09-11-24 SOME COOL PLACES TO GO & EXPERIENCE THE BEAUTY OF AUTUM IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH
Fall is just around the corner - Official Start of Autumn is September 22. Right now, there is bright sunshine with occasional clouds & rain with temperatures in the low 90's. Officially, the hurricane season runs from June to November. However, I'm going forward with a positive outlook that the bad stuff is done! It's time to update and actually do things on your bucket list. Most people's Bucket Lists have places they want to travel to - Italy, Spain, France-Provence, and on and on. All those places to visit and experience the cultures, the people, the food, and other amazing things in our world run up and down our lists. Today's post, however, is about the greatest country on the planet - the Good Ole' USA Southern Style!
Because America is so large and diverse, there are many places you can visit to see the natural and built beauty of this country. The photo to the right is the famous Frank Lloyd Wright residence and studio Taliesen West about thirty minutes outside of Pheonix. You can travel to Napa Wine Country or the incomparable Southwest of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, or the Carolinas, containing the most amazing residence ever built in the US - The Biltmore Mansion, just outside the very hip town of Asheville, NC. Throw in Texas or Arkansas or the Great Western places in Montana and Wyoming such as Yellowstone or Glacier National. You can keep very busy seeing amazing places in this so-diverse country. I have always believed that great travel involves great planning combined with serendipity.
Here are thoughts on some places that should be on every Vagabond's Bucket List.
It's a long drive to Asheville from my hometown, Tallahassee, but the drive is beautiful most of the way. Or you could stop off somewhere halfway in a very cool and inexpensive ($90 a night) AIRBNB in Marietta Square, Georgia a few minutes north of Atlanta with all five-star reviews - The Grand In Marietta Square. Then make the drive to Asheville where the Biltmore Estate has existed since 1895. The privately owned residence is the largest single-family residence in North America. Logging in at 178,926 square feet with 250 rooms, 33 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms and 65 fireplaces this mansion is one of the most impressive works of architecture I have ever seen. It sits on 8,000 acres surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains with scenic areas everywhere for walking, biking, carriage rides, hiking, horseback riding and more.
We stayed in a small boutique Hotel Indigo - great design, great staff and great views priced at $200 a night. And it's only about ten minutes from the Biltmore. Or, if you really want to just relax in pure luxury and impress, a room at The Innon Biltmore Estate is your choice for a nice $670. For less money check into The Village Hotelon Biltmore Estate for a paltry $380! We had a delicious lunch there.
If you want to take a trip that is easy and reasonably priced - Savannah is the place. You can stop about halfway at Amelia Island for lunch. Amelia has numerous great restaurants. Just click Florida Trippers for a list of great restaurants serving fresh seafood and other culinary delights. Then head up to the oldest city in Georgia - Savannah. This beautiful ancient, yet modern city has it all - great food, great museums, beautiful streets for walking with amazing scenery everywhere. It also has a plethora of hotels, large and small, as well as AIRBNB's for every budget. The Andaz Hotel is right downtown convenient to great restaurants, museums and other amenities. Today's rate is around $260 depending on when you go and what room design you select. Or if you want to save your money for food and other stuff, check out a list of AIRBNB's for the budget minded vagabond. This classy city has twelve great museums exhibiting works from ancient history to ultra-modern. First on my list is the SCAD Museum featuring innovative sculptures and paintings such as the yellow boot above.
“If you go to Atlanta, the first question people ask you is, "What's your business?" In Macon they ask, "Where do you go to church?" In Augusta they ask your grandmother's maiden name. But in Savannah the first question people ask you is "What would you like to drink?”
Today's video features a founding member of the multi-award-winning group Florida-Georgia LineBrian Kelley. He performs a cool tune extolling the virtues of Georgia's oldest city - Savannah.
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