Southbound

In 1968, the tiny mountain town of Helen was dying. Over lunch, three local businessmen decided the town needed to add some street appeal if it hoped to capture the interests of passersby. By the time the leaves began to turn in 1969, Alpine Helen was born.

Fifteen barrier islands line the coast of Georgia. The southernmost and largest is called Cumberland.

Long before a mouse named Mickey showed up in central Florida, the South was dotted with roadside attractions and family-owned amusements. Rock formations, natural springs, botanical gardens, and menageries of animals were the mainstays of vacation fun.

Political odd couple Mary Matalin and James Carville call a truce in their adopted hometown.

A closer look at the origins of one resilient dessert.

For almost five decades, Loretta Lynn has called her eponymous ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, home. She returns here wrung out and road weary after countless concert dates across the country and USO tours around the world.

Leiper’s Fork is barely a wide spot in the road, but this village of wood-framed country cottages lures Nashville royalty with its authentic musical offerings.

Eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina are home to some of the highest elevations in the eastern United States, rising more than 6,000 feet above sea level in some parts. It’s a favorite destination for outdoor enthusiasts who hike and bike its steep trails and brave its rushing rivers.

Memphis is best known for its musical pedigree, cholesterol-be-damned gastronomical specialties, and party-hearty kitsch—spangly Elvis jumpsuits, sloshing buckets of iridescent-blue booze, and Graceland’s lurid “Jungle Room.” But Memphis is much more than barbecue and Beale Street.

Pump the brakes for these larger-than-life Southern landmarks.