Tastes & Sounds of the South

Welcome to Nashville, a city that sizzles with American music, Southern hospitality, unbelievable cuisine and a boundless spectrum of nightlife. Nashville is known as the capital of country music. The city earned its title with the very first airing of the WSM Barn Dance radio program, the forerunner of the Grand Ole Opry. Tonight you’ll enjoy a welcome dinner and a performance at the Grand Ole Opry with other smarTours travelers.

Clarion Hotel Nashville Downtown | Dinner

This morning you’ll discover Belle Meade Plantation and tour the mansion. Once one of the largest and grandest estates in Nashville and thoroughbred horse farm, Belle Meade was the epicenter of society and social events in the 1800’s. You will then immerse yourself in Music City and visit Country Hall of Fame where great artists have been honored for making Country Music what it is today. The museum will enlighten you more about great names and accomplishments, followed by a tour to the world famous RCA Studio B where artists like Elvis Presley, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, and Roy Orbison, recorded their records. Also included today is an admission to the Johnny Cash museum where you will find pictures and memorabilia galore from this music icon. Tonight enjoy on your own and take in the sounds of up and coming musicians playing along Broadway, passing by famous Honkie Tonks and Boots stores and soak in the essence of “Music City”.

| Breakfast, Lunch

Start the day with a quick stop at the lively farmer’s market featuring a wide variety of local foods, produce, crafts, classes & chef demos. Then travel across the countryside and arrive in Memphis. As a large river port, the city was one of the most important links in the cotton trade before the Civil War. Memphis is also known as the “home of the blues.” Upon arrival we visit Elvis Presley’s palatial home, Graceland. This evening walk down Beale Street the heart of the blues music scene.

Crowne Plaza Memphis Downtown | Breakfast

This morning you’ll start with a tour of Sun Studios. Known worldwide as “The Birthplace of Rock’n’roll”, it is the discovery location of musical legends and genres of the 50’s from B.B. King and Elvis Presley to Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis; from Blues and Gospel to Country and Rock’n’roll. Today the goal of this iconic museum is to spread the story of Memphis’ history and culture through the music that put Memphis on the map. We then explore the civil rights history of Memphis and visit the National Civil Rights Museum, which is constructed around the Lorraine Motel. Here you will learn about key milestones in civil rights history, including Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on a segregated bus, Jim Crow segregation laws, the murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till and marches in Selma, Alabama. The final exhibit is Room 306 of the Lorraine Motel, recreated from 1968, when civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated there on April 4 on the balcony outside his room. Our day concludes with a visit to the Burkle Estate. Also known as the Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum, this Underground Railroad network helped slaves escape slavery. Exhibits include displays of slave auction advertisements, information about slave trade history and artifacts highlighting racial profiling of the time. The main feature is the dark cellar, where men and women hid for hours or days until riverboats were available to take them to safety and freedom in northern states.

| Breakfast

Today’s morning tour takes you to the Stax museum of American Soul Music. Stax Records, where the music was made, was similarly unique: a former theater transformed into a shoestring studio where workday people could be heard and, perhaps, reborn as something extraordinary. Next you will make your way to Natchez. En route, you will pass through Magnolia’s state capital before reaching the oldest European settlement on the Mississippi River.

Hotel Vue Natchez | Breakfast, Lunch

Your day starts with a tour of Frogmore Plantation where you will learn about historical cotton & plantation culture. An 1800-acre working cotton plantation, Frogmore has 19 restored antebellum structures that date from the early 1800’s. Along with the history of the early Natchez planters and their slaves, the tour includes a rare Smithsonian quality steam cotton gin and then contrasts the historical methods with modern day planting, harvesting, and computerized ginning of cotton. Next, you’ll travel to the capitol of Louisiana, Baton Rouge, for a brief city tour. Your final destination today is New Orleans, a city immersed in Creole culture. Today, the city is a unique blend of Spanish, French, Caribbean, African and Anglo-Saxon influences which you’ll find in the food, architecture and of course, the music.

Wyndham New Orleans French Quarter Hotel | Breakfast

Today you’ll embark on a city tour with a step-on guide and experience the history and culture of one of America’s greatest and most beautiful cities. You’ll also enjoy a one hour walking tour through the French Quarter with its trademark wrought iron balconies overlooking the narrow cobblestone streets. Next, you’ll take a street car through the historic Garden District where you’ll see fabulous homes famous for their spectacular architecture. And you will also enjoy a visit to Mardi Gras World. When you begin your tour, you’ll get an overview of the history of Mardi Gras in New Orleans before continuing through the float den, where artists work year-round to build spectacular floats and props. You never get this close to the floats while they’re rolling in Mardi Gras parades, and this is certainly the only place to see how these amazing pieces come to life each year! This evening, you’ll also have the option of visiting Preservation Hall on your own.

| Breakfast

This morning, you’ll enjoy some fun, food & folklore at the New Orleans School of Cooking! Since 1980, countless visitors from around the world have been introduced to the wonderful food and rich culture of New Orleans and Louisiana as a whole. The entertaining cooking classes and General Store are located in a renovated molasses warehouse built in the early 1800s in the heart of the French Quarter, 524 St. Louis Street. You will be taught the basics of Louisiana Cooking in a way you’ll never forget. Fun is a primary ingredient in this kitchen! Participants will enjoy watching the skilled, entertaining chefs prepare a classic Cajun/Creole meal while learning about the vibrant history of New Orleans cuisine. Guests enjoy all the food items cooked, as well as Abita beer, water, iced tea, lemonade and coffee. The afternoon is yours to explore New Orleans at your leisure. In the evening, you will join the other travelers and enjoy a farewell meal to the sounds of zydeco music.

| Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast, you’ll leave for the airport and bid a fond farewell to New Orleans as you head home.

| Breakfast