Day 1 Hannibal, MO

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

Day 2 Sikeston, 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 Sikeston for our overnight, making a stop at the St. Louis Arch for a tram ride up 630 feet to the top of the tallest monument in the United States. (B)

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. Next, we’ll get 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. Dinner will be on your own on Beale Street. Later, we will check-in to our hotel for the Guesthouse at Graceland. (B, L)

Day 4 New Orleans, LA
We make our way to Louisiana to “The Big Easy.” We’ll make our usual stops for lunch and break along they way. Upon arrival, we will check into our beautiful hotel, the Four Points by Sheraton French Quarter 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)

Day 5 New Orleans, LA
Our morning begins with 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. This afternoon 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 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 Landry’s on Lake Pontchartrain. (B, D)

Day 7 Baton Rouge, LA
We say goodbye to New Orleans this morning and head back 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. Next stop, lunch own your own and the chance to do some shopping at the Cane River Pecan Company before we head to the Tabasco Factory on Avery Island where we will experience the history and production of the world-famous hot sauce. Then we’ll visit the 170-acre natural beauty of Jungle Gardens located here. We make our way to Lafayette for our overnight. Dinner is included this evening at a local favorite but first a stop will be made for daiquiris TO-GO on the way. (B, D)

Day 8 Natchez, MS

Our first stop this morning is at Vermilionville, a 23-acre historic and folklife park along the banks of the Bayou Vermilion that depicts the Acadian, Creole and Native American cultures from the time period 1765–1890. After lunch on your own, we will board a boat for a Swamp Tour of the Atchafalaya Basin Swamp through moss-draped cypress trees, where graceful egrets perch just out of the reach of lingering alligators. Our Native Cajun tour guide will explain from personal experience what it is like to live on a houseboat or survive off the swamp--while pointing out the abundant plants of the area and getting you up close and personal with the wildlife. We continue to Baton Rouge for our overnight. (B)

Day 9 Natchez, MS

We’re off to the 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. Then we drive north to the oldest settlement on the Mississippi River, Natchez. We’ll start with a city tour with a local guide. After checking-in to our hotel the evening is free to enjoy on your own. (B, L)

Day 10 Natchez, MS
Our first stop this morning is at Frogmore Cotton Plantation. An 1800-acre working cotton plantation, Frogmore has 19 restored antebellum structures that date from the early 1800’s. Along with the history of the early Natchez planters and their slaves, the 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! Next, we tour some of the antebellum mansions. Natchez is home some of the most well preserved and architecturally stunning historic homes in the American South. (B)

Day 11 Little Rock, AR
We travel north today into Arkansas to the place of a critical turning point of the Civil War, 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 continue heading north to Little Rock, Arkansas for our overnight. (B)

Day 12 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)

Day 13 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. (B)