Tag Archives: Dixie Detours

Dixie Detours: Laissez les Bon Temps Rouler!

Posted on 2014-03-04 by tikichris

Happy Mardi Gras! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my Dixie Detours miniseries featuring the highlights from my recent trip to Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana and Florida along with suggestions for planning your own sojourn to the Deep South. Continue reading →

Posted in Alabama, Art, Coffee, Design, Dixie Detours, Drink, Florida, Food, Georgia, Hotels, Music, Restaurants, road trip, Shopping, Tennessee, Travel, Wine | Tagged Alabama, athens, Deep South, Dixie Detours, florida, georgia, louisiana, MIAMI, Muscle Shoals, road trip, TENNESSEE, Travel | Leave a comment

Dixie Detours: Miami in a Minute

Posted on 2014-03-03 by tikichris

The final stop of our Dixie Detours visit to the US was Miami, where an overnight layover afforded Kemey and me the chance to check in on some friends who had recently moved there – big thanks to Tanya and Francesco for being such fantastic hosts and showing us around so much of your fine town – while soaking up some south Florida sunshine before heading back to Blighty. Continue reading →

Posted in Beer, Coffee, Dixie Detours, Drink, Florida, Food, Hotels, Music, Restaurants, road trip, Travel, Wine | Tagged BARS, cocktails, coconut grove, collins avenue, cuban coffee, CUBAN SANDWICH, cubano, design district, Dixie Detours, Drink, florida, Food, hotels, jazz, lagniappe house, las olas, las olas cafe, las olas cafe south beach, LINCOLN ROAD, live music, lulu in the grove, lunch, MIAMI, MIAMI BEACH, miami dade, miami florida, midtown miami, music, restaurants, road trip, sanctuary south beach, scotty's landing, SOUTH BEACH, south florida, Travel, travel blog, wine bar, wynwood | Leave a comment

Dixie Detours: Sweet Shoals Music

Posted on 2014-03-03 by tikichris

Before our visit to the Muscle Shoals area of Alabama, I never would have imagined the music of Aretha Franklin could resonate even more with me than it already did. Goosebumps on top of goosebumps – how’s that gonna happen? But there I was standing in Studio A of Fame Studios in humble little Florence, Alabama where the mighty diva recorded such classics as Do Right Woman, Do Right Man, and something clicked in a deep and soulful sort of way. In the few days since Kemey and I checked out the Shoals, listening to Aretha’s songs has been coupled with an even deeper and more satisfying feeling than before. Continue reading →

Posted in Alabama, Beer, Design, Dixie Detours, Drink, Food, Hotels, Music, Restaurants, road trip, Travel | Tagged 20th century design, Alabama, Alabama Music Hall of Fame, ARCHITECTURE, aretha franklin, back forty, back forty beer, back forty beer company, bar, beer, birthplace of helen keller, Bob Seger, catfish, Cher, colbert county, CRAFT BEER, Deep South, design, Dixie Detours, do right woman do right man, Drink, Duane Allman, Etta James, fame studios, florence, florence alabama, frank lloyd wright, garden gate cafe, hank williams, helen keller, hotel, ivy green, kodachrome, live music, Lynyrd Skynyrd, marriott, marriott shoals, Marriott Shoals Hotel & Spa, mid century modern, Muscle Shoals, muscle shoals rhythm section, muscle shoals sound studio, music, naked pig, naked pig pale ale, north alabama, northwest alabama, OH! Bryan's Family Steakhouse, Oh!Bryan's, Otis Redding, pale ale, paul simon, Percy Sledge, recording studio, restaurants, road trip, Rock 'n' Roll, rolling stones, rosenbaum house, sheffield alabama, shoals, soul music, spa, steakhouse, sticky fingers, still crazy after all these years, sun ra, Swampers, swampers bar, Swampers Bar & Grill, tennessee river, the Osmonds, the shoals, TOM JONES, Travel, travel blog, tuscumbia, tuscumbia county, Wilson Picket | 5 Comments

Dixie Detours: Chattanooga, Choo Choo City

Posted on 2014-03-02 by tikichris

Chattanooga is my old teenage stomping ground. Since I’ve moved away, every year or two when I’ve managed to make it back for a visit (usually around Christmastime), the area always seemed to have gotten better than I remembered it being. Same holds true this time round. Continue reading →

