East St. Louis is lovely this time of year

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>>2862241
Looks very quaint and charming, will check out for sure

Old river cities like St. Louis, Memphis, Baton Rouge and New Orleans have some of the highest crime rates in the country. Some interesting historical sights, food and music but watch your back.
Vicksburg was the site of a big Civil War siege and has a great battlefield park if you’re into that sort of thing. Natchez is another historical town.
Dickeyville, Wisconsin near the river has a crazy grotto built by some priest and there’s similar sites in the area as well as Indian mounds.

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>>2862238
>leisurely drive down through st louis and memphis

the fun stuff is the high-elevation tributaries OF the mississippi like the new river and the tennessee gorge
you are seeing the boring flat part

It sucks that most of the lower Mississippi has levees, giant earthen berms to prevent flooding, so that you can’t really see the river from a car and appreciate the mightiness. The bridges are cool and most river towns have some kind of esplanade or other river access but it’s kind of hard to experience the river up close. Some of the big cities have boats that cruise around and there’s some ferries.

>>2862277
>>2862291
it's really more that I'm driving from Chicago to New Orleans, I just want to know cool stuff to see in between

>>2862268
I like nice looking towns, Natchez is a great tip. Thanks

>>2862296
do a sidequest into the mountains, you shan't regret it

>>2862296
Yeah it wouldn’t make much sense to just stick to the river road though there are some interesting small towns along there. Nauvoo, Illinois is the old Mormon compound and kind of a ghost then now. Hannibal, MO Is where Mark Twain is from. Along the river between Baton Rouge and New Orleans is a weird mix of old plantation houses, sugar cane fieldsand toxic chemical plants.

>>2862238
Youre gonna get MIMALed

>>2862238
>a trip down the Mississippi
:O cool
>by car
:| lame

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>>2862238
Mississippi River Delta is one of my favorite places in the USA. I'm not even a blues fan but I became one after. You MUST visit Bentonia and see Blue Front Cafe. Also there's a building (basically a shack) right next to it that doesn't show at all on Google Maps. But you can get soul food and play billiards with the locals there (pic related) they are super friendly don't feel intimidated or out of place because you're in a tiny Mississippi town. So much fun.

Go to Clarksdale and visit Red's. Blue Front Cafe and Red's are the last authentic Juke Joints standing in Missisippi and you feel like you've gone back in time. Both have old timers who play there and the stories of who they knew and passed through there are amazing. Don't go to the new place opened by Morgan Freeman it's a tourist trap.

Clarksdale main street looks rundown but there's a lot to do. Lots of places you open a door and there's just some guy playing blues.

I also really enjoyed Indianola. For sure be careful of your surroundings if you walk aimlessly. But people were friendly and I played pool there too with locals. For sure more dangerous than some other places tho so just be careful but I had no problems as a white dude.

Vicksburg and Natchez are for sure worth a stop as you get further down.

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>>2866801
Outside Blue Front. Talk to the owner. Dude knows every blues legend he's a living encyclopedia.

>>2866801
lol no thanks

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>>2866802
Inside Red's (They don't allow videos while people play).

I closed the place out and got to take to the performer since the last few songs he was just playing for me lol

Then a drunk dude came up to me and asked me to drive him to a gas station so I said sure. We got there and I was the only white guy and people were laughing at me for driving him since he's known as a local character. Then a woman came up and started yelling at him that he owes her money and he was like "let's get out of here!" and so I dropped him off at his house which was basically a tiny shed.

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>>2866803
>No thanks
Why? I've been to 45 states and Mississippi Delta was probably the most unique cultural experience I've ever had in the US outside of Pine Ridge reservation

Pic related a street in Clarksdale that looks abandoned. But I actually came across many blues cafes and European tourists here. I saw tons of Euro tourists in the Delta but very few Americans. I met some Danes at Blue Front. On this street I met a group of 4 German boomers.

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Delta looks rough on the outside and there were times when I was thinking maybe I shouldn't just be wandering here but everybody I met was really nice and friendly

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Here's Vicksburg

Civil War Museum (in town, not the National Historic Site) is worth a visit

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Abandoned manor I found between natchez and Vicksburg

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>>2866808

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>>2866809
Natchez. I highly recommend you go to the black history museum here. It's way more interesting than you might expect. Also, I met a guy here who I guess volunteers there or knows the owners and then he took me to a history conference on General Lafayette in the afternoon that happened to be going on so I met a bunch of local history buffs which was fun

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Obviously NOLA is a must too.

