Rhythms of the South

Tour Inclusions: 9 nights’ accommodation; 9 breakfasts; 5 lunches; 5 dinners; admissions, entrance, and guide fees as stated in the itinerary, including taxes, and gratuity, except gratuity for guide fees is not included on adult tours unless otherwise requested. Based on 35 paying passengers and one (1) comp in double occupancy.

• The Garden District in New Orleans
• The French Quarter
• Paddlewheeler Creole Queen
• Mardi Gras World
• New Orleans Swamp Tour
• Oak Alley Plantation Restaurant
• Houmas House and Gardens
• Down the Bayou Shrimp Tour
• Natchez Antebellum District
• Delta Music Museum
• Frogmore Plantation
• B.B. King Museum
• Blues Club
• Mainstreet
• Grammy Museum
• Blues Archives

• Arrive in New Orleans & check-in to your hotel prior to a welcome dinner included at a local’s favorite. Enjoy luscious Creole and Cajun cuisine. Pass through the Charm Gates & make a wish in the Devil’s Wishing Well. (Meals: D)

• Enjoy breakfast included at your hotel this morning prior to meeting your GUIDE and departing for a Tour of The Garden District in New Orleans.
• Free time & lunch on own along the Riverwalk prior to a Guided Tour of the historic French Quarter. Often called the Crown Jewel of New Orleans, the French Quarter is one of NOLA's most historic neighborhoods. Return to your hotel to rest and freshen up or enjoy free time in The French Quarter.
• Arrive & board the Paddlewheeler Creole Queen, New Orleans’ most luxurious daily excursions riverboat on the Mississippi River. The Creole Queen is a traditional riverboat powered by a 24-ft diameter paddlewheel. She has three private dining rooms giving her the largest indoor capacity available on excursion vessels in New Orleans. Return to the hotel for the remainder of the evening. (Meals: B, D)

• Enjoy breakfast included at the hotel this morning.
• Experience behind the scenes of Mardi Gras World. Tour the building that designs the sets and floats that bring this famous parade to life.
• Depart on a Riverwalk along the Mississippi River.
• Lunch is on own today as you explore the beautiful city of New Orleans.
• Visit The National WWII Museum which offers a compelling blend of sweeping narrative and poignant personal detail.
• Visit Preservation Hall where intimate, acoustic concerts are held featuring bands made up from a current collective of 60 masters of traditional New Orleans Jazz.
• Dinner on own this evening in the historic French Quarter of New Orleans. (Meals: B)

• Enjoy breakfast included at the hotel this morning prior to checking out.
• Your adventure begins today on an authentic New Orleans Swamp Tour! You'll see alligators deep in the Louisiana Swamps and Bayous.
• Enjoy lunch included at the beautiful Oak Alley Plantation Restaurant.
• After lunch, tour the historic Oak Alley Plantation and learn about the “Big House,” as well as exploring the plantation grounds. They are dedicated and committed to preserving and interpreting each chapter of this plantation’s memory.
• Check-in to your hotel & freshen up for a fun dinner!
• Depart for dinner included at a Cajun restaurant. Learn how to make a rue and participate in an Interactive Cajun Cooking Demonstration on making andouille sausage! This is not just a cooking class – it’s an experience! PLUS, enjoy Live Creole and Zydeco Music to dance along to! (Meals: B, L, D)

• Enjoy breakfast included at the hotel this morning prior to your Tour at Houmas House and Gardens. Visitors experience the life on a sugarcane plantation in the 1800s. The mansion has been restored to the antebellum era, reflecting the opulence and wealth this sugarcane farm boasted in the 1880s.
• Depart & meet your GUIDE at the Houma Visitors Center and explore!
• Embark on a Tour of Greenwood Gator Farms, a tour learning about how the alligator goes from the egg to the boot.
• Enjoy an included lunch while visiting.
• Experience the Down the Bayou Shrimp Tour. Learn the ins and outs of the seafood industry from this multigenerational family business. View shrimp boats and nets, learn about safety regulations, and walk through the processing plant and freezers.
• Enjoy a Tour & Tasting during your “Down South Boil Dinner”. Experience a presentation by the Cajun Music Preservations Society.  Learn about the history of Cajun Music and enjoy the sounds! (Meals: B, L, D)