Posted in Coffee, Dixie Detours, Drink, Food, Georgia, Hotels, Pizza, Restaurants, road trip, Tennessee, Travel | Tagged bob's brick oven, brick oven pizza, Chattanooga, chattanooga choo choo, chattanooga choo choo hotel, chickamauga, Deep South, Dixie Detours, georgia, hotels, ice cream, la altena, mexican food, pizza, road trip, rock spring, rock springs, TENNESSEE, the brick oven, Travel, walker county, walker county georgia, yellow deli | Leave a comment

Dixie Detours: Tabasco Tourism on Avery Island

Posted on 2014-03-01 by tikichris

Louisiana’s most iconic brand, McIlhenny Company’s Tabasco brand Original Red Sauce packs a wallop of distinctively spicy flavour. For all its flavoursome punch, it’s comprised of only three natural ingredients: aged red peppers, vinegar and salt from Avery Island, which is also the home of all Tabasco production. In addition to the pepper sauce factory, the island (roughly two hours from New Orleans and 40 minutes from Lafayette) is also a botanical garden, bird sanctuary and wildlife refuge. Our last day in Louisiana, Kemey and I spent a fantastic morning on Avery Island before carrying on with our Dixie Detours road trip. Here are some highlights from the fun time we had there. Continue reading →

Posted in Dixie Detours, Food, Hotels, Restaurants, road trip, Shopping, Travel | Tagged alligators, Avery Island, cajun, cajun country, Dixie Detours, egrets, Food, food origins, hot sauce, Jungle Gardens, lafayette, Louisiana wildlife, McIlhenny Company, new iberia, pepper sauce, road trip, south louisiana, SpringHill Suites, SpringHill Suites Lafayette, SpringHill Suites Lafayette South at River Ranch, tabasco, Tabasco brand Original Red Sauce, Tabasco Sauce, Travel, travel blog, vincent's cafeteria | 3 Comments

Dixie Detours: A Cajun Good Time in Lafayette

Posted on 2014-02-28 by tikichris

It’s a down home kind of place, Lafayette, where a koozie for your cold one is handy asset indeed. Continue reading →

Posted in Beer, Dixie Detours, Drink, Food, Hotels, Music, Restaurants, road trip, Travel | Tagged bayou, Blue Moon Saloon, Blue Moon Saloon and Guesthouse, cajun, cajun country, cajun food, CRAFT BEER, Deep South, dixie, Dixie Detours, double wide, double wide band, envie american pale ale, Food, frog legs, hard country, henderson, henderson lousiana, hotel, lafayette, lake henderson, live music, lousiana, marriott, mcgee's landing, music, new iberia, parish brewing co, restaurants, road trip, SpringHill Suites, SpringHill Suites Lafayette, SpringHill Suites Lafayette South at River Ranch, swamp, Travel, travel blog, victor's cafeteria | 3 Comments

Dixie Detours: New Orleans School of Cooking

Posted on 2014-02-27 by tikichris

Wow. Our afternoon visit to the New Orleans School of Cooking on St Louis Street in the French Quarter was a lot of fun – and well worth its own write up among all the entries in my Dixie Detours miniseries. Continue reading →

Posted in Beer, Dixie Detours, Drink, Food, Louisiana, Recipes, road trip, Shopping, Travel | Tagged 18 Ashwin Street, abita, abita amber, beer, big easy, cajun food, chowder, cooking, creole, Dixie Detours, étouffée, Food, french quarter, louisiana, Nawlins, new orleans, New Orleans School of Cooking, nola, pralines, recipes, road trip, Shopping, Travel, travel blog | 1 Comment

Dixie Detours: NOLA!

