Sights in The South
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Southern Food & Beverage Museum
Sitting as it does in the commercial crassness of Riverwalk Mall, the Southern Food & Beverage Museum isn’t immediately appealing – from the outside it looks more like a gift shop than anything else. Don’t judge this book by that cover. There’s actually a pretty fascinating, well-executed exhibit behind the fronting shop that includes more information than you’ll probably ever need on the food staples and dishes of the South, and New Orleans and Louisiana in particular. The attached Museum of the American Cocktail isn’t much more than a small gallery hall, but admission is free with the food museum and, hey, how often do you get to see 19th-century ads for…
reviewed
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B
Metairie Cemetery
Visiting other New Orleans cemeteries doesn’t quite prepare you for the architectural splendor and over-the-top extravagance of Metairie Cemetery. Established in 1872 on a former race track (the grounds, you’ll notice, still follow the oval layout), this is the most American of New Orleans’ cities of the dead and, like the houses of the Garden District, its tombs appear to be attempts at one-upmanship. This is the final resting place for many of New Orleans’ most prominent citizens. William Charles Cole Claiborne, Louisiana’s first American governor, rests here, as does Confederate General PGT Beauregard. Jefferson Davis was originally interred here, only to be moved to…
reviewed
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Houmas House
In the 1940s members of the same Crozat family that salvaged Bocage Plantation also purchased Houmas House, 2 miles downriver. The original structure, built in the 1790s, now forms the back end of the main Greek-revival house, built in 1840. In its heyday, this plantation controlled 150,000 acres of sugarcane, covering towns of today up to 8 miles away. Most of the furnishings are not original to the house, but the current owner (and resident), Kevin Kelly, has collected some fine period antiques to fill in. Check out the fascinating 1800s map of plantation plats found in the house. As you tour the wonderfully landscaped gardens, keep a look out for decedents of Princess…
reviewed
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C
New Orleans Museum of Art
Inside the park, the elegant museum was opened in 1911 and is well worth a visit both for its special exhibitions and top-floor galleries of African, Asian (don't miss the outstanding Qing dynasty snuff-bottle collection), Native American and Oceanic art. Its sculpture gardencontains a cutting-edge collection in lush, meticulously planned grounds.
reviewed
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D
Confederate Museum
Dedicated to presenting Louisiana life during the Civil War, this museum is housed in sturdy old Confederate Memorial Hall, designed by Thomas Sully. Opened to the public in 1891, it's the oldest operating museum in the state. Entering the hall, with its exposed cypress ceiling beams and exhibition cases, is worth the price of admission alone, and the exhibit itself is likely to exceed expectations.
The museum makes little effort to reinterpret history, or lament past sins. The closest thing to a point of view are a few harsh words (mostly quoting federal officials in Washington, DC) about General Benjamin 'Beast' Butler, the locally reviled head of the Union forces that…
reviewed
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E
Lafayette Cemetery No 1
This necropolis was established in 1833 by the former City of Lafayette. Sitting as it does just across from Commander’s Palace and shaded by magnificent groves of lush greenery, the cemetery has a strong sense of Southern subtropical gothic about it. The layout is divided by two intersecting footpaths that form a cross. As you walk about, look out for the constructs built by fraternal organizations such as the Jefferson Fire Company No 22, which took care of their members and their families in large shared crypts. Some of the wealthier family tombs were built of marble, with elaborate detail rivaling the finest architecture in the district, but most tombs were…
reviewed
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F
Jackson Square
Sprinkled with lazing loungers, surrounded by sketch artists, fortune-tellers and traveling showmen and watched over by cathedrals, offices and shops plucked from a Parisian fantasy, Jackson Sq is one of America’s great town greens and the heart of the Quarter. The identical, block-long Pontalba Buildings overlook the scene, and the nearly identical Cabildo and Presbytère structures flank the impressive St Louis Cathedral, which fronts the square. In the middle of the park stands the Jackson monument – Clark Mills’ bronze equestrian statue of the hero of the Battle of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson, which was unveiled in 1856. The inscription, ‘The Union Must and Shall be…