Go to Treme Jazz museum. You'll see this guy sitting outside just approach him. Really amazing experience.

Also, be sure to walk through garden district and Bywater, don't just go to French Quarter.

In Treme also the backstreet cultural museum is cool it's run by a family in a Krewe.

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>>2866803
To conclude, if you're going to drive down the Mississippi and just skip over the best chunk of the Mississippi river what's the point?

Yes there's cool stuff (little towns along Wisconsin side like Stockholm, Wi) the whole way but the Delta and NOLA are easily the best parts. They blow anything else you will see out of the water in terms of being totally distinct.

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This guy in Clarksdale makes harmonicas for all the top rock stars and blues artists you can visit his shop

>>2866805
This is a censored space and I am not allowed to say what I really feel. Needless to say, I plan to drive perpendicularly West, and then home East, to access the Ozark mountains. But I do not plan to stop in the delta area itself.

>>2862296
>it's really more that I'm driving from Chicago to New Orleans
The number one thing you can see will be the Delta region. And it's literally on your way (a slight detour of 55 to get into the heart of it but you'll be running parallel and this will also let you see Natchez and Vicksburg and it lets you see a lot of interesting towns via the road instead of looking at boring interstate)

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>>2866816
>Mississippi has too many black people on my way to NOLA

>>2866805
Holy SOVL

>>2866818
what makes you think i spend time traveling in flatland

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>>2866807
>not the National Historic Site
That is also worth a visit I just mean don't skip the museum if you are in town

>>2866821
I'm not saying don't do the Ozarks. Ozarks are cool but Ozarks feel more similar to other parts of the country than the Delta does. Delta feels totally unique

>>2866824
>unique
we have diversity at home
I travel for hills

>>2866828
>we have diversity at home
Black Chicago is not the same as Mississippi River delta

That's like a Norwegian saying I won't travel to Appalachia because I live with whites. Two very different kinds of white people

>>2866801
>Mississippi River Delta
Yup this. Great post Anon. If there's actually a soul of America, its from the Delta to New Orleans. The Delta is highly recommended, especially for the curious traveler.

>>2866859
whites are whites, im not scared of them in appalachia, and im not scared of them anywhere else

chicago was profoundly terrifying to me as a teen but soooo beautiful when I went out on a sunday night and there was nobody around but it was all lit up

>>2867531
As someone who has traveled in the blackest parts of the Deep South, I agree with your assertion. It's the part of America where things have changed least over the past fifty years, which is why it feels so soulful when compared to the franchise strips and subdivisions of the prospering metro areas.
>>2866828
But at this point in my life, I know that my personality will rub those people the wrong way, and it's inevitable that some bucks will try to start trouble with me if I hang around for any period of time.
>>2866824
Ozarks have many sleepy Main Streets as well, and driving those hilly roads is a pure joy. There's really no other region of America that has such extreme ups and downs in its roads. It feels so comfy being tucked away deep in the hills, deep in the heart of America. Particularly in late spring when everything is green, the sun is shining warmly, and everyone is outside enjoying themselves. Also, nobody judges you for driving an ugly old beater when traveling the Ozarks. If anything, it makes them more likely to wave at you in passing on those back roads. Of course you won't experience the exuberant extroversion that you find in the black Delta, because they are white people after all, whose idea of a good time is sitting on their back porch with family & friends. But if placid, casual conversation is more your thing than loud music and hollering, then you'll enjoy chatting with the folks of Missouri and Arkansas.

>>2867567
do you have any specific suggestions for the ozarks?
>But if placid, casual conversation
chatting up locals is really fun I always want to talk more than they do
:(
I want to get more into like informal anthropological interviews but I don't know exactly what I am doing. I sort of want to get their perspective because people write them off, and I'm a total outsider.

>>2867569
It’s been a long time for me but there’s so many beautiful natural areas—caves, waterfalls, rivers, trails. Devils Den state park, Sam’s Throne, anywhere along the Buffalo River. Small towns and back roads, and bigger town like Eureka Springs. I’m more familiar with the Arkansas side and imagine the closer you get to Branson the more it sucks.
I spent time there years ago hiking and camping, back when I was a dirty hippie with long greasy hair, and people treated me fine. It’s like a more laid back Appalachia.