John and Janet 2011 Southern Trip travel blog


So, how did we do on this trip? We planned to be home by May 1. We did not make it until May 10. Knowing us, this is not surprising.

I saw the cherry blossoms in Washington DC. It would have been better if it were not so cold!

We crossed Virginia and found a great state park. In North Carolina, we were near Smoky Mountain National Park. We had a wonderful visit with my sister’s granddaughters. We did not attempt to drive through the national park but used the interstate to cross the mountains.

We visited Nashville before starting our trip south. We enjoyed the tours.

We drove the Natchez Trace Parkway as planned. It is a great road with historical stops.

We explored Louisiana but did not head to the Mississippi coast. We went to New Orleans, but we also stayed in Lafayette, Baton Rouge and Venice. In Lafayette, we enjoyed Avery Island and a swamp tour. In New Orleans, we spent a day in the city. In Baton Rouge, we visited a plantation. The highlight of the trip was Venice. We had two great fishing trips.

From Venice, we started our journey up the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. We enjoyed Natchez and Vicksburg. We enjoyed our visit with Ron and Pat south of Memphis. At this point we abandoned the rivers. The flooding was so great it did not make sense to continue. However, we are best when improvising!

Instead of following the rivers, we crossed Kentucky. We want to come back to the Land between the Lakes region. We enjoyed the Mammoth Cave area and the Bourbon Trail.

At this point, we were back on track as we headed to Ohio. We always enjoy visiting and resting at Alice‘s home. She recognizes that we have more energy at the beginning of our trips than at the end.

We did not make it home in time to visit the Ward Foundation National Carving Competition. We decided before we left home that we would not make our decisions based on having to be home on a certain date. That would take all the fun out of our travels.

Overall, we did pretty well. As always, we start with a plan but our plans change. It was a great trip!

Share |