• Enjoy breakfast included at your hotel this morning prior to checking out & departing for Natchez, MS.
• Arrive at the Natchez National Historical Park & Visitor Center. The facility is a Mississippi Welcome Center and home to the local offices of the National Park Service.
• Meet your Step-On Guide and depart.
• Enjoy lunch included at The Carriage House Restaurant at Stanton Hall. The Carriage House Restaurant specializes in delicious southern food and is owned and operated by the Pilgrimage Garden Club. Following lunch, embark on a tour of the classic property.
• Depart on a Driving Tour of the Natchez Antebellum District. Just before the Civil War, Natchez, Mississippi had more millionaires than anywhere else in the United States & it became a competition of sorts to build the largest and most majestic house.
• Tour Longwood, the largest octagonal house in the United States, is an historic antebellum mansion known for its byzantine onion-shaped dome and the contrast between the finished first floor and the unfinished upper floors.
• Check-in to your hotel for the evening. Enjoy free time to explore and admire the beautiful river views.
• Meet in the lobby and depart for dinner included at an antebellum mansion turned restaurant. You will dine in what was originally the Men's and Ladies’ Parlors of the Main House. (Meals: B, L, D)

• Enjoy breakfast included at your hotel prior to checking out. Explore the Delta Music Museum, this museum offers exhibits on Twenty-nine rock and roll and blues musicians from the Mississippi River delta country.
• Meet your Step-On Guide at the entrance and depart for Frogmore Plantation and Gins, one of eight plantations originally owned by the wealthy Natchez planter, John Gillespie. There are several different tour options for groups. Listen to the slave customs, secret music, and their relationships with owners, mistress, and overseer all while walking through authentically furnished slave quarters.
• Learn the history of Gospel & Jazz and enjoy a Live Musical Performance!
• A box lunch is included during your Plantation Tour and Delta Music Program.
• Continue your Step-On Tour. See the Cotton House & Cleveland, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel.
• Check-in to your local area hotel prior to dinner on own. (Meals: B, L)

• Breakfast is included at your hotel prior to a Tour of the B.B. King Museum.
• Depart for an included lunch at a local blues club. Enjoy a wide variety menu from hamburgers to catfish while enjoying live entertainment.
• After lunch, explore the Delta Blues Museum. Since it's creation, the museum has preserved, interpreted, and encouraged a deep interest in the story of the blues.
• Depart with your GUIDE on a Driving Tour to include a photo opportunity at the Crossroads and see the Muddy Waters Gravesite.
• Enjoy dinner included at a local bar and grill, live Juke Joint Music plays while you wait for your meal. (Meals: B, D)

• Breakfast is included at your hotel this morning prior to a Mainstreet Stroll. Take in the beautiful city of Cleveland, Mississippi.
• Stop by Dockery Farms for a photo op. Dockery Plantation was a 25,600-acre cotton plantation and is widely regarded as the place where Delta blues music was born.
• Arrive at the Grammy Museum, an exciting and interactive celebration of the power of music occupying a vibrant space in Cleveland, Mississippi.
• Depart with a boxed lunch on the way to William Faulkner’s Home, Rowan Oak. The modified Greek Revival home sits on 29 heavily wooded acres just south of the historic Oxford Square.
• Visit the Blues Archives at Ole’ Miss, here, you’ll see donations from BB King’s private collection.
• Enjoy a tour and presentation including “Blues 101” ~ The History of the Blues and its Influences.
• Check-in to your local area hotel and enjoy dinner on own at one of the many independent restaurants located on the square in Oxford. (Meals: B, L)

• Enjoy breakfast included at the hotel this morning prior to checking out & departing for home. (Meals: B)