Posted on 2014-02-27 by tikichris

New Orleans is a sultry dream. I can’t imagine anywhere else in America that’s even half as beguiling or idiosyncratic. Probably the most dynamic city in the US, it is without doubt the most spontaneous and freewheeling. When I think about other destinations across the planet that offer experiences comparable to what I’ve happened upon in NOLA, I find myself coming up with a list of my absolute favourites places. Put simply, NOLA rocks (it shucks, jives, slides, saunters, shimmies and rolls too). Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Beer, Coffee, Dixie Detours, Drink, Food, Hotels, Louisiana, Restaurants, road trip, Travel | Tagged abita, abita beer, abita turbodog, Adolfo's, Art, BARS, beer, big easy, Carousel Bar and Lounge, cocktails, crab meat cheesecake, creole, dixie beer, Dixie Detours, Domilise's Po-Boy & Bar, folk art, Food, french quarter, frenchmen street, garden district, gumbo, hotel, Hotel Monteleone, La Boulangerie, louisiana, Maison Dupuy, Maison Dupuy Hotel, mardi gras, merry-go-round-bar, Nawlins, new orleans, nola, palace cafe, po-boys, restaurants, road trip, sandwiches, sazerac, simon, Toulouse Street, Travel, travel blog, turbodog, uptown new orleans | 2 Comments

Dixie Detours: Overnight Luxury in Mobile, Alabama

Posted on 2014-02-26 by tikichris

The rather underrated and often overlooked Gulf Coast town of Mobile proved to be an excellent choice and our time there an all too short and actually quite luxurious stay. Continue reading →

Posted in Alabama, Beer, Dixie Detours, Drink, Food, Hotels, Restaurants, road trip, Travel | Tagged Alabama, battle house, battle house hotel, Battle House Renaissance, Battle House Renaissance Mobile Hotel and Spa, beer, Conecuh sausage, CRAFT BEER, Dixie Detours, downtown mobile, Drink, Food, fried oysters, Good People Brewing Company, Good People Brewing Company Pale Ale, gulf coast, gulf of mexico, Historic Hotels of America, hotels, LODA, lower dauphine street, mardi gras, mardi gras in mobile, marriott, mobile, mobile alabama, mobile mardi gras, pale ale, restaurants, road trip, southern alabama, Travel, travel blog, Trellis Room, Wintzell's, Wintzell's Oyster House | 2 Comments

Dixie Detours: When in Rome … Georgia

Posted on 2014-02-26 by tikichris

The wedding of my old friend Jack and his lovely fiancée Beth was the main reason prompting my and Kemey’s visit back home and a big factor behind the design of our Dixie Detours itinerary. The wedding was held in Rome, Georgia where Jack had attended university. Yes, that’s right. I went to Athens one day and Rome the next – all without leaving the great state of Georgia! Continue reading →

Posted in Beer, Dixie Detours, Drink, Food, Georgia, Hotels, Pizza, Restaurants, road trip, Travel | Tagged bar, berry college, berry college mountain campus, brunch, Deep South, Dixie Detours, Floyd County, frost chapel, frost memorial chapel, georgia, Harvest Moon, Hawthorn Suites, Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham, hotel, johnny's new york style pizza, North Georgia, Northwest Georgia, pizza, restaurants, road trip, rome, rome area history museum, rome georgia, Travel, travel blog, wedding venue, wedding venue rome georgia | 2 Comments

Dixie Detours: Athens, Georgia

Posted on 2014-02-23 by tikichris

First stop on my Dixie Detours road trip was the quintessential college town of Athens, Georgia – the city which I had called home for most of the 90s during a rather scenic, circuitous and often hazy experience as an undergrad anthropology major at the University of Georgia. Much of the reason for my meandering approach to higher education and indeed life in general during my 20s was due to spending loads of time mingling with the musical set of this amazing little city famed for hosting more than its fair share of influential musicians and bands (REM, B52s, Vic Chestnut, Neutral Milk Hotel, Of Montreal, etc ad nauseam). Continue reading →

Posted in Beer, Dixie Detours, Drink, Food, Georgia, Music, Restaurants, road trip, Travel | Tagged athens, Athens GA, BARS, beer, Blue Stockings, DINER, Dixie Detours, downtown athens, Drink, Food, georgia, greasy spoon, Holly Sweat, little kings, little kings shuffle club, live music, music, restaurants, road trip, the grit, Travel, travel blog, UGA, university of georgia, vegetarian restaurant, waffle house | 2 Comments

Dixie Detours: Howdy Y’all

Posted on 2014-02-22 by tikichris

Hey everybody. Let me begin this post with an apology for the scant and at times fairly lame content I’ve been publishing over the past couple of weeks. I have been “away from my desk” and rambling round the Deep South of the United States on a Dixie Detours road trip. Continue reading →