Southbound

Travelers to the northwestern corner of Arkansas will encounter all the natural splendor—limestone cliffs, pristine lakes, deep forests—one would expect on a trip through the enchanting Ozarks.

If you like IMAX, you’ll love Illuminarium, a new attraction on the city’s BeltLine. A 350-foot wraparound screen is enhanced by piped-in scents (like damp earth in the ongoing Wild: Safari Experience).

Chapel Hill, home to the University of North Carolina (UNC), has that elusive blend of qualities that makes for an ideal weekend destination: instantly comfortable yet demanding to be explored.

A Cajun colloquialism, “T” in front of a name means petite or small. For the T’Spoon cocktail at Spoonbill Watering Hole & Restaurant in Lafayette, Louisiana, it may be a small, boozy nod to the restaurant’s brashy-sweet vibe—but it sure has big taste.

The Peabody Hotel truly keeps its ducks in a row. Each morning at 11, its five resident North American mallards depart their “Royal Duck Palace” on the hotel’s rooftop and waddle to the elevator, riding it down a dozen floors until the doors open to reveal a red carpet lined with guests.

The peaks of western North Carolina are the highest in the Eastern United States, and the state’s largest ski resort combines a solid 5,300-foot elevation with a diverse range of runs.

“Bristol: A good place to live,” proclaims a giant glowing sign arching over State Street. In 1921, citizens of Bristol, Tennessee, and Bristol, Virginia, voted for the modest slogan.

I’m not a big crier, but I feel two fat tears threatening to spill down my cheeks as an eight-piece band performs “What a Wonderful World.” I’m sitting in a darkened theater aboard the inaugural voyage of the American Countess, a luxurious new paddle wheeler cruising the Mississippi.

Stay and eat at these three stellar spots in Miami, Amelia Island, and Highlands.

Located in an 1883 Italianate mansion in New Orleans's Garden District, the revamped inn is a hip neighborhood hangout.