Rolling South

The South is road-trip country. This section covers fifteen states plus Washington, DC: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Several are linked by roads people drive for the drive itself.

The Natchez Trace Parkway runs 444 miles through Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. In Virginia, Skyline Drive crosses Shenandoah National Park, and where it ends, the Blue Ridge Parkway begins its long run south into North Carolina's high country. There, Grandfather Mountain's Mile High Swinging Bridge crosses a gap at 5,305 feet above sea level.

Between the ridges, there's music and history. Alabama's Muscle Shoals area has two recording studios that open their doors for tours, and Virginia's Blue Ridge Music Center sits right on the Parkway. Birmingham has its Civil Rights Institute downtown. In Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cades Cove keeps a historic cabin and mill.

Pick a road, pack a jacket for the overlooks, and go see what's around the next bend.