Driving south to Memphis

In My Humble Opinion
1

So I am making a big move from Ottawa, Ont down to Houston,TX. In order to get my car and dog down there, the wife and I will be driving and we figured we’d visit Memphis on the way. So now I am tasked with finding a couple other places to stay en route. It’s an 18 hr drive so I am figuring something about 6 hrs from Ottawa then a place 6 hrs or so from that but obviously I am flexible.

So I guess I am looking for a pleasant place to visit for the day in northern Ohio or Pennsylvania (Erie, PA is about 6 hrs from Ottawa for a reference) and similar in Kentucky (Louisville, KY is about 7 hrs from Erie). So any local Dopers know of nice places for a day visit in those general areas?

2

Around Louisville, there’s the Bourbon Trail http://kybourbontrail.com/. If you like college baseball, you may be able to catch a Louisville Cardinals game http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaafb/louisville-cardinals/team/sp-id-10201000000003505 . Gethsemane Abbey just outside of Bardstown is an interesting side trip Day Visits - Abbey of Gethsemani

One of my favorites is the Abranam Lincoln Birthplace National Park, along with his boyhood home in Hodgensville. Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial - Wikipedia

Enjoy your trip and welcome to life in the USA. :slight_smile:

3

Are you sure about that? Google Maps says 26 without traffic. I can usually beat the times they list, but not by 8 hours.

One of the routes listed takes you through Indianapolis… if you choose that one I’ll be more than happy to give you suggestions.

4

Did you perhaps google map my whole trip to Houston? My search comes up with 18h39m Ottawa to Memphis. Around Indianapolis isn’t out of the question, so fire away. Probably the more south-east of town the better though.

Thank you for the suggestions and welcome, missred.

5

Never mind… you are probably saying 18 hours to Memphis, not all the way to Houston.

::Ninja’d::

6

In Pittsburgh, there is the National Aviary and the Andy Warhol museum. I have never been to Erie, but I would expect some rather desultory canal-related Americana.

7

If I was going to overnight in Memphis, and I had the wallet to swing it, I’d want to spend time at the Peabody hotel. I’d want my visit to coincide with the March Of The Ducks that occurs there.

8

I don’t know when you’re going on this trip, but be on the lookout for college football games. You might want to take some evasive routing around Columbus, OH, for example, if you’ll be passing through on a Saturday when there’s a home game at OSU. Louisville has some college teams also.

9

I really enjoyed Mammoth Caves when I visited them.

10

Then you’d be disappointed. Erie, PA is on the shores of Lake Erie but it’s a hundred miles away from the canal. Their big local history is the fighting from Presque Island during the War of 1812.

11

My advice is to not plan on spending a night in Erie. There’s a casino there and hotel rooms are very overpriced.

12

(Future) welcome to Memphis!!!

13

If you like kitsch, a couple of hours south of Louisville is Cave City / Horse Cave. There you’ll find Guntown Mountain http://www.yelp.com/biz/guntown-mountain-amusement-park-cave-city and the Wigwam Village Motel http://www.wigwamvillage.com/ as well as the caves. The town was set up for travelers in the fifties and much of the old US Highway charm remains.

If you’ll be spending a couple of days in Memphis (or want to return when you settle in Houston - it’s 8-9 hours away), check out the Stax Museum http://staxmuseum.com/ and the Civil Rights Museum http://civilrightsmuseum.org/. They both take a bit of time to thoroughly enjoy, but they’re worth it. The Casey Jones Train Museum in Jackson, an hour and a half before Memphis is a fun couple of hours too http://www.caseyjones.com/caseyjones/ .

As I travel to Houston and northern Indiana from Nashville regularly, I’m pretty familiar with other stops along the route if you’re interested.