Happy Monday! I am fully recovered and back on pacific standard time again. I shared tons of photos from our Southern road trip on Instagram using the hashtag #planningprettytravels, but now I’m finally posting pics on the blog! Today I have a few of my favorites, but I will post each city separately. I’ll list all the places we visited and any recommendations I have for each city. My recaps will follow the itinerary of our drive across the Southern states. First our stops in Athens and Atlanta, then the day trip to my dad’s hometown of Mobile, Alabama. Next the bulk of our trip, New Orleans and all the pretty shops I found! Lastly, Austin where we found more cool things to do in 48 hours than we thought possible.
The road trip ended being a fulfilling historical and cultural experience. Both my husband and I have family roots in the South. I enjoyed getting to see the city where m dad was born, visit the memorial of Dr. Martin Luther King and experience the amazing mix of cultures in New Orleans.
We were on our Southern trip during a very tragic event. The shootings in Charleston, SC took place just after we left Atlanta. We were devastated by the news, especially after just visiting the MLK memorial. The day prior we watched a documentary and viewed exhibits on the Civil Rights movement at the memorial. We were shuttered by the parallels of the church attacks of then and now.
I have to admit, that prior to our vacation, I was worried what our experience would be like. The only Southern cities that I visited prior was New Orleans, Tampa and Orlando. I don’t think airports count. I’m glad we went on this trip despite a few fears. We were relieved when we were met with complete kindness from people of all backgrounds during our trip. It’s true what they say about Southern Hospitality. However, I would be lying if I said all judgement was missing from the locals. There were a few moments where my husband and I would catch a stranger giving us a dirty look. It happened a few times in nice restaurants, boutiques, walking down the street, but never from anyone providing service. Which makes sense, why upset your customer right?
Ironically, we’ve experienced this at home in California too. California has a reputation of being extremely liberal and open to all folks. I think it is, but the state also harbors some of the most closed-minded people that passively judge others. The South is definitely a different place with a deep dark history. I am grateful to live in state that doesn’t have such a dark past albeit imperfect as well. All this to say, I encourage anyone with a love of history, architecture, food and music to visit the South. It is a beautiful region of our country with wonderful people. We can’t live in fear of the idiots out there, they will always exist in all parts of the world.
I hope you’ll follow along with my little recaps of each city. As I edit the photos for each part of the trip, I’ll publish the three part series to the blog. Stay tuned for each post and please feel free to share your tips if you’ve visited the city too!