reviewed
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G
Sun Studio
It doesn't look like much from outside, but this dusty storefront is ground zero for American rock and roll music. Starting in the early 1950s, Sun's Sam Phillips recorded blues artists such as Howlin' Wolf, BB King and Ike Turner, followed by the rockabilly dynasty of Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and, of course, the King himself (who started here in 1953). Today packed 40-minute guided tours through the tiny studio offer a chance to hear original tapes of historic recording sessions. Guides are witty and full of anecdotes; many are musicians themselves. Pose for photos in the old recording studio on the 'X' where Elvis once stood, or buy a CD of the 'Million…
reviewed
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H
National Civil Rights Museum
Housed in the Lorraine Motel, where the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr was fatally shot on April 4, 1968, is the gut-wrenching National Civil Rights Museum. Five blocks south of Beale St, this museum's extensive exhibits, detailed timeline and accompanying audioguide chronicle the ongoing struggles for African American freedom and equality in the US. Both Dr King's cultural contribution and his assassination serve as prisms for looking at the Civil Rights movement, its precursors and its indelible and continuing impact on American life. The turquoise exterior of the 1950s motel and two preserved interior rooms remain much as they were at the time of King's death, and…
reviewed
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Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum
'Honor Thy Music' is the catchphrase of this monumental museum, reflecting the near-biblical importance of country music to Nashville's soul. See case upon case of artifacts including Patsy Cline's cocktail gown, Johnny Cash's guitar, Elvis' gold Cadillac and Conway Twitty's yearbook picture (back when he was Harold Jenkins). There are written exhibits tracing country's roots, computer touch screens to allow access to recordings and photos from the Country Music Foundation's enormous archives and walk-in listening booths. The fact- and music-filled audio tour is narrated by contempor-ary country musicians. From here you can also take the Studio B Tour, which shuttles you…
reviewed
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Biltmore Estate
With 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces and a private bowling alley, the Gilded Age estate is a veritable American Versailles. The country's largest private home and Asheville's number-one tourist attraction, it was built in 1895 for shipping and railroad heir George Washington Vanderbilt II, who modeled it after the grand chateaux he'd seen on his various European jaunts. Viewing the estate and its 250 acres of gorgeously manicured grounds and gardens takes several hours. There are numerous cafes, a gift shop the size of a small supermarket, a hoity-toity hotel, and an award-winning winery that offers free tastings.
reviewed
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Graceland
If you only make one stop in Memphis, it ought to be here: the sublimely kitschy, gloriously bizarre home of the King of Rock and Roll.
Though born in Mississippi, Elvis Presley was a true son of Memphis, raised in the Lauderdale Courts public housing projects, inspired by the blues in the Beale St clubs, and discovered at Sun Studio on Union Ave. In the spring of 1957, the already-famous 22-year-old spent $100,000 on a Colonial-style mansion, named Graceland by its previous owners. Priscilla Presley (who divorced Elvis in 1973) opened Graceland to tours in 1982, and now millions come here to pay homage to the King and gawk at the infamous decor. The King himself had the…
reviewed
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Hermitage
The former home of seventh president Andrew Jackson lies 15 miles east of downtown. The 1000-acre plantation is a peek into what life was like for a Mid-South gentleman farmer in the 19th century. Tour the Federal-style brick mansion, now a furnished house museum with costumed interpreters, and see Jackson's original 1804 log cabin and the old slave quarters (Jackson was a lifelong supporter of slavery, at times owning up to 150 slaves; a special exhibit tells their stories). The arcadian gardens and grounds are lovely to wander, though somewhat marred by the highway passing nearby.
