So earlier this year I made a list of every state I have ever been to with the ultimate goal of hitting all 50 states in the United States. I'm somewhere around half. But as a conscious traveler that tries to make the most of every trip I divided the remaining states in to 8 possible trips trying to combine neighboring states as best I can. We will see how the other 7 trips go but since it was summer and I love the beach as much as anyone I decided to do the Dirty South Road Trip first.
In geographical order me and a buddy hit:
Memphis, Tennessee
West Memphis, Arkansas
Tupelo, Mississippi
Orang Beach, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Biloxi, Mississippi
Ocean Springs, Mississippi
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
First thing first, I got lucky to catch free flights using points so that was also how the starting point Memphis and final point Baton Rouge were chosen. Renting a car was astronmically cheaper than flying between cities and with two people also cheaper than going by bus. We stayed mostly in Airbnb's which is always my preference to hotels but did stay in a hotel in Biloxi only because it was cheap and had great ocean views.
Memphis was the start and probably my favorite spot on the trip. Seeing the blues live in BB Kings Blues club, visiting the death place and Civil Rights Museum of Martin Luther King, partying on Beale St, eating some great food, and just plain old walking in Memphis was a great experience.
West Memphis was just a stop for dinner, the locals encouraged us to get out as it was boring and just go to Memphis.
Tupelo we made a quick stop to visit Elvis's house! Then continued about an 8 hour drive day to Orange Beach, Alabama. Orange Beach was a confusing place for me to say the least. On booking it was apparent that this place was expensive. I have visited San Francisco, Zurich, Dubai, grew up in NYC, have well-off friends that live in the high rises of Vegas or the wealthy suburbs of London... But now I can say Orange Beach Alabama was the most expensive place I have ever stayed at $350 a night. Now $350 a night is by no means a record, NYC has suites that go for $3,000 a night, Paris a nice pad with an Eiffel tower view can easily fetch the same. But what bothered my about Orange Beach was there are no other options. NYC you can stay off Broadway for 100 dollars if you search hard enough. And in Paris I have stayed in the 6th arrondissement for less than 100. But Orange Beach there were no deals, it's littered with high rises, mediocre food, crappy night life, mildly amusing beaches, but at least I will say good people. I don't know why Orange Beach is so expensive where there is no budget accommodation, but it was an okay stay. I don't plan on going back.
We hightailed it out of the redneck riviera and drove to Mississippi next stopping off in Mobile Alabama for a good lunch and quick self tour of the city. Our next stop was Biloxi. Biloxi is a cool town, but to really get a feel of the area go a little east or a little west of the casinos to see what the area was like before they were built. The casinos and that area were fun for night life and pool parties though. We also paid our respects to a small hurricane Katrina memorial here and talked with some of the locals about the effects of the hurricane on the region. A nice stop in the smaller Ocean Springs, MS was a cool way to say goodbye to Mississippi on the way out.
We hightailed it out of the redneck riviera and drove to Mississippi next stopping off in Mobile Alabama for a good lunch and quick self tour of the city. Our next stop was Biloxi. Biloxi is a cool town, but to really get a feel of the area go a little east or a little west of the casinos to see what the area was like before they were built. The casinos and that area were fun for night life and pool parties though. We also paid our respects to a small hurricane Katrina memorial here and talked with some of the locals about the effects of the hurricane on the region. A nice stop in the smaller Ocean Springs, MS was a cool way to say goodbye to Mississippi on the way out.
The final stop was mainly to get our free flight out but Baton Rouge nonethelss provided the best meal we had on the trip at Elsie's plate and pie!
My main budget savings here was going with a friend, this is somewhat obvious but techniques I usually can use to reduce budget such as a hostel, or a guest room on airbnb were not easily available as a lot of the Dirty South is still old school with travel. And of course having airline frequent flier points was great to save coin as well. 1 of 8 USA trips complete! We shall see when I make the next 7!
Choose the continent!!!!
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