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Unfolding a map of the Southeast– or, more likely these days, studying a map

online– is like opening a treasure chest of travel choices. Just think what’s in the 12-state region’s footprint.

This attraction- and action-packed quadrant of our nation stretches from the mountains of West Virginia to the coastline of Virginia, down the Atlantic seaboard to the slightly wacky world of Key West, around the Gulf of Mexico to the “Cajun Outback” of Southwest Louisiana and up to the natural beauty of Arkansas. The whole place is a treasure.

The best aspect is that you can start anywhere– and asking any two people

what’s the best destination in the Southeast is likely to spark a lively discussion.

You’ll fi nd beach people who brag on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach in South Carolina, Daytona and Perdido Key in Florida and Gulf Shores and Orange Beach in Alabama– to the exclusion of all others.

Mountain vacationers swear by the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina, the Alleghenies in West Virginia, the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, North Carolina and North Georgia– and don’t neglect the Ozarks of Arkansas.

You’ll fi nd golfers who can’t get enough of South Carolina’s Grand Strand, the year-round courses in central Florida, the challenging courses of Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau or the variety of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama.

People who thrive on big-city restaurants and cultural diversions line up to brag about Charleston, Atlanta, Charlotte and Louisville. Birmingham even gets culinary praise these days for places other than its glorious barbeque joints.

All you have to do is hit the road to fi nd a great Southeastern destination. You don’t need a GPS.

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Grab a Map&Hit The Road

Visit EscapeToTheSoutheast.com for additional travel information

S p e c i a l A d v e r t i s i n g S e c t i o n

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Visit the website of any Southeast destination– tiny burg or major metropolis– and you’ll fi nd a

festival, maybe even dozens of festivals spread through the year.

Tiny Tallapoosa, Georgia, celebrates each New Year’s Eve with its Possum Drop. (Don’t worry. The possum, whose name is Spencer, had a date with a taxidermist long ago.)

Salley, South Carolina, pays tribute to a certain part of pig with its Chitlin Strut in November.

Up in Richwood, West Virginia, there’s a big fuss every April over ramps, a wild leek with a strong garlic-like aroma and a pronounced onion fl avor. It’s the Feast of the Ramson, and it’s a good thing everybody present eats the stinky vegetables. A breath mint should be the festival’s offi cial sponsor.

You get the idea by now. Southerners don’t need much of an excuse to throw a party and invite people to drop in.

Macon, Georgia, stages “the Pinkest Party on Earth” (aka the International Cherry Blossom Festival) in March just because residents planted 300,000 cherry trees, while the Biltmore Festival of Flowers in Asheville,

North Carolina, stretches from late March until the middle of May.

Music is the root of many festivals. Tennessee is awash in music festivals in early June. Chattanooga draws thousands for the Riverbend Festival, throngs fi ll otherwise empty farm fi elds near Manchester for the

internationally famous Bonaroo and Nashville really is Music City during the nationally televised Country Music

Association Festival.

Look hard enough, and you probably can fi nd a barbeque event every month of the year. Most are pig-based events, but

the folks in Owensboro, Kentucky, toss some mutton into the mix– just for fun, no doubt.

With choices all over the map, look for some guidance. If a festival you’re considering is a Southeast Tourism Society “Top 20 Event in the Southeast,” that’s a pretty good seal of approval. Check them out each month at EscapeToTheSoutheast.com.



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Reconnect with life’s natural moments in Central Florida. Rejuvenate your mind and spirit at Bok Tower Gardens and explore acres upon acres of pristine gardens in the shadow of The Singing Tower. Hike or bike through 37 unspoiled parks. Discover 34 golf courses grounded in beauty, variety and challenge, such as the stunningly unique Streamsong Resort – Florida’s newest golf experience.

Log on and plan your escape today.

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Georgia

www.visitSandySprings.orgwww.visitSandySprings.orgwww.visitSandySprings.orgwww.visitSandySprings.orgwww.visitSandySprings.orgwww.visitSandySprings.orgwww.visitSandySprings.orgwww.visitSandySprings.orgwww.visitSandySprings.orgwww.visitSandySprings.orgwww.visitSandySprings.orgwww.visitSandySprings.orgwww.visitSandySprings.org1-866-511-77421-866-511-77421-866-511-77421-866-511-77421-866-511-77421-866-511-77421-866-511-77421-866-511-77421-866-511-77421-866-511-77421-866-511-77421-866-511-77421-866-511-77421-866-511-77421-866-511-77421-866-511-77421-866-511-77421-866-511-77421-866-511-77421-866-511-77421-866-511-7742

GeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgiaGeorgiaSandy Springs

April is an ideal time for a family getaway or church group trip in the Southeastern United States, with numerous events across the region featuring live

entertainment in a variety of musical styles; fl owers, herbs and gardens; pageants; athletic events; cook offs and regional food; street fairs; horticultural and Southern folk life artisans; carnival rides; model trains; kids’ activities; fi lms; hot air balloons; fi reworks; prize giveaways and more, along with beautiful Southern spring weather in which to enjoy the activities. Visit www.EscapeToTheSoutheast.com to learn more about special events each month across the Southeast and to request your FREE Escape to the Southeast® Travel Guide.

