9-Nights America's Musical Heritage

Lafayette

Situated on the Vermilion River about 115 mi/185 km west of New Orleans, Lafayette, Louisiana, is the center and de facto capital of Cajun Country—the area settled by French Acadians in the 1700s. There are several sights of note in the immediate Lafayette area, and the town serves as a good base for exploring the true treasures of Acadiana—the smaller towns located within a 30-mi/50-km radius.

To the north of Lafayette is the Cajun Prairie region, which is made up of smaller towns that retain their French Acadian heritage. This is a largely rural area where cattle graze contentedly and flooded rice fields double as crawfish farms.

The tranquil formal gardens of the Academy of the Sacred Heart draw travelers to the town of Grand Coteau. Fans of percussive zydeco music will gravitate toward the towns of Opelousas and Plaisance, where living legends of the style play in dance halls. Traditional Cajun music (less electrified than zydeco but no less danceable) is also a big draw in the area. Fans of the music get up early on Saturday morning to hit Fred's Bar in Mamou, a microscopic barroom-turned-dance-hall that hosts an early-morning radio program that's popular with locals and visitors alike.

Up the road in Eunice, the beautifully restored Liberty Theater features the Saturday-night radio program Rendez-vous des Cajuns. Host and folklorist Barry Jean Ancelet takes the stage 6-8 pm for a live broadcast of Cajun music, stories and culture.

Greenwood

Visit Greenwood, Mississippi, where sites and locations were used in Oscar-winning movie The Help, and many of the city's downtown buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Memphis

Memphis is known as the home of Elvis Presley and as birth place of the blues. Don't forget to travel down Beale Street and listen to some of the worlds best blues bands. Hike, bike, golf, go for a balloon ride and take tours through the history of Elvis Presley's life. Don't forget some great sites in Memphis such as: Alex Haley's Home, Beale Street, and the W.C. Handy Home. Take a trip to the Memphis Zoo or jump on exiting amusement park rides at Libertyland Amusement Park.

Natchez

Natchez, perched 200 feet above the Mississippi River on the highest promontory north of the Gulf of Mexico, is the oldest civilized settlement on the river. The city boomed in the first half of the 19th century with the exportation of cotton by steamboat - cotton grown on plantations in Mississippi and across the river in the rich Louisiana lowlands. Enormous fortunes were made from the area's natural resources: the land and river. Cotton was king, money was plentiful and men spent it - particularly on dazzling mansions filled with the finest furnishings money could buy. Today with its tourism, industry and enormous wealth of natural resources - hospitality - Natchez is one of the most desirable small cities in the United States. Residents are proud to have the city included in Hugh Bayless' book, "The 100 Best Towns in America."

Nashville

Nashville is the perfect destination for all kinds of visitors - from music lovers to history buffs to Southern lovers to sports enthusiasts and nature lovers. Nashville is the Country Music capital of the world. Have fun searching through the past or getting close to the Country Music stars of the present. Hike, bike, golf, go for a balloon ride and take tours guiding you through the history of country music. View homes of current stars including: Joe Diffie, Bryan White, Brooks & Dunn, Lorrie Morgan, George Jones, Reba McEntire, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson, Marty Stuart, Dolly Parton and more. Find tons of historic sites from the Civil War dating back to the 1700s.

New Orleans

New Orleans is a happy, high-spirited city with the pulsing beat of Dixieland jazz. It delights visitors with its riverboats, Creole cuisine, quaint antique shops and narrow streets of the French Quarter. While here, be sure to take a ride on one of the picturesque trolley cars. Eccentric, elegant New Orleans is strongly connected to both the Mississippi River and the South, but its identity remains aloof from any regional or even national affiliation. It reminds some visitors of European cities, in part because French and Spanish colonial architecture adds an Old World backdrop to some streets. But the feeling of foreignness goes deeper: The celebrated New Orleans atmosphere, cuisine, music, traditions and lifestyle are rooted in an embrace of the decadent and assimilation of the unconventional. New Orleans welcomes all, but is familiar to none, and the result is a city which attracts the romantic, the spiritual, the wild and the inquisitive—all while successfully promoting itself as corporate America’s playground. No matter what is expected from a visit to New Orleans, no one goes home disappointed.