Future Bucket List Adventures - The USA - The South

The United States of America is the fourth largest country in the world in area (after Russia, Canada, and China). There is so much to see in the USA, and each state has something different to offer. The mainland USA is so vast, that it is often split into four regions - the South, the North-East, the Mid-West and the West. I have been lucky enough to visit a few parts of Florida (in the South of the USA) with my family in the past. Our trips included Orlando, St Petersburg and the Gulf Coast. More recently in 2017, I visited Miami, the Everglades, and Key West. I have compiled a long list of places that I would like to see in the future in the South of the USA, consisting of one place I have already stayed in the past (Orlando), along with some parts of the region I have not yet experienced, which include the Space Coast, Cocoa Beach, Melbourne, Daytona Beach, Palm Beach, the Florida Keys - Little Palm Island and Key Largo, New Orleans, Nashville, Memphis, Charleston, Outer Banks and Dallas.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa

The South

The South of the United States (or Southern USA) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. The South is a vast area, which is famous for its beautiful beaches, distinctive culture, accents, music and cuisine. As defined by the U.S. federal government, the South includes the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. Some of the Southern states are often referred to as 'the Deep South'.

Space Coast

Florida has plenty of shoreline, but there’s nothing quite like the Space Coast – the only beach destination that’s also a rocket launch pad - the Kennedy Space Centre. Few experiences are more thrilling or memorable than seeing marine mammals in the wild. Visitors to the Space Coast have just that opportunity. This area is a home base for the beloved West Indian manatee, better known as the Florida manatee.

Kennedy Space Centre

The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is the visitor center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida. It features exhibits and displays, historic spacecraft and memorabilia, shows, two IMAX theaters, and a range of bus tours of the spaceport.

Past Visit to the Kennedy Space Centre

As a family, we visited the Kennedy Space Centre during a family holiday to Orlando.

Kennedy Space Centre

Cocoa Beach

Cocoa Beach is located on the east coast of Florida, just a 45-minute drive from Downtown Orlando. The beach is famous for its surf, laidback lifestyle, and beautiful natural landscape. Leatherback, Green, and Loggerhead sea turtles are all known to nest on or near Cocoa Beach.

Lost Inn Paradise

The riverfront Lost Inn Paradise is 1 minute walk from the beach and offers waterfront accommodations in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

Melbourne

Located along Florida’s eastern Space Coast, Melbourne is a bustling city with a small town feel in Brevard County known for its historic charm, artsy culture, and great surf. The downtown area has world-renowned art galleries, delicious restaurants, and craft breweries tucked behind oak-lined streets. The Eau Gallie Arts District (EGAD) Main Street is a Florida Main Street program dedicated to the revitalization of historic Eau Gallie area in Melbourne.

Orlando

Orlando is located in the heart of Florida and is roughly one hour from both the Gulf Coast and the Space Coast on either side. I have visited Orlando twice with family. The main attractions in Orlando are world class theme parks, which most notebly include the Walt Disney World Resort and the Universal Studios Resort Orlando.

Past Holiday to Orlando

We visited Orlando in 1992 and the year 2000. We stayed at the Vistana Resort in 1992, and for our second trip, we rented holiday home. We took a trip to the Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Studios Resort on both visits.

Walt Disney World Resort - Magic Kingdom

Walt Disney World Resort - Magic Kingdom Park in Orlando

The Magic Kingdom Park is a theme park at Walt Disney World Resort featuring classic attractions, enchanting fireworks, musical parades and characters. I absolutely love the Magic Kingdom Park. I have been twice already and will go again.

Four Seasons Resort Orlando

The Four Seasons Resort in Orlando brings genuine five-star luxury to Disney World, offering chic interiors, exceptional service, an excellent choice of restaurants, and private transfers to the theme parks.

Daytona Beach

Daytona Beach is a city on Florida’s Atlantic coast. It’s known for Daytona International Speedway, which hosts February’s iconic Daytona 500 NASCAR race. The beach has hard-packed sand where driving is permitted in designated areas. Near the boardwalk’s rides and arcades, Daytona Beach Bandshell stages free summer concerts. Steps from the beach, Daytona Lagoon water park offers go-karts, laser tag and waterslides.

Palm Beach

The island of Palm Beach is known as the 'Hamptons of the South' and is home to legendary resorts, exquisite mansions and beautiful beaches. Lined with stately palm trees, the shopping nirvana of Worth Avenue is known worldwide. 