reviewed
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Mammoth Cave National Park
With the longest cave system on earth, Mammoth Cave National Park has some 300 miles of surveyed passageways. Mammoth is at least three times bigger than any other known cave, with vast interior cathedrals, bottomless pits, and strange, undulating rock formations. The caves have been used for prehistoric mineral gathering, as a source of saltpeter for gunpowder and as a tuberculosis hospital. Tourists started visiting around 1810 and guided tours have been offered since the 1830s. The area became a national park in 1926 and now brings nearly two million visitors each year.
reviewed
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K
Georgia Aquarium
The world's largest aquarium is Atlanta's showstopper. It's crowded, like Venice, but it's awesomeness is hard to deny: whale sharks, beluga whales and the new $110 million AT&T Dolphin Tales gallery, theater and show ($13.50 add-on), where human actors/trainers and majestic bottlenose dolphins perform together in a Vegas-meets-Broadway production of spectacle and cheese (think more Pirates of the Caribbean than underwater Cirque du Soleil).
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William J Clinton Presidential Center
Houses the largest archival collection in presidential history, including 80 million pages of documents and two million photographs. Peruse the full-scale replica of the Oval Office, the exhibits on all stages of Clinton's life or the gifts from visiting dignitaries (such as Lance Armstrong's yellow jersey). The entire complex is built to environmentally friendly 'green' standards.
reviewed
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L
Mercer-Williams House
Although Jim Williams, the Savannah art dealer portrayed by Kevin Spacey in the film version of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, died back in 1990, his infamous mansion didn't become a museum until 2004. You're not allowed to see the upstairs, where Williams' family still lives, but the downstairs is an interior decorator's fantasy.
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CNN Center
The headquarters of the cable-TV news service. You might be tempted to take the CNN tour, a behind-the-scenes glance at the 24-hour news organization, but don't be heartbroken if you miss it. Visitors don't get close enough to the action to feel connected. They do, however, get to ride on an enormous escalator that climbs above a food court and into the CNN facility.
reviewed
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Fernbank Museum of Natural History
There are better natural history museums, but Fernbank is especially kid-friendly with its new Naturequest exhibit. The museum covers the natural world from seashells to giant lizards, and it has an IMAX theater.
reviewed
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O
Historic Voodoo Museum
Of the (many) voodoo museums in the French Quarter, this one is probably our favorite. The narrow corridors and dark rooms, stuffed with statues, dolls and paintings, are something approaching spooky, and the information placards, which seem to have been written by an anthropology dissertation student with too much time on their hands, are genuinely informative (if a little dry).
reviewed
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Pink Palace Museum & Planetarium
The 1923 building was built as a residence for Piggly Wiggly founder Clarence Saunders and opened in 1996 as a natural- and cultural-history museum. It mixes fossils, Civil War exhibits and a replica of the original 1916 Piggly Wiggly, the world's first self-service grocery store.
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Memphis Zoo
At the park's northwestern corner, this world-class zoo hosts two giant panda stars, Ya Ya and Le Le, in a $16-million exhibit on native Chinese wildlife and habitat. Other residents include the full gamut of monkeys, polar bears, penguins, eagles, sea lions and so on. Imagine an animal, the zoo probably has it.
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Tennessee Aquarium
That glass pyramid looming over the riverside bluffs is the world's largest freshwater aquarium. Climb aboard the aquarium's high-speed catamaran for two-hour excursions through the Tennessee River Gorge (adult/child $29/22). While here, check out a show at the attached IMAX theater.
reviewed
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R
South Carolina Aquarium
The massive, excellent aquarium showcases the state's diverse aquatic life, from the otters of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the loggerhead turtles of the Atlantic. The highlight is the 42ft Great Ocean Tank, which teems with sharks and alien-looking puffer fish.
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The District
The historic 2nd Ave N business area was the center of the cotton trade in the 1870s and 1880s, when most of the Victorian warehouses were built; note the cast iron and masonry façades. Today it's the heart of The District, with shops, restaurants, underground saloons and nightclubs.
reviewed