Apr. 1-7 Pensacola JazzFest– Pensacola, FL Apr. 5-6 Springtime Tallahassee– Tallahassee, FL Apr. 5-7 41st Annual Summerville Family YMCA Flowertown Festival– Summerville, SC Apr. 6 Plantapalooza!– Athens, GA Apr. 10-14 North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc.– Wilmington, NC Apr. 11-13 Louisiana Railroad Festival– DeQuincy, LA Apr. 11-20 Come-See-Me Festival– Rock Hill, SC Apr. 12-14 Alabama Chicken & Egg Festival– Moulton, AL Apr. 12-14 Westlake Family Fun and Food Festival– Westlake, LA Apr. 12-14 Blessing of the Fleet Festival– Darien, GA Apr. 12-14 Crossroads Film Festival– Jackson and Madison, MS Apr. 12-14 Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival– Ponchatoula, LA Apr. 13 Lewisburg Chocolate Festival– Lewisburg, WV Apr. 13-14 25th Annual Dogwood Festival– Perry, GA Apr. 13-14; 20-21 KidFest! Ridgeland– Ridgeland, MS Apr. 13-June 2 28th Annual Georgia Renaissance Festival– Fairburn, GAApr. 15-May 2 Kentucky Derby Festival– Louisville, KYApr. 18-21 36th Annual Vidalia Onion Festival– Vidalia, GAApr. 18-21; 25-28 Mississippi Coast Coliseum Crawfi sh Festival– Biloxi, MS Apr. 19-21 Lockport Food Festival Presents: “Le Fete du Monde” – Lockport, LA Apr. 20-21 29th Annual Bloomin’ Festival Arts & Crafts Fair – Cullman, AL Apr. 24-27 29th Annual American Quilter’s Society Quilt Show & Contest– Paducah, KY Apr. 25-27 Rose Show and Festival– Thomasville, GA Apr. 26-28 Sacred Heart Garden Festival– Augusta, GAApr. 27 Herbs Galore & More at Maymont– Richmond, VAApr. 27-28 Melbourne Art Festival– Melbourne, FLApr. 30-May 12 Contraband Days Pirate Festival– Lake Charles, LA

Top Escape to theSoutheast® events APRIL 2013


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Have faith that you’ll have funYou can have faith that your church groups will have fun here in

Pigeon Forge. Whether it’s the shopping, attractions, shows or

Dollywood®, you’ll find wholesome entertainment at every turn.

And the majestic beauty of the Smoky Mountains is always an

inspiring sight. Pigeon Forge is fi lled with variety and dedicated to

creating a family friendly atmosphere that everyone can enjoy. PigeonForgeMeeting.com

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12Alabama – You’ve heard about whooping cranes and efforts to save the species, but have you ever seen one? You can at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge in north Alabama, where a few whoopers spend the winter and 284 more species pass through each year. fws.gov/wheeler

Arkansas – Heifer International has worked to end global hunger one cow at a time since 1944. Its home base is in Little Rock, right next to the Clinton Presidential Library, and it offers great lessons in helping others. Heifer Ranch, 45 miles away in Perryville, offers another unusual vacation experience. Heifer.org

Florida – As the year-long Viva Florida celebration marks the 500th anniversary of Ponce de Leon’s arrival, many people need reminding that Florida’s first settlement was in modern-day Pensacola, not St. Augustine. Yes, the Pensacola settlement got whacked by a hurricane and didn’t survive, but what’s there now is lots of fun. VisitPensacola.com

Georgia – Everyone knows about the Everglades, but fewer know about another famous swamp, the Okefenokee. Folkston, Fargo and Waycross are your entry points to 700 square miles of cypress forests, marsh, lakes and islands. You might even meet Pogo Possum. fws.gov/okefenokee

You’ve bought a t-shirt at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, wipedconfectioner’s sugar off your shirt from a Café du Monde beignet in New Orleans, wished you had worn a shirt at Myrtle Beach and maybe lost your shirt whitewaterrafting on the Nantahala River.

In other words, you’ve had many of the big experiences the Southeast offers. Shift gears and consider this collection of destinations that aren’t so famous.

