Exploring America’s Music History by Bus
Recently my husband and I embarked on an escorted bus Tour with Globus Tours. As music lovers, we chose to sign up for the “America’s Musical Heritage” tour with stays in Nashville, Memphis and New Orleans as the key destinations with the hopes of being exposed to some legendary music venues and history. We were not disappointed!
This was the first bus tour either of us had ever taken and we very pleased with our experience. One of the benefits of a bus tour is that typically on a road trip the driver needs to concentrate on the road and doesn’t get to enjoy the journey as the passengers do, whereas, on the bus, everyone gets to enjoy the experience. With the guided tour, there’s someone with you that points out if there’s something to see or take note of, something that likely would have been missed if we’d been driving ourselves.
Sounds, Sights and Highlights
On our tour, we were able to visit many music museums and sites that we may have missed or not have been able to visit without a tonne of research and pre-planning. There’s definitely something to be said about having an experienced guide along with you!
For our hotel stays along the way, on travel days you had to have your bags packed and ready at your door early as they disappear while you’re at breakfast and reappeared at your next hotel stop after the full day of sightseeing. There were no worries about baggage or keys at check-in as you were handed your keys to your next hotel room while still on the bus. All in all, pretty seamless and convenient and without the trouble of waiting in line for tickets or room check-ins – all done for you!
A few highlights of this particular trip (although it’s hard to just pick a few):
- Nashville and the tickets to the Grand Ole Opry (highly recommend)
- A tour of Graceland and the Elvis Museums while in Memphis
- The Frogmore Cotton Plantation and Gin
- Atchafalaya Basin swamp tour
- Actor Morgan Freeman’s restaurant, Ground Zero (you could spend days reading the graffiti on the walls!)
- New Orleans with Bourbon Street and the Natchez Paddle Wheeler on the Mississippi
But one of our biggest highlights (and one of those stops that you’d only know about if you had the experience of a guide or done a tonne of research) was standing on the bridge over the Tallahatchie River while pondering the song “Ode to Billie Joe” by Bobbie Gentry – not only ranked as one of Rolling Stone Magazine’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”, but also one of the “100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time”! Any country and western fan will tell you, that’s an experience that isn’t likely to be happen twice!
Coda: Our Parting Thoughts
Someone recently asked me if I would take another bus tour like this one from Globus and my immediate answer is: without hesitation! I’d gladly do another guided bus tour and, in fact, my husband and I are already discussing where and when…
If you want to learn more about Globus guided bus tours, or want to book your own (guess which one I’d recommend?), please feel free to give me a call at CruisePlus Travel & Tours or talk to any one of our fantastic Travel Specialists. Any of us will gladly help you plan your next adventure!
Candius – CruisePlus Travel & Tours
