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It's 11 days until I leave for Chicago. I have my route mostly planned, along with stopovers, but part of the appeal of travelling alone is flexibility so whatever plans I may have now may not turn out to be what actually happens!
The opportunity to make this trip has come about as I was made redundant. Many of the places I will visit are in some way music related (primarily Blues): while I like the Blues, I've had a desire to visit these parts of America just to experience them, and when researching a route there were many place names which I knew of only from songs. That, for me, was a good enough reason to visit them. I am more of a drive-through sightseer which again lends itslef to a solo trip.
My planned route takes me south east from Chicago, to the Great Smokey Mountains, then to Nashville, soth west the Natchez Parkway to Alabama and the Mississippi Delta. Then some travel on Highway 61 (aka the Blues Highway) for a few nights in Tunica, from where I will be able to explore the Memphis area. Then up through Kansas to Nebraska for 4 July, then back to Chicago and home on 6 July.
I do not have too many "must-sees" on my list, but here is a flavour of what I will be doing:
- Start at the Chicago Blues Festival
- While in Chicago, have Sunday brunch at the House of Blues and dine at the Billy Goat Tavern
- Stay in an Amish community
- Visit the Jack Daniels distillery
- Ride the Chattanooga Choo Choo
- Visit Cherokee City
- Attend a weekend country & blues festival (camping!)
- Relax in the outdoor hot tub on the veranda of my cabin in the Smokeys
- Visit some legendary music towns (e.g. Nashville, Memphis, Clarksdale, Jackson)
I am really grateful to Jan for her patience with me on this. Not only in giving me the freedom to do it, but also for quietly putting up with the endless planning I've been doing, and the growing excitement. Also to Debby and Nikki who presented me the challenge of writing this blog, and have undertaken to publish it for me as a Fathers Day gift.
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