Every year I try to attend a new festival instead of going to the same ones over and over. This time around, I found Austin City Limits. I had always heard awesome things about Austin and since I had never even been to Texas (I know crazy right?) I decided to call up a couple friends and start planning.

Road trips are THE SHIT

If you have never taken a road trip before, please go play in oncoming traffic.

They give you the freedom to stop and go as you please. Allows you to see stuff you would have missed by flying. Helps save you money, especially if you are traveling with a group. AND they are just a shit ton of fun.

Most people can’t take as much time off as I can since I work from home, but I did find a friend in Orlando who flew up and road tripped with me! Going alone just isn’t fun. Here was our itinerary.

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Southern Road Trip Itinerary

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October 6-7: Atlanta to New Orleans

[wp-svg-icons icon=”road” wrap=”b”] Driving from Atlanta to Long Beach, Mississippi (lunch spot) THEN Long Beach, to New Orleans

[wp-svg-icons icon=”alarm” wrap=”b”] Approx. driving time: 7 hours total

[wp-svg-icons icon=”food” wrap=”b”] We stopped in Long Beach and ate at Steve Marina Restaurant for lunch

I wanted to stop somewhere on the way to help break up the trip some, and so we could have lunch with a view. We were excited to be right on the coast, plus we were starving. Although the view was great, the food, not so much. When a sign says FRESH local seafood you expect it to be fresh right? I swear, some of the blandest food I have ever tasted. I mean damn, Mississippi this is suppose to be the south, butter that shit up! We soaked up the view, took a stroll down the pier and then headed to NOLA.

[wp-svg-icons icon=”office” wrap=”b”] In New Orleans we stayed at Hotel Monteleone

We decided to splurge since it was the beginning of our trip. Bethany (my road trip friend) found this place and it’s supposedly haunted…oooooooo. The only thing scary about it was those god awful drapes and bed spreads in the rooms haha. Look like someone great great grandma died and left all of her stuff. This was definitely worth the money though. Lots of celebs, deity etc stay here…duh, two princesses were there that night 😉 Oh Oh, AND it has a Carousel Bar! It was always packed when we tried to get a drink so we just snapped some pictures and went to explore!

[wp-svg-icons icon=”accessibility” wrap=”b”] As for activities, we saw Disclosure at Mardi Gras World River City Ballroom

Well, our night didn’t quite start off like that. We planned to go get drinks/ bar hop on Bourbon. Mind you, it’s a Tuesday night in the middle of October, and this was pretty much my first time in New Orleans so my opinion may be a little skewed. ANYWAYS…we got to Bourbon St, and all it seemed like was a bunch of old biker people in leather jackets and drunk fratty guys. We took some shots, jello shots to be exact, and decided we wanted to dance!

I looked up places to go, and saw that Disclosure (LOVE THEM) were playing! At this time it was probably 10:45 and the show ended at 12. We said fuck it and ubered over there. Got to the front door and the guy is like, “OOPS, looks like I ran out of general admission tickets…you know the show only has an hour left right? I’ll give you VIP, just give me like $20” Instantly we hand over the money and see the best part of the show from our VIP balcony! NIGHT MADE. After the show we went back to Bourbon to give it one last try, ended up going to a strip club that also had poles outside? Honestly, we were pretty drunk at this point so we just started bar hopping again.

SIDE NOTE: New Orleans is suppppppper dirty. I’m talking like 10 huge trashcans in front of nice bars, and bums everywhere. AND strippers that looked like bums. Kind of ruined it for me, but it was a Tuesday so I might give it one more try.

Somehow we didn’t end up going to sleep until almost 5:30 am. Needless to say we were grumpy and tired waking up that morning. We stopped into Cafe Du Monde for some beigents and then were like let’s GTFO of this place.

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October 7-8: Houston, TX

[wp-svg-icons icon=”road” wrap=”b”] We drove from New Orleans to Houston, our first stop in the Lone Star State

[wp-svg-icons icon=”alarm” wrap=”b”] Approx. driving time: 5 hours 15 minutes

[wp-svg-icons icon=”office” wrap=”b”] Hotel?? Umm..some random Hilton I wanna say?

[wp-svg-icons icon=”food” wrap=”b”] Room Service

I know what you’re thinking…that we are wasting precious exploring time…but after a lonnnnng day/night of driving, exploring, drinking and dancing…we were tired! We left New Orleans around 11 am and got to Texas around 4, just in time for check in. We took the night to regroup, plan a route for exploring Houston in the morning before we went to Austin. Don’t forget to slow down and relax when you need it!

[wp-svg-icons icon=”accessibility” wrap=”b”] We didn’t let the next day go to waste…first up, William’s Tower and the William’s Waterfall Park

Next, we headed to David Adickes Sculpturworx where we got to climb all over giant President’s Heads…

Pretty cool to see up close!

After that we tried to go to Texas Junk Co. I had heard it was the holy mecca of cowboy stuff but whoever ran the place was being a grumpy old man, saying they were closed and we couldn’t even just peep inside 🙁 dick. So instead we found the I <3 Houston sign.

Colorful huh? Just try not to get hit by a truck while trying to snap a picture haha. Great location for people driving, not some much for people on the side of the road.

Lastly we stopped into The Chocolate Bar, for obvious reasons (no not our period…because chocolate)

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October 8-12: Austin, TX

[wp-svg-icons icon=”road” wrap=”b”] We drove from Houston to Austin for the festival

[wp-svg-icons icon=”alarm” wrap=”b”] Approx. driving time: 2 hours 40 minutes

[wp-svg-icons icon=”office” wrap=”b”] We stayed at an AirBnB near the festival

[wp-svg-icons icon=”food” wrap=”b”] EVERYTHING.

