Once upon a time, a company called WayUp held a competition where one student would win a Spring Break, completely covered by WayUp. One very lucky person, John M. became a #WayUpBOSS by referring 200+ students to WayUp and shortly after, received a hefty check to fulfill the Spring Break Road Trip of his dreams. John recapped his travel stories for us as he and his friends visited haunted houses, ate tons of BBQ, and hit up some top notch breweries.
While over 50 hours of driving and spending your nights in motels may not sound like the ideal vacation to most, a road trip can make for some of the most memorable experiences of your young adult life.
Armed with an old Volvo and a budget of $1,500 we set our sights to the South. The journey would stretch from Richmond to Savannah, and down to New Orleans before working our way home via Memphis, Nashville, and Asheville. This trip had a dual purpose for me, not only would it be an exploration of the two most haunted cities in America, but it would be an opportunity for me to explore some possible relocations after graduation.
The first stop in our journey to the South was Savannah, the land of Antebellum architecture, Spanish Moss, and Paula Dean. Upon arrival, we made sure to stop in for a drink at Moon River Brewing Company, which is considered to be one of the most haunted buildings in Savannah, although the only spirits we saw were not of the spectral sort. After settling into our hotel we made our way back downtown for a dinner of bison burgers, jalapeno wings, and brisket at Crystal Beer Parlour, the second oldest restaurant in Savannah. The most notable event of our Savannah excursion was a ghost tour. Our mode of transportation? A retired funeral hearse. This tour gave us a historical account of pirates, yellow fever, and the ignored warnings of building a city on top of Native American burial grounds. Unfortunately we only had one day to check out Savannah, but I plan on making another visit this Summer for more Southern cooking and tours of this beautiful city.
The apex destination for this road trip was New Orleans, so we were sure to designate three nights to take in a small portion of what the city has to offer. Over our three day excursion we went on several tours related to the history and mystery of New Orleans. These tours covered topics from Voodoo and zombies to witches, vampires, and hauntings. We explored Bourbon Street and the French Quarter on tours of the weird and spent an afternoon shopping in the Garden District and touring the Lafayette Cemetery, famous for the Spanish-style above-ground tombs. We took in the luxury of the local cuisine, enjoying boiled crawfish, gumbo, shrimp n grits, and a variety of fried sea creatures, and of course we nourished ourselves with powdered sugar-laden beignets. We even made it to a hot sauce sampling bar with more flavors than you would be able to try.
The next stop was Memphis where we had an Elvis-themed adventure around Beale Street, Sun Studios, The Heartbreak Hotel, and some gift shops filled with Elvis t-shirts, snow globes, and jumpsuits. And of course, we satiated ourselves with some classic Memphis-style BBQ before making our way across the state to Nashville. Unfortunately, Nashville acted as more of a pit stop for us to eat and get a good night sleep so we didn’t get a chance to explore the Honky-Tonk Highway and the rest of the city like we had originally planned.
Our final stop before ending our trip was a visit with my family in Asheville, North Carolina. Asheville is most known for two things: outdoor activities like hiking, biking, and camping, and acting as the Craft Beer Capital of the U.S. We took advantage of both of these by hiking a series of trails as well as a sampling a some local brews. After all the traveling, it was nice to enjoy a home-cooked meal and comfortable beds. This was the first time in the past ten years I had seen these cousins so it was a welcomed visit and a great way to finish of an exciting Spring Break!
To date, this is the longest road trip that I have been on, but after how much fun we had, we’ve already begun planning a trip for the summer to the Pacific Northwest!
Written by John McClung
