Day 1 Coralville, IA

Our tour to the birthplace of jazz begins today. We board our comfortable motor coach and make our way to Coralville, Iowa, where we will spend the night.

Hotel: Drury Inn & Suites

Day 2 St. Louis, MO

This morning we make our way to the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum to learn about the life of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as the author Mark Twain and where he found the inspiration for many of his stories, including the “White Picket Fence.” Afterwards, we will continue to the Gateway Arch in St. Louis for a tram ride up 630 feet to the top of the tallest monument in the United States. Admission includes the Gateway Arch Museum also. (B)

Hotel: Drury Plaza by the St. Louis Arch

Day 3 Memphis, TN

We travel south through Missouri into Tennessee to Memphis, the birth place of rock and roll. First, we’ll tour Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley. You will get an up close and personal look at the influence that forever changed our music and lives. Lunch is included here. Later, we will check-in to our hotel. Dinner will be on your own on Beale Street this evening. (B, L)

Hotel: Guesthouse at Graceland

Day 4 New Orleans, LA

Our morning begins with a tour of Memphis with a local guide. Sights include downtown, Beale Street, National Civil Rights Museum, St. Jude’s, the March of the Peabody Ducks and other interesting areas. We make our way farther south and will have an included boxed lunch along the way. We enter into Louisiana this afternoon ending our day in the state’s capital, Baton Rouge for our overnight stay.

Hotel: Drury Inn & Suites

Day 5 New Orleans, LA

We will start our day at Houma House Plantation and Gardens. Get a glimpse at plantation life as our guide will use the artifacts, furniture, artwork and stories of past owners to explain how this manor home grew into the grand estate it is today. Enjoy a delicious Cajun lunch (included) before we depart. We make our way to “The Big Easy” from there! Upon arrival, a local guide will join us for a sightseeing tour around New Orleans with a local guide. Our guide will show us the historic French Quarter, the Garden District, Jackson Square, French Market, Esplanade Avenue, City Park, and much more. Afterwards, we check-in to our beautiful hotel located right on Bourbon Street! Unpack your bags, we’re here for 3 nights! The evening is on your own to enjoy the French Quarter. (B)

Hotel: Four Points by Sheraton

Day 6 New Orleans, LA

A Carriage Tour of the French Quarter is the perfect way to start our day. There will be time to explore and do some shopping afterwards. Our afternoon will be spent at the National World War II Museum. The Museum tells the story of the American experience in the war that changed the world. We’ll learn why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today. Tonight, dinner is included at Landrys on Lake Pontchartrain. (B, D)

Day 7 New Orleans, LA

After a leisure morning on your own at the hotel or exploring the French Quarter, we will cruise along the harbor aboard the Steamboat Natchez and enjoy an included creole lunch. Our cruise takes us back when cotton was king and life was slow and graceful. If time allows, you’ll be able to explore Jackson Square and the French Market. Next, a visit to Mardi Gras World is a must! We’ll get an insider’s view of how Mardi Gras is made, including a video on the history of Mardi Gras and background on the real traditions of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. We’ll end our tour with a slice of the famous Mardi Gras king cake and a mask-making activity. (B, L)

Day 8 Natchez, MS

We say goodbye to New Orleans this morning and head into bayou country. We’ll visit a ‘Gator’ Farm and learn about the history of the swamps here in Louisiana and Alligator Farming. Here we will see many alligators and have a chance to hold one. Enjoy a delicous lunch before boarding an airboat for a swamp tour of the Louisiana bayou. This afternoon we will visit the Tobasco Factory on Avery Island where we will experience the history and production of the world-famous hot sauce. Then we drive north to the oldest settlement on the Mississippi River, Natchez. (B)

Hotel: Natchez Grand Hotel

Day 9 Vicksburg, MS

We’ll start with a tour city tour of Natchez with a local guide. Next, tour some of the antebellum mansions. Natchez is home some of the most well preserved and architecturally stunning historic homes in the American South. Lunch is on your own in Natchez at the best restaurant in town. Our afternoon will be spent at Frogmore Plantation. We will tour the 1800-acre working cotton plantation that has 19 restored antebellum structures that date from the early 1800’s. We will learn about the history of the early Natchez planters and their slaves. Our tour includes a rare Smithsonian quality steam cotton gin and then contrasts the historical methods with modern day planting, harvesting, and computerized ginning of cotton. You may have the chance to pick some cotton while here! We head north to Vicksburg, Mississippi later. (B)

Hotel: Courtyard

Day 10 Natchez, MS

Our day begins at the place of a critical turning point of the Civil War, the Vicksburg Battlefield. The park has 1,325 historic monuments and markers, 20 miles of reconstructed trenches and earthworks, an antebellum home, 144 emplaced cannons, restored Union gunboat-USS Cairo, and the Vicksburg National Cemetery. We tour the park with a local guide. We continue heading north to Little Rock, Arkansas for our overnight stay this evening. (B)

Hotel: Hampton Inn North

Day 11 Kansas City, MO

Today we will make our way to Kansas City, Missouri. Upon arrival, we’ll visit Arabia Steamboat Museum, a time capsule of life on the American frontier in the mid-nineteenth century and is the largest single collection of pre-Civil War artifacts in the world. (B)

Hotel: Drury Inn & Suites

Day 12 Home

Our tour, all too soon, comes to an end as our last day of travel takes us home. The time has come to take those last photos of your traveling companions. Lunch is included along the way. (B, L)