In Italian
Passion for their work, pride in their past, love for their land and an irresistible enthusiasm to telling it.
This is more or less what happens when 12 US States of South East come together behind the common leitmotiv of the traditions, history, music and culture, to promote it in the world of tourism as a valid and attractive alternative to the big cities of the East Coast or to the famous national parks of the West Coast.
Travel South USA, tips and maps
This is more or less what has happened in Milan few days ago during Expo 2015, when Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama joined together in the Travel South USA arrived in Italy to promote their destinations, enriched with new and interesting ideas and itineraries.
As a traveler, in love with the American Southeast, and travel blogger specializing in travel to the United States, i had to be present, thanks to the very welcome invitation from Visit USA Italy and from its president Olga Mazzoni (always at the forefront to the promotion of Italian tourism in the US), to update my knowledge on the subject and tell you, really excited i confess, the last rich and interesting news.
Olga Mazzoni, president of Visit USA Italy, e Liz Bittner, president of Travel South USA
To live a truly fascinating experience made in the USA, a journey through the history, the taste, the music of the old south, with a weather almost always mild and very special hospitality of the locals.
The large number of international airports, with 13 stops, that allow direct access to the whole area of the South-East, a road network to move easily between these states and an offer of accommodation wide and varied (and especially for every budget) make the organization and the realization of the trip even easier and more immediate.
“Listen to the soul of the past in mansions Ante Bellum and sites of Civil War battlefields. Test the thrill of the rapids of the rivers or in the theme parks. Throw in dances to the music of a spontaneous jam session. Enjoy the tasty southern barbecue, the Lowcountry specialties and the spicy Cajun dishes. Be inspired, and move to a road trip in the authentic South … “(Travel South USA)
Starting from here, i really could go on forever telling you, about my personal, emotional experience … an old, mumbling steamboat on the Mississippi, the scents and colors of the plantations of indigo and cotton, people and stories inextricably connected to their land.
Oak Alley Plantation, Louisiana
I could tell you of the many tours that follow the epic of Martin Luther King, from Atlanta in Georgia through Albany in Alabama, until you get to Memphis in Tennessee and then precisely from here i could go on telling you about the birth of rock, about Elvis and the most famous study record in the world, the Sun Studio and continue up to Nashville for a dip in the history and evolution of Country Music and one of the most exciting experiences I’ve ever done, take a part in an authentic holy function of Black Gospel.
Sun Studio, Memphis
Martin Luther King gravesite
And what about the Golden Island in Georgia, the maritime forests, the beaches, the restaurants where you can taste the best seafood of the region. Then I could go to the charming Savannah in the South (have you ever been to Charleston?) and North Carolina, including antebellum mansions, historical monuments, beaches, sea and some of the most sorpendenti national parks on the East Coast.
Going inwards from the historic Virginia and West Virginia to Kentucky, called Bourbon Country for the massive production of the famous brandy, accompanied by a Bluegrass Music session, until arriving in Missouri just in time to walk a stretch of the legendary Route 66, reach Hannibal following Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer in one of their adventures and watch excited the move to West from the St. Louis Arch on the Mississippi, the legendary Gate to the West.
Hannibal, Missouri
St. Louis Arch, Missouri
And finally through the green Arkansas arrive in Louisiana during the Jazz Festival in mid-April to enjoy, from a wrought iron terrace of New Orleans, of an unforgettable and spectacular sunset over the Mississippi.
New Orleans, on Mississippi river
What do you say, i convinced you?
I’ll wait you in the charming and surprising “Old” South.
Traveling to the United States