UNUSUALDestinations in the Southeast

TWELVE




Kentucky – Not too far from the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green is a decidedly slower means of transportation– boats that travel underground. Lost River Cave lives up to its name because Lost River really does flow through the cave, and it’s big enough for a boat ride. LostRiverCave.com and VisitBGKY.com

Louisiana – If you don’t have a Cajun or Creole bloodline, trying to figure out the culture of South Louisiana is a challenge– until you visit the Vermilionville Living History Museum and Folklife Park in Lafayette. Ask to meet “the gumbo lady.” BayouVermilion.org and LafayetteTravel.com

Mississippi – It’s somewhat of a mystery why tamales and Mississippi go together, but it’s no mystery finding places to put great tamales on your plate throughout the Mississippi Delta. The Southern Foodways Alliance explains this culinary phenomenon at TamaleTrail.com

North Carolina – Chimney Rock is a towering 315-foot-tall monolith at the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains overlooking Hickory Nut Gorge and Lake Lure. To reach the 75-mile view, you can burn some calories with a 20-minute walk up 491 stairs or zoom up a 26-story elevator. ChimneyRockPark.com

South Carolina – Theodore Roosevelt said the battle at Kings Mountain “marked the turning point of the American Revolution.” It was a strange battle– Patriot and Loyalist militias and only one British soldier. It’s quite a history lesson just 40 miles southwest of Charlotte, N.C. nps.gov/kimo

Tennessee – Board an ocean liner in landlocked Pigeon Forge. It’s the Titanic Museum Attraction, which really does look like the famous ship that sailed into history in 1912. Your boarding pass is a passenger’s biography and not until the touching Memorial Room do you learn that person’s fate. TitanicPigeonForge.com

Virginia – Many people explore Virginia’s Civil War battlefields, but the history of an entire branch of the Armed Forces is at Quantico. It’s the National Museum of the Marine Corps, where you can learn why the Marines display an Academy Award along with a fighter jet and photos of Iwo Jima. usmcmuseum.com

West Virginia – Elkins was a railroad town until the railroad left. Years of work have transformed it into a certified West Virginia Arts Community and a place named one of the 100 Best Art Towns in America. Music, dance and crafts abound– as do new railroad excursions into the mountains. ElkinsWV.com

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Children learn the most amazing things when they’re having fun. At Gulf

Shores and Orange Beach, they’ll never know they’re still in school. Because

32 miles of uncrowded, sugar white beaches, sparkling water and numerous

interactive educational attractions provide an exciting, entertaining way to

learn. And a whole different state of discovery.learn. And a whole different state of discovery.

Call 1-877-659-9025 or visit GulfShores.com/Lifeway

Discovered October 12, 2012 by Sasha Stevens - Gulf Shores, AL

Sand Crabs.

GSA014 Lifeway April Ad Full.indd 1 1/16/13 4:28 PM


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Escape to the Southeast Info and Offers Showcasefree information

To learn more about our Escape to the Southeast travel advertisers’ products and services, simply visit LifeWay.com/AdPartners and checkthe boxes of the destinations belowfrom whom you would like to receive FREE information.

When you request information about these destinations at LifeWay.com/AdPartners, you will be entered automatically to win one of FIVE LifeWay Christian Stores gift cards valued at $50 each (enough to purchase some great reading material to take on your Southeast vacation).

For more information and regular updates about these destinations, visit LifeWay.com/TravelGuide.

AlabamaGulf Shores & Orange Beachwww.GulfShores.com/LifeWay1-877-659-9025

FloridaCentral Florida Visitors & Convention Bureauwww.visitcentralfl orida.org1-800-828-7655

GeorgiaAlpine Helen – White County Convention & Visitors Bureauwww.helenga.com1-800-858-8027

Sandy Springs Hospitality & Tourismwww.visitSandySprings.org1-866-511-7742

TennesseePigeon Forgewww.PigeonForgeMeeting.com1-800-285-7557

Seviervillewww.VisitSevierville.com1-888-738-4378

Visit Gracelandwww.elvis.com1-800-238-2000


Visit Today!EscapeToTheSoutheast.com

Make the most of your travels to the Southeast. EscapeToTheSoutheast.com has all the information you’ll need: destinations, attractions, accommodations, events and more!

FREE• Travel Brochures• Coupons• Contests • & More!

Escape to the SoutheastTo order your FREE Escape to the Southeast Travel Guide, obtain more information about top events and the best travel destinations in the Southeast United States, or to enter travel sweepstakes, visit EscapeToTheSoutheast.com.

Photography and articles by Tom AdkinsonDesign by Kevin Robinson Design



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