I drove the States for about 9 months once… just for fun.
As I went through the South, I went from New Orleans to Atlanta in one day. Then I went from Atlanta to the Great Smoky Mountains in one day, where I stayed in a youth hostel. Then, I went to DC in a day. I took interstates.
Eight days is not much time to travel the vast US.
If you are taking the slow back roads and sightseeing along the way, I would consider making either New Orleans (to the west) or DC (to the north) your turn-around destinations, assuming you want to see big cities.
New Orleans and DC are both a lot of fun. The drive from NO to Atl via Mobile and Birgmingham is very nicely forested with rolling hills and gentle curves. Very scenic! The swamplands of Louisiana are also very nice. The drive from Atl to the Smokys was also very nice.
I can’t say that I recall the drive from the Smokys to DC. That must say something.
The Great Smoky Mountains are beautiful if you are into forests and whatnot.
Birmingham, AL seemed to be a nice little city.
Places I would love to see but didn’t include Savannah, GA and Charlston, SC.
As far as Florida goes, I hear its just like SoCal plus a heavy dose of humidity. Being from SoCal, I decided not to go to Florida.
I drove this section in late March, so the weather in the South was nice. However, since you appear to be going in the warmer month of May or so, I would lean toward heading north instead of west, as happyheathen has suggested.
RANDOM TIPS:
- HAVE FUN!
- You may want to get AAA and a cell phone if you don’t have them already.
- Be sure to talk to strangers (like Opal!), but be safe about it!
- Have some tapes and/or CD’s handy.
- Keep right except to pass.
- Be sure to drive a “loop” so you don’t see the same stuff heading back that you saw on the way out.
- Don’t carry too much cash on your person, consider travelers cheques or relying on a debit/credit card… you may want to hide a small emergency cash stash in you car somewhere ($50 or $100) for bribing cops… I mean for a tow truck or something.
- HAVE FUN!