't tell you a whole lot that's specific, but my honeymoon did involve driving in barren Arizona and Utah.

It was really wonderful, but one lesson I did learn was to fill up the tank before every journey. Wherever you're leaving from and wherever you're staying will probably have a gas station nearby, but there is absolutely no guarantee there will be even one in between!

We left Lake Powell, AZ with about 2/3 of a tank full, and headed for Flagstaff. The needle kept on falling and we wondered when we would find somewhere to refuel... still nowhere... and at this point we've turned off the a/c and begun to drive at a fuel-efficient 45 mph. Eventually we spied a gas station, like a mirage in the desert, but it was a close-run thing - we were practically on fumes at this stage.

Oh, and watch out for deer!

Nelly 21

The western part of Route 66 is something that myself and the husband are doing this year. I've been told that there is more to see on the west side than the east side.

What I can advise you on is Nashville! I can't tell you how much I loved the place and how much there is to do. I've been there twice and will go again. Also nashville is 3 hours from Graceland which is a must see if you're touring down south. Last year we drove from Orlando to Nashville and then from Nashville to NY.

The southern people are lovely and very welcoming. We didn't find things expensive (depending on what you want to see and do!!).

We've also been to Vegas and I can recommend there too but 2/3 days IMO is enough. While you're there you could take a side trip to the grand canyon.

InTheTrees

Sky King wrote: »

So looking at either Route66 and finishing up in vegas, or perhaps Nashville Tenesee down to New orleans.

I believe the only viable parts of 66 that are left are far west. There was Nelly's thread about it here a few weeks ago.

I'd do the Deep South thing.

New Orleans is one of my favourite cities in the US, you could easily spend tree or four days there, it might be a good place to start. Maybe New Orleans to Nashville to Charleston to New Orleans?

InTheTrees

One issue with the South in the summer will be The Heat.

Its not the pleasant kind of fresh beachy Mediterranean heat, its sultry humid wet Tropical heat. It can feel like you're breathing cotton wool. And there's little relief either, its the same at night.

You can adjust after three or four days but it will affect how much time you can spend outdoors.

ProudDUB

OP, are you really into music? Nashville and Memphis would both be good places to spend a couple of days if you are. Nashville is a much, cleaner, sanitized, more clean cut city than the hicksville USA reputation that it seems to have. (I used to live there.) It is the corporate HQ of the music biz but there isn't a ton of stuff to keep the tourist occupied, country music related or otherwise. There is the Grand Ole Opry & Opryland Hotel, the old Ryman Auditorium, a ride on a paddle boat steamer cruise on the Cumberland River, the touristy stuff on Music Row, mooching around downtown (which is pretty small) and checking out an open mike night at the BlueBird Cafe, where a certain Mr G Brooks was discovered. It could all be done in a couple of days really.

Same with Memphis...the Elvis stuff, Beale St, chowing down on some really good BBQ could all be done in a couple of days. It is a much poorer, grittier city than Nashville is, so once you've done the notable stuff, that is about it. You can drive from Nashville to Memphis in a couple of hours. There isn't a lot in between.

The drive down to New Orleans is pretty dull. You are driving thru flat, arid, farmland & not much else. There wouldn't be any of the spectacular desert scenery that you get out west. It is probably the poorest part of the US, so there isn't a ton of stuff for the tourist to do. Just north of New Orleans are some fabulous plantations along the Mississippi river, if you feel like checking out the historical, Gone With The Wind type places.

New Orleans itself has a lot to offer the tourist. I just love the place. It has a bit of an edge to it and the poverty and reminders of Katrina are never very far away, so don't expect it to be all mint juleps and jazz bands. If you want to go a bit further afield, you can do fabulous day trip tours of the bayous. You'd probably be better to go on organized tours of those, as opposed to doing it yourself. The gulf coast beaches of Mississippi are only a couple of hours drive away, if you feel like some down time at the beach, after all that driving.

I've never done Route 66. I love Las Vegas & its surrounds but have never driven to it. It does have the likes of the Grand Canyons incredible scenery & the desert to wow the tourist, that the landscapes in the Deep South (other than the bayous in Louisiana) don't really have. Unless you are really, really into country music & Elvis and jazz and blues & are really into the history behind them, I am not sure what more Memphis and Nashville offer the tourist, than the places out west do. It depends on what you are into really.

Sky King

Great info from everyone - especially proudDub- thank you all so much for taking the time to reply!!!

Niallers87

Hi Guys,

Myself and three mates are doing route 66, flying into chicago and home from Los Angeles for 17 days, the plan so far takes in the grand canyon and las vegas for three nights, just wondering if anyone had anymore recommendations of what else we could squeeze and places that are worth visiting along the way?

MadsL

Niallers87 wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Myself and three mates are doing route 66, flying into chicago and home from Los Angeles for 17 days, the plan so far takes in the grand canyon and las vegas for three nights, just wondering if anyone had anymore recommendations of what else we could squeeze and places that are worth visiting along the way?

Best advice would be to buy 3 Route 66 books and pick the best out of that.

My favorite stretches of 66 are the Seligman - Kingman loop and the Mojave Desert run Needles - Amboy. That and the insane horse-shoe bends into Oatman, AZ..I drove it with failing brakes in a 1/2 ton truck!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfF51BGhQDw

Don't miss Sante Fe by doing the ABQ section (good detour) and Acoma Pueblo is worth the detour off I-40.