In an earlier post I mentioned my travel plans to join onto a Trek America tour called the Southern BLT.
It's no secret that my favourite country in the world is the USA. I have fond memories of holidays in Florida and New York. I have even worked in South Carolina in 2015 for 3 months, however I still yearned to see the rest of this diverse country.
Southern BLT (NYC to LA)
One of my ultimate places that I have always wanted to visit in the world is LA, so it made sense that this tour ended in this city. Starting in New York and making my way across the country through the southern states, I would end up in LA after three weeks of exploring the USA.So, on an early morning in September, I hopped on a plane (
An early start on our first day involved meeting my new tour group and leader, and loading our luggage onto what would become a place we would spend a lot of our time: the trek van.
Before going on a Trek America tour, it is important to realise that there will be very long drives, sometimes up to 8 hours long, so if you get bored easily or travel sick then this might not be the best tour choice for you.
Our first stop of the tour was in Philadelphia, where we ran up those famous Rocky steps, and tasted the famous Philly cheese steak. After a quick stop to see the Liberty bell, it was time to move on to our destination for the next two nights, Washington DC.
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| Rocky Steps |
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| World famous Philly cheese steak |
Washington DC is a city that I can only describe as serious , very clean and oozing history. Home to the Whitehouse and a lot of monuments, it is the heart of US politics and a great city to visit. A recommendation to do is go to the Smithsonian museums (which are free) such as the Natural History museum and the Space and Air museum. There are so many that you could spend days wandering around the exhibits.
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| Hello Obama! |
Our first night was spent doing an illumination tour of the main sights, which are great to visit in the day and the night. Washington is the scene of so many movies, so it was great to be able to witness these iconic monuments in person. After spending our free day wandering around the museums, we checked out the local nightlife by going to Rocket bar to have some group bonding time.
After a whistle stop tour of Washington and a night stop over in Virginia, it was time to move onto our next big destination: Nashville!
Nashville in one word is crazy! It is bursting with live country music and line dancing. Although we were only in Nashville for less than 24 hours, it didn't stop us from partying the night away in the Honky Tonk bar, which has 3 floors with different live music on each one.
We stayed at the Nashville Downtown hostel which is amazing and around the corner from all the madness.
The atmosphere in Nashville is incredible, especially as we were visiting on the 9/11 memorial weekend. There was so much patriotism in the air which made everyone extra friendly and upbeat!
After a crazy 24 hours spent in Nashville, it was time to move on to our next destination: Memphis!
Compared to Nashville, Memphis is a little on the quieter side but still bursting with soul music. Our first stop was at Sun Studios, where the likes of Elvis and Johnny Cash have recorded songs there. To experience even more of the rock n roll music and southern food, we headed to Beale Street to get a taste of southern style ribs in BB Kings. As we were there on a Sunday night, it was a little quiet but was much needed after a crazy night in Nashville.
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| Graceland |
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| Beale Street |
Our full day in Memphis was spent exploring the home of the king of rock n roll: Graceland! This is Elvis' home and is fascinating for anyone who loves his music. I had obviously heard Elvis' songs but didn't know much about him as a person, so this was great for me to broaden my knowledge and really appreciate him as an artist.
Later on that day, we headed to the Peabody Hotel to watch the famous march of the ducks. This is a daily tradition that is famous and well worth watching. Rather than explain it, I've included a video of what happens, but you really have to witness it yourself.
Our time in Memphis sadly came to an end, but our next stop was the crazy city of New Orleans, which will be featured in the following post!
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