Posted on 08/18/2014 5:16:06 PM PDT by Chickensoup
One of the most beautiful and interesting places in the nation is Asheville, NC and the Smoky Mountains to the south. “Cold Mountain” and Cherokee territory. I don’t know if autumn leaves would still be on the forests at Thanksgiving, but the Blue Ridge parkway is spectacular, and Asheville has a wonderful history.
Same for Vicksburg, MS. Right on the Mississippi, with a rich history, Civil War battleground, grand old antebellum mansions.
I’ve visited both and would highly recommend either one.
Or Memphis and Nashville, for music. And Elvis!
Volunteer at a Homeless Shelter or Salvation Army. See if you church has anything going on. There are LOTS of opportunities.
It is, and is a fantastic experience. It is a major tourist stop and very large and well appointed.
Dear Soup,
I forgot, in my late night rush, to mention that the ‘fried green tomatoes’ movie area, is about an hour north of Alexandria, spelled Nachitoches, but the folks here pronounce it, ‘nak-a-dish’. It is a small college town, with a bunch of small shops along the river. The town is famous statewide for it’s production of meat pies, which I have become accustomed to purchasing.
For travel, Alexandria/Pineville, (it’s another river split), is about 4 hours from New Orleans via I-49 to I-10, going through Baton Rouge. It’s 2 hours and change to Shreveport, and to Lafayette, about 3 hours.
Pineville has the distinction of being the area where Gen. Patton’s troops trained, before going overseas. The discovery of two Confederate earthworks fortifications on the riverside, have been under reclamation, and open to the public.
Alexandria is the location of the Bowie plantation, and there is the Kent Plantation House, which has year round period activities. On the outskirts of the town, there are active cotton fields. (I have never seen cotton growing till I came down here.)
I will mention this ... as a survivor of Hurricane Katrina, and not having been back down that way, a measure of bounce back, would be to travel down through Plaquemines Parish (county), and see what construction is going on in Buras. The town was swept away clean by Katrina. The huge water tower was blown down, too. I live ‘above the water line’ now.
I do hope that this was helpful.
I hear Ferguson Missouri is nice.
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