~Carmen The Natchez Trace Parkway is is a 444 mile-long, scenic road that generally follows the path of the Old Natchez Trace from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee.  This All-American Road and National Scenic Byway takes you through history with Native American burial mounds, Civil Wars sites, and well worn boatman trails.  The Natchez Trace......

~ Carmen Updated February 2019 When your kids are away at college most of the year, you try to make the most of the time you have together.  All through her childhood, my youngest daughter, Rachel, and I made frequent trips to Nashville for her dance competitions and school-related functions.  Being only 3 1/2 hours......

~Carmen Recently, my daughter Rachel and I took a 4-day trip to Nashville, Tennessee.  Nashville is only a 3 1/2 hour drive from our home in Memphis.  Especially when Rachel was a competitive dancer, we made frequent trips to Nashville for dance conventions and great shopping. For our latest trip, Rachel and I wanted to......

~ Carmen The Big River Crossing is the longest active public pedestrian/cycling bridge going across the Mississippi River. First proposed in 1975, it finally opened October 2016 and connects Memphis, Tennessee to West Memphis, Arkansas.  From the West Memphis side, hikers and cyclists can continue on the Big River Trail which includes more than seventy......

~ Carmen We recently returned from our annual whitewater trip to the Ocoee River in eastern Tennessee (read Whitewater Rafting on the Ocoee River).  For the last four years, we have stayed and ridden the river with Whitewater Express.   3 Reasons to Stay at Whitewater Express 1.  Great lodging for the price. We save......

~ Carmen The Ocoee River is the most commercially rafted river in the United States.  The Ocoee River was also home to the 1996 canoe and kayak Olympic events.  Located 100 miles west of Atlanta, the upper and middle sections of the river contain some the best back-to-back rapids you’ll find anywhere. Even though it......

~ Carmen No one does pork barbecue like Memphis, Tennessee.  I know Kansas City and North Carolina both have their die-hard fans, but Memphis has got to be the barbecue capital of the world.  What other city has as many restaurants solely devoted to the cuisine?  At any given time, Memphis has over 100 barbecue......

  ~ Joe Looking for great single track? You need to check out the Cherokee National Park in Copperhill, Tennessee.   It hosts the Tanasi and Chilhowee Trail System for mountain bike riders.  The Tanasi Trail system offers abundance of options for easy single track rides under the foliage of a forest canopy, challenging intermediate......

~ Carmen I’ve always thought that if you really want experience a place, the culture’s food should be the primary focus.  So much of our values are wrapped up in what and how we eat.  Joe and I strive hard to eat local whenever we go to a new place.  That applies to our local......

~ Carmen If you have been reading the blog, you know that I recently played “tourist” in my own hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. I tried to group like-interested activities together so that each day in Memphis had a “theme”.  In this post I will give you an overall summary of how to spend all three......