Tag: Southbound

Today, Biloxi known for its towering casino resorts offering endless entertainment and round-the-clock gambling, but you needn’t be a high roller to enjoy this coastal community. Known as the Seafood Capital of the World in the early 1900s, the city is brimming with fresh-catch restaurants and eager to share its historic schooners and nautical instruments at the Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum.

With its modern facade, chic interior design, sexy speakeasy, and high-end surf and turf restaurant, it’s hard to believe that the building housing the Trail Hotel was once a Holiday Inn.

Highly walkable and populated with restaurants, galleries, and museums, Paducah’s verve far exceeds the sum of its relatively small population. Today, the town is home to not only world-renowned quilters, but also James Beard–nominated chefs, visual artists of nearly every medium, and a tight-knit community supporting them.

One year on a family visit to Asheville, Lizzie Whitcher fell in love with Biltmore—so much so that she studied floriculture at Texas A&M with hopes of eventually working at the estate. Soon after, she made that dream a reality. In addition to managing decor for events, her team of 10 designers directs the installation of more than 100 trees, hundreds of thousands of lights, and thousands of feet of garland for Christmas at Biltmore.

The thunderous roar of fighter jets is nothing unusual in Pensacola, Florida, known as the “Cradle of Aviation.” Founded in 1914, Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola was the first of its kind in the United States, marking the beginning of formal schooling for aviators.

Jekyll Island’s modern history is among the most storied in the South. Since General James Oglethorpe colonized it in 1733, the island has experienced four distinct periods: the Colonial Era, the Plantation Era, the Club Era, and the State Era. Here’s a look at six people across the eras who played major roles in creating the Jekyll Island now enjoyed by more than 3 million visitors a year.

The Omni Grove Park Inn & Spa welcomed back the National Gingerbread Competition this year after Hurricane Helene forced a cancellation in 2024. The celebrated holiday tradition returned stronger than ever, with 235 entries representing 25 states across the country—the most in the event's history.

According to Executive Chef Jacob Stull, the most popular appetizer at Rêve, Birmingham, Alabama’s first-ever tasting menu restaurant, was inspired by a late-night Southern favorite: the “scattered, smothered, and covered” hash browns at Waffle House.

Since 1853, the North Carolina State Fair has drawn huge crowds to Raleigh by showcasing the best livestock, produce, and crafts from around the state. Throw in some thrill rides, indulgent fare (battered bologna fries, anyone?), and nightly fireworks, and you’ve got what is now one of the nation’s most popular state fairs. Here’s a glimpse of all the blue-ribbon fun that goes down.

The creative Cajun has called Lafayette, Louisiana, home since birth and finds inspiration in “the very weird, very diverse” culture of the city; so much so that she opened her brick-and-mortar gift shop, Cocodrie Collective, downtown in 2023. “There’s a big mashup of backgrounds and customs,” she says. “We like to joke that we’re all a bunch of mutts.” Here are her recommendations for exploring Lafayette like a local.