8-Nights The Rhythm Of Reflection: The Southern U.S. By Design from $2,899
Globus
OFFER ID 1504316
On this 9-day tour through The South, spend your days your way. More turn-of-the-century architecture or another sweet tea? March in the footsteps of Civil Rights heroes or boogie through rhythm and blues? Harper Lee mysteries or Helen Keller histories? With complimentary YourChoice excursions, y’all are in for a toe-tapping, lip-smacking, history-packing ride back in time from New Orleans to Nashville.
Why This Tour Has all the Fixin’s:
•An immersive, cultural exploration through the soul of the Old South, from the Magnolia State to Music City.
•A trip through time with sultry nights, soul-food bites, and historic sites of the legends, leaders, and lesser-known heroes of the South.
•Included YourChoice Excursions in New Orleans, Montgomery, and Florence.
•Beignet, done that!
8 nights from $2,899 per person
Itinerary Details
The Rhythm Of Reflection: The Southern U.S. By Design
Day 1 ARRIVE IN NEW ORLEANS Welcome to New Orleans! At 6 pm, meet your Tour Director and travel companions for a welcome drink.
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Day 2 NEW ORLEANS NEW ORLEANS City sightseeing with Local Guide this morning.
YourChoice Excursions include one of the following activities of your choice:
(B)
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Day 3 NEW ORLEANS–WAVELAND–BAY OF ST. LOUIS–BILOXI WAVELAND Visit the Ground Zero Hurricane Museum
BAY OF ST. LOUIS Free time
BILOXI Afternoon sightseeing includes a guided tour of Jefferson Davis’ home and presidential library, Beauvoir. This evening, enjoy dinner at one of Biloxi’s most popular and historic restaurants. (B,D)
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Day 4 BILOXI–MONROEVILLE–MONTGOMERY MONROEVILLE Sightseeing in the hometown of authors Truman Capote and Harper Lee includes the Old Courthouse Museum in the “Literary Capital of Alabama.” Learn how Monroeville served as the inspiration for Lee’s 1961 Pulitzer-Prize-winning “To Kill a Mockingbird,” examining the historical prejudice of the deep South and loosely based on the life of the author’s father—a state legislator and county lawyer who defended two black men accused of murdering a white storekeeper.
MONTGOMERY Free time this evening. (B)
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Day 5 MONTGOMERY MONTGOMERY The capital of Alabama, Montgomery plays an important role in history in the fight for voting rights, with the Alabama State Capitol Building having served as the ending point of the third march for voting rights from Selma. See the sights with a Local Guide this morning, including the State Capitol Building, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, the Civil Rights Memorial, and the Rosa Parks Museum. Take a docent-led tour of the courthouse where Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr. first legalized the desegregation of buses in 1956 and ruled the march from Selma was a legal protest to be allowed in 1965 (based on availability). Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant.
YourChoice Excursions include one of the following activities of your choice:
Free time this evening. (B,L)
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Day 6 MONTGOMERY–SELMA–BIRMINGHAM–FLORENCE (MUSCLE SHOALS) MONTGOMERY Travel the National Historic Trail of 1966 between Montgomery and Selma, which served as the route of Dr. Martin Luther King’s 1965 Voting Rights March.
SELMA Walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge—a National Historic Landmark and site of the infamous “Bloody Sunday”—where over 600 non-violent marchers, led by the late Freedom Rider and Congressional Representative John Lewis, were brutally attacked by police while attempting to cross the bridge.
BIRMINGHAM Visit Kelly Ingram Park and see the 16th Street Baptist Church, a famous Civil Rights landmark.
FLORENCE (MUSCLE SHOALS) Free time this evening.
(B)
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Day 7 FLORENCE (MUSCLE SHOALS) FLORENCE (MUSCLE SHOALS) Join in a guided sightseeing tour of Florence—“the gem of the South”—and learn about the “Muscle Shoals Sound” produced here since the 1960s with state-of-the-art recording studios for iconic artists and producers. See the old town and the home of W.C. Handy—the “Father of the Blues.” See the original Muscle Shoals Sound Studios building and tour the Alabama Music Hall of Fame with a docent. Enjoy free time this afternoon.
YourChoice Excursions include one of the following activities of your choice:
Farewell dinner featuring live music. (B,D)
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Day 8 FLORENCE–NASHVILLE FLORENCE This morning, depart for Nashville and enjoy a sightseeing tour, including Centennial Park with its full-size replica of Athens’ Parthenon, the recording studios of Music Row, and famous Honky Tonk Row. Enjoy your afternoon at leisure. (B)
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Day 9 NASHVILLE Your vacation ends with breakfast this morning. You may also choose to extend your time in Nashville and explore more on your own. Extra nights are available for purchase. (B)
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The Civil Rights movement began in Alabama's capital, Montgomery, where a yearlong bus boycott ended in a Supreme Court decision to integrate public transportation in 1956. Today, you can watch a re-enactment of that historical event at the Rosa Parks Library and Museum.
The Civil Rights Memorial, the nation's first monument to the Civil Rights movement, honors those who died in the struggle. It was designed by Maya Lin (who also designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.) and features an interactive interpretive center that expands on the stories of the Civil Rights movement martyrs and the topic of social justice. Be sure to visit Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served as pastor in the 1950s, and the Dexter King Parsonage, where Dr. King and his family lived during many events of the Civil Rights movement.
The first capital of the Confederacy (where Jefferson Davis was sworn in as president in 1861), Montgomery is also where the first electric streetcar operated (in 1886) and where the Wright Brothers established the first school of powered flight (in the early 1900s). Alabama's Capitol building, built in 1853, has been extensively restored.
Another famous Montgomerian is country-music legend Hank Williams Sr. After Williams' meteoric career ended with his death in 1953 (at age 29), he was laid to rest in Montgomery's Oakwood Cemetery Annex. The Hank Williams Memorial there is one of the holy shrines of country music, though aside from the tombstones of Hank and his ex-wife Audrey, there's not much to see. Fans may also want to make the 60-mi/95-km drive to Georgiana, the small town where the singer spent his early years.
At the Wynton M. Blount Cultural Park, you can visit the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts or attend performances of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, which stages highly regarded performances year-round.
The final battle of the Creek War (during the War of 1812), led by Gen. Andrew Jackson, was fought at Horseshoe Bend in Daviston (65 mi/105 km northeast of Montgomery). At the Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, you can tour the battlefield by car or hike the trail (phone 256-234-7111; http://www.nps.gov/hobe). Fort Toulouse/Fort Jackson, located in Wetumpka (10 mi/16 km northeast of Montgomery), was the site of the signing of the Treaty of Fort Jackson, the formal end of the Creek War. The 165-acre/70-hectare site hosts an authentic re-enactment, known as Alabama's Frontier, in November.
For more information about activities in Montgomery, visit the town's Web site at http://www.visitingmontgomery.com. Montgomery is 90 mi/145 km south of Birmingham.
Vacation Details
* This departure has been designated a guaranteed departure by the operator, meaning that the minimum number of guests has been met, although still subject to weather and other conditions.
All fares are quoted in US Dollars.
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