[wp-svg-icons icon=”accessibility” wrap=”b”] Sadly, none of us can remember the places we ate, or bars we went to. I know we bar hopped up and down 6th street.

Had a crazy Blood Mary at Casino El Camino

Ate brunch at South Congress Cafe

Shopped for some last minute outfits at Lucy in Disguise with Diamonds

And pretty much just partied our asses off at Austin City Limits. This was probably one of the best festivals I’ve been to since there were over 20 genres of music playing. One minute we’d be getting ratchet to some ASAP Rocky and the next we would be getting our panties wet to The Weekend 😉

Day 1

The only other person whose crazier than I am 🙂 Alex! (my festie bestie) met up with us in Austin for the festival

Random people we met and had a blast with

After 3 days of having more alcohol in our system than water, the festival came to an end 🙁 Alex went home and we continued on our journey back to Atlanta! But not the way we came.

Until next time ACL. You were perfect.

On that Monday we made one last pit stop before we headed out. A BUTTER MURAL.

You’re my butter half! HOW FUCKING CUTE IS THIS.

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October 12: Dallas, TX

[wp-svg-icons icon=”road” wrap=”b”] We drove from Austin to Dallas for a half day adventure

[wp-svg-icons icon=”alarm” wrap=”b”] Approx. driving time: 3 hours

[wp-svg-icons icon=”accessibility” wrap=”b”] SEGWAY TOUR

Don’t judge us! When you don’t have too long to see some highlights of a city, take a segway tour. For the price ($45 pp) it was perfect!

Largest bronze collection??

We rode those things all around the city, learning about some key destinations in Dallas before eating an early dinner (yup, can’t remember where) and continuing on!

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October 12-13: Top of Arkansas

[wp-svg-icons icon=”road” wrap=”b”] We drove from Dallas to somewhere in the top of Arkansas

[wp-svg-icons icon=”alarm” wrap=”b”] Approx. driving time: 5 hours 15 minutes

[wp-svg-icons icon=”office” wrap=”b”] Another random hotel…Hyatt maybe? I’m so bad about keeping up.

Since I ended up causing a scene at the restaurant and wanting to stay, we didn’t get to our hotel until like 12 am. We knew we had a long day ahead of us, plus the exhaustion from the festival was kicking in. We passed out and woke up the next morning, super sluggish but ready to take on the day!

[wp-svg-icons icon=”accessibility” wrap=”b”] First stop, Wild Wilderness Drive-Through Safari

What was different about the Safari was that we got to drive through it with our own car! At our own pace. Definitely a first for me. Bethany said she had done this as a kid, I guess my family wasn’t that cool 🙂

cute guy coming right up to our window

that face you make when he sticks it in the wrong hole

When we got to the petting portion of the Safari, that’s when shit got scary haha. Those animals knew you had food and everyone wanted it.

[wp-svg-icons icon=”food” wrap=”b”] I do remember stopping at Chick-fil-A on the way to our next activity!

THORNCROWN CHAPEL 

When I travel, I try to find cool, unique and not so touristy places to see and visit. While looking up places to go, I found this chapel and HAD to see it in person. Now, I am not religious and think everyone should have their own beliefs and keep those opinions of others to YOURSELF. BUT I will say, this place made me shed a couple tears. I had lost my very sweet Pomeranian almost a month to the day of this picture. When I got out and starred up, this warming sensation ran across my body and I started crying. I felt her there with me. It was very humbling and I am so happy we went. Plus, look how beautiful this place was.

From the inside…just beautiful

Sorry, didn’t mean to get all Day’s of Our Lives on us…onto the next one!

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October 13-14: Memphis 

[wp-svg-icons icon=”road” wrap=”b”] We drove from all over the top of Arkansas to Memphis

[wp-svg-icons icon=”alarm” wrap=”b”] Approx. driving time: 5 hours 30 minutes

[wp-svg-icons icon=”office” wrap=”b”] AirBnB

[wp-svg-icons icon=”food” wrap=”b”] PIZZA

Had to stop off to catch this beautiful sunset on the way to Memphis

We got to Memphis probably around 10:30 pm. By this time, our road trip was coming to an end and we were exhausted. As much as we tried to muster up the strength to go out, we decided to stay in, order pizza and catch up on sleep. I wanted to go exploring the next day…Graceland to be exact…but we were too pressed for time. She had to catch a plane home and I had another vacation to pack for.

Hernando de Soto Bridge

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October 14: HOME 

[wp-svg-icons icon=”road” wrap=”b”] We drove from Memphis back to Atlanta

[wp-svg-icons icon=”alarm” wrap=”b”] Approx. driving time: 5 hours 45 minutes

[wp-svg-icons icon=”home-2″ wrap=”b”] Finally home

As our trip came to an end, I was both sad and relieved. Driving each day for upwards of 5 hours takes a toll on you. Lot’s of karaoke car rides, long nights and beautiful city-scapes made this an unforgettable trip. I got home on October 14th only to unpack my bag and get ready for my parent’s AND my boyfriend’s parents to meet for the first time the next day! We headed off to the beautiful mountains of North Georgia.

Hopefully you enjoyed reliving my road trip across the southern US, and that you learned some things from my adventure. We didn’t get to explore some places as much as I would have liked, but it’s always fun seeing and experiencing new places. Shout out to Bethany for being my road trip buddy! Can’t wait for my next adventure.

Have you been on a roadtrip before? Have you been to the south before? Have you been to Austin City Limits?? Let me know whatcha thought about my journey and what I need to hit on my next time around!

xoxo Bonvoyage Bitches