White Elephant Palm Beach

Two blocks from miles of pristine beaches, the White Elephant Palm Beach is one of Florida's best and most effortless, luxury hotels.

Henry Morrison Flagler Museum

Whitehall, the home of the Flagler Museum, was built in 1902 for Henry Flagler, co-founder of Standard Oil, and his third wife Mary Lily Kenan.

Little Palm Island - Florida Keys

Little Palm Island is a private island off the coast of the Little Torch Key with a romantic Robinson Crusoe appeal. What used to be a refuge for pirates and smugglers is today the luxurious escape for the very richest. There are very few places like this in the USA. A tropical resort with its own island. Little Palm Island was a secret Florida destination. In the early days before the Internet, you could only make a reservation by calling this number: 0900-GETLOST. And then you were told at which kilometer marker you will be picked up by a boat.

Key Largo - Florida Keys

Key Largo is an island in the Florida Keys, an archipelago off the south coast of the U.S. state. It’s a popular holiday destination where onshore and offshore state parks provide opportunities for wildlife encounters, fishing, kayaking and diving. Divers and snorkelers visit John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park to view tropical fish and an underwater statue of Christ.

Bungalows Key Largo

The Bungalows Key Largo is an adult only, luxury, all inclusive resort.

New Orleans

New Orleans is a Louisiana city on the Mississippi River, near the Gulf of Mexico. Nicknamed the "Big Easy," it's known for its round-the-clock nightlife, steamboat cruises, vibrant jazz music scene, Creole and Cajun spicy cuisine. New Orleans is a melting pot of French, African and American cultures. Embodying its festive spirit is Mardi Gras, the late-winter carnival famed for raucous costumed parades and street parties.

Hotel Monteleone

Located in the heart of the French Quarter, Hotel Monteleone is a boutique luxury hotel with a rich history, just one block away from Bourbon Street.

Preservation Hall

Preservation Hall is a historic music venue in the French Quarter working to protect, preserve and perpetuate the spirit of traditional New Orleans jazz.

Nashville

Nashville is the hometown of country music and the birthplace of bluegrass, with roots in R&B, and a thriving pop and rock scene. Visitors flock to the city year-round to listen to live music in the honky-tonks of Broadway and to see the famous recording studios on Music Row.

The Joseph

The Joseph, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Nashville, offers a sophisticated escape that is both precisely planned and artfully crafted.

Memphis

Memphis is a city on the Mississippi River in southwest Tennessee, famous for the influential strains of blues, soul and rock 'n' roll that originated there. Elvis Presley, B.B. King and Johnny Cash recorded albums at the legendary Sun Studio, and Presley’s Graceland mansion is a popular attraction. Other music landmarks include the Rock 'n' Soul Museum, Blues Hall of Fame and Stax Museum of American Soul Music.

Charleston

Charleston, the South Carolina port city founded in 1670, is defined by its cobblestone streets, horse-drawn carriages and pastel antebellum houses, particularly in the elegant French Quarter and Battery districts.

Folly Beach

Folly Beach in Charleston, SC, is widely treasured by surfers and beach enthusiasts. Nicknamed “The Edge of America,” the town of Folly Beach exemplifies South Carolina's Lowcountry lifestyle.

Wild Dunes Resort

Situated on the northern tip of Isle of Palms, Wild Dunes Resort is just 30 minutes from Charleston. Bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Intracoastal Waterway on the other, the resort offers a range of South Carolina adventures.

Outer Banks

The allure of the Outer Banks of North Carolina is so simple: they offer a place to relax and enjoy the rhythms of nature and the sea. Wild horses, quaint villages, scenic lighthouses, windswept beaches and scruffy crab shacks provide the backdrop for these four sleepy barrier islands. Though just off the coast of North Carolina, they feel like they’re a million miles away from the “real” world. Swimming, sunning and water sports are what most visitors come here for, but there’s also quite a bit of history to uncover.

Dallas

Dallas is a spralling, modern, upmarket city located in the state of Texas, USA. The city is famous for the football team - the Dallas Cowboys, year-round rodeo and the historic Fort Worth Stockyards.

The Statler

The Statler is a contemporary hotel with rooftop pool in downtown Dallas.

Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys are one of the biggest football teams in the USA. Since the introduction for the television show 'America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders' - the cheerleaders and their routine for 'Thunderstruck' have become a worldwide phenomenon.

These are just a selection of places I wish to visit in the future in the South of the USA.