US ROADTRIP: DC to New Orleans

Sarah Roberts on 08 August 2017
I’m a science geek! Growing up I was aware (ten years ahead of time) that a solar eclipse was going to cross the UK in 1999. Long story short, I didn’t quite make it down to Cornwall that year but seeing a total eclipse has been at the very top of my bucket list ever since.

I’m not sure when I first became aware of the 2017 eclipse, but with a viewing path stretching coast to coast across America, taking place during the summer holidays with a good chance of clear skies, it seemed like my very best opportunity to witness one.

My family aren’t quite as nerdy as me, so successfully selling this trip meant building their must-dos into the itinerary too. As a result, the holiday became an epic 2,150 mile road trip incorporating Washington DC for my son, the great outdoors for my husband and shooting guns for my 11-year-old daughter!

WASHINGTON DC: ECLIPSE T-11 DAYS

As a pre-planned city, Washington is really pleasant to tour. The focal point is the mile-long National Mall, with the Capitol Building at one end, the Lincoln Memorial at the other, Washington’s monument in the middle and 11 Smithsonian museums round its perimeter. We started at the National Archives and got to see the founding documents of the nation, then there was the obligatory stop outside Donald Trump’s current place of residence, a trip to the National Air and Space Museum and Arlington Cemetery where the nation’s military are buried alongside JFK.

We stayed in Alexandria, a pretty suburb on the banks of the Potomac River. Its main street is full of restaurants and shops and it was just a short subway journey to the city.

SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK & THE BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY: ECLIPSE -10 DAYS

Leaving DC, we visited George Washington’s family home and learned about life there as a slave. Many of America’s founding fathers had plantations and owned slaves - in seemingly complete contradiction to The Bill of Rights which they helped to write!

For the next few days we drove along the ridge of the Appalachian Mountains, out of Virginia into North Carolina, on a lovely sweeping road that offers up fantastic vistas of undulating tree covered mountains as far as the eye can see. Our days were filled with driving, spotting wildlife and avoiding bears whilst out walking! By night we stayed a historic mountain lodges, ate meatloaf and listened to live Mountain Music and Blue Grass - bliss.

THE SMOKY MOUNTAINS & MOONSHINE: ECLIPSE -6 DAYS

We entered Tennessee as we crossed over the Smoky Mountains. Clingman's dome is the highest point in this range and has an ugly 1960s style concrete viewing platform at the top in order to appreciate the sweeping views - but it was cloudy.

Just inches from the park boundary is the town of Gatlinburg - a gaudy parade of shops, attractions, restaurants and bars (a bit like Blackpool) but we loved it! Moonshine is the drink of choice, and several homegrown distilleries offer tasting sessions that are akin to live theatre. Needless to say, we were convinced to buy several bottles for our onward journey!

DOLLYWOOD: ECLIPSE -5 DAYS

We rested up for a few nights in Dolly’s DreamMore Resort situated in her hometown of Pigeon Forge. It's fantastically set up for families and was a luxury respite from motels. Her theme park came as a bit of a surprise; it was a fantastic day out and easily on par with the likes of Busch Gardens in Florida. We all arrived liking Dolly Parton but came away loving her!

JACK DANIEL’S & GUNS: ECLIPSE -3 DAYS

En route to Nashville, we stopped at the Jack Daniel’s distillery. I really don’t like the taste of it, but the reminiscent billboard ads on the London underground had worked their magic - we had to visit! Unlike a lot of other distillers around the world, all of Jack Daniels is made onsite in Lynchburg. Taking water from their natural spring, they employ an age-old process using only locally sourced ingredients, materials and people.

And then on to the highlight of the holiday for my daughter. I had scoured the internet to find a gun range where she met the minimum age - Hello Nashville, Tennessee! The US gun laws are obviously controversial, but we really enjoyed shooting several different firearms - it was safe and well organised.

NASHVILLE: ECLIPSE -2 DAYS

Home of Country Music with a lively weekend clientele, this is a friendly city with lots of museums and iconic music venues. We enjoyed dinner with live music and line dancing and watched American Football. Nashville was getting the eclipse, but we had to push North to get a better view.

MIDDLE OF NOWHERE KENTUCKY: ECLIPSE -1 DAY

We arrived at our eclipse destination mid-morning... time to do a reccie on our viewing spot, stock up on supplies at the local Walmart (where the checkout assistant quizzed us on whether the UK uses US Dollars or not), visit the local water park (where the life guards took photos of us Brits to post on Facebook) and finish off at the best BBQ joint around (with 99 cent burgers on the menu and food served on Styrofoam plates) - middle of nowhere!

ECLIPSE DAY

I awoke at 5.50am to check the weather, the skies looked clear, so we drove to our chosen venue for 7.30am. We set up camp with our drinks, snacks and sunoculars and waited. I knew the precise time that the moon would take the first bite out of the sun at this location (11.53am) and after all this time planning, I still couldn't quite believe it when it happened right on cue. Over the next hour and half the sky slowly dimmed and at the point of eclipse cheers went up and we had a perfect view - success!

MEMPHIS: ECLIPSE +1 DAY

Another great music city - this time it was all about blues. Situated on the Mississippi River, there are loads of iconic spots located on central Beale Street including The Peabody Hotel and BB King's Blues Club. Aside from the music, the highlights for us were the National Civil Rights Museum (on the site of the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated), Elvis' former home (Graceland) and lunch at Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken (although opinion was divided on whether it was or not!)

NEW ORLEANS: ECLIPSE +5 DAYS

At the end of our trip, we had a few days to relax in the Big Easy: we stayed at the iconic Roosevelt Hotel. We swam, shopped, watched jazz, toured the city's French Quarter, visited the National WWII Museum, ate beignets and had a trip up the Mississippi on a paddle steamer before finally heading home - tired.