Memphis

Nashville is Tennessee's capital and the center of the country music world, about three hours east of Memphis by car. Come for a night of live music in a dozen bars with no cover, then spend the next one at the Grand Ole Opry or the Ryman Auditorium, where so much of the genre's history happened.NeighborhoodsLower Broadway (Downtown): The honky-tonks line Broadway from 1st to 5th Avenue, with bands playing from around 10 a.m. until 3 a.m. and no cover charge. The Ryman and the Country Music Hall of Fame are steps away. Friday and Saturday nights are the most crowded.The Gulch: On the southwest edge of downtown. Twenty years ago it was mostly parking lots; now it's apartment towers, restaurants and boutiques. For bluegrass, head to the Station Inn.East Nashville: Across the Cumberland River, less than a mile from downtown and walkable over the pedestrian bridge. Around Five Points you'll find small restaurants, record stores and bars that lean Americana and indie rather than honky-tonk.Germantown and Music Row: Germantown, just north of downtown, has some of the city's best-known restaurants, including Rolf and Daughters and City House. Music Row is home to record labels and historic RCA Studio B.

Tennessee is the long, narrow state stretching from the Appalachians to the Mississippi River, about 440 miles end to end. People come for the music, from country in Nashville to blues and soul in Memphis, and for Great Smoky Mountains, the most visited national park in the country.The state splits into three Grand Divisions, the same three represented by the stars on the state flag: East Tennessee, with Knoxville, Chattanooga and the Smokies; Middle Tennessee, with Nashville and rolling whiskey country; and flat West Tennessee, with Memphis on the Mississippi. I-40 ties all three together.

Louisiana sits on the Gulf of Mexico between Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi, and much of it was built up over millennia by the Mississippi River and its delta. People come for the bayous and swamps, and for a Cajun and Creole culture that runs far deeper than New Orleans.Louisiana is the only state divided into parishes instead of counties, 64 in all. West of Baton Rouge lies the Atchafalaya Basin, the largest swamp in the country. I-10 crosses it between Grosse Tete and Henderson on the 18-mile Atchafalaya Basin Bridge, and the swamp is home to alligators and the Louisiana black bear.Beyond the basin is Acadiana, the heartland of the descendants of Acadians expelled from Canada, centered on Lafayette. Baton Rouge has the tallest state capitol in the U.S. at 450 feet, with an observation deck on the 27th floor. On the Mississippi's west bank in Vacherie is Oak Alley Plantation, whose main house was built by enslaved people between 1837 and 1839.

Illinois runs from Lake Michigan in the northeast to the Ohio and Mississippi rivers in the south and west. Once you leave Chicago, the highlights are Abraham Lincoln's Springfield, the Mississippian earthworks across the river from St. Louis, and the sandstone canyons along the Illinois River.Springfield, the state capital, is the place for Lincoln: his home, his tomb and the Presidential Museum are all close together, and one full day covers the essentials. It sits on old Route 66, about a 3.5-hour drive from Chicago.Cahokia Mounds, near Collinsville and about 15 minutes from downtown St. Louis, was the largest city north of Mexico around 1100. You can climb the roughly 100-foot Monks Mound by a staircase. The grounds and parking are free and open daily from dawn to dusk.Starved Rock State Park, just under 100 miles southwest of Chicago, has 18 sandstone canyons, many with waterfalls that run best from March through June. In the northwest, the old lead-mining town of Galena has Ulysses S. Grant's home; down south, the hills of Shawnee National Forest are a different Illinois altogether.

New Orleans sits on the Mississippi in south Louisiana. You come for live music every night of the week, for Creole cooking, and for streets that still show their French and Spanish colonial past.The city was founded in 1718 under Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. Its historic core is the French Quarter, anchored by Jackson Square with St. Louis Cathedral, the Cabildo and the Presbytère. For live music, head to Frenchmen Street in neighboring Faubourg Marigny, where more locals go out than on Bourbon Street.The St. Charles streetcar has been running since 1835 and is considered the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in the world. It rolls from Canal Street through the Garden District to Carrollton, and at $1.25 it's the cheapest city tour you'll find. You don't need a car for the French Quarter, Marigny or Tremé; parking there is scarce and expensive.The neighborhoodsFrench Quarter: the old city, with museums, old-line Creole restaurants and the oldest bars in town, best explored on foot by day.Marigny and Bywater: just downriver, with the Frenchmen Street music strip, colorful cottages, street art and Crescent Park on the river.Garden District and Uptown: mansions along St. Charles Avenue, shopping on Magazine Street, Audubon Park and clubs like Tipitina's.Tremé and Mid-City: Black history around Congo Square, brass bands in neighborhood bars, Bayou St. John and City Park.PlanningWhen to go: February through May and October through November are the most comfortable. June through September is hot and humid, and Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30.Big dates: During Carnival season (January through Fat Tuesday) and Jazz Fest (late April into early May), hotels sell out or spike months ahead. Book as early as you can.Where to stay: The French Quarter and Marigny put you closest to music and food; the Garden District and Uptown along the St. Charles line are quieter.