Our Ultimate USA Road Trip Itinerary

We’re about at the halfway point of our ultimate USA Road trip itinerary and I need to apologize for not blogging more. Did you miss me or did you follow along on Instagram or Facebook? I know that I didn’t share there every day either, but I’m really trying to balance being in the moment, enjoying the journey with staying connected to you and the world.

I’m also trying to be sensitive to those who aren’t able to travel, but wish they could. I know that sometimes it can be disheartening to see someone plastering their adventures online and sometimes it could feel like they’re bragging about it. Please know that I would never want to make anyone feel that way. I share for those who like to travel vicariously, learn about new places, and find new adventures.

We had some last-minute changes to our proposed USA road trip itinerary and we may have more on the 2nd half of the journey, but I thought I’d share a quick update with some of our favorites from our September travels. We’ve been on the road for almost exactly 5 weeks. We’ve driven over 5000 miles and stopped for at least a day in 15 different places along the way.

I’ll only have time to share a few highlights in this post, but I will come back later and dive deeper into each destination.

Our USA Road Trip Itinerary Map – Day 1 through 20

North Carolina Road Trip Highlights

The first part of our journey was in North Carolina. Two of the stops were visiting family, but that didn’t stop us from getting out and enjoying the state. As you may know, we lived in southeastern Virginia, just minutes from the North Carolina border for six years but did most of our traveling in our neighbor state to the south in the past year. It makes me wish we’d started sooner.

Fayetteville, North Carolina

Besides visiting with our nephew and meeting his new dog we tried a few restaurants in town and explored a bit. My favorite part of town was the historic Cool Spring Downtown District on Hay Street. When you visit check out City Center Gallery and Books, enjoy dinner at Circa 1800 Restaurant, and take in a Fayetteville Woodpeckers game if it’s baseball season. The Woodpeckers are a Minor League Baseball team, Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Houston Astros. They play in the Carolina League Southern Division. There’s more to explore in Fayetteville, but I’ll save it for a dedicated post.

Raleigh, North Carolina

While staying with our nephew we also took a day trip to Raleigh. You’ve probably heard about all the craft breweries there. When we got to town we had lunch at Trophy Brewing and weren’t disappointed. If you go to Raleigh, you can wander around the downtown area near the Capitol building. Lots of history, statues and park areas there. Stop in at the Deco store for all things quirky, fun, and North Carolina-related, including North Carolina Fried Chicken, Beer, and BBQ maps. If you want to stretch your legs away from downtown, stop by Pullen Park, operating since 1887. You can ride the gorgeous 1921 Dentzel antique carousel, rent pedal boats, wander the garden trails, enjoy a picnic, and so much more.

Hendersonville, North Carolina

Hendersonville is a small town of about 15,000 people in the shadow of the more famous, Asheville in western North Carolina. This stop was a family visit as well, so we didn’t get out a bunch. While we were there the (Labor Day Weekend) NC Apple Festival was going on so the town and nearby farm stands were buzzing with activity. In recent years the folks in Hendersonville have done a great job of attracting visitors with a variety of annual events. Even if there are no special activities going on it’s always fun to wander the historic main street. You can also visit the Carl Sandburg National Historic Site nearby. Tour the poet’s home and see Mrs. Sandburg’s famous Chikaming goat herd. If you head north toward Asheville, you can spend the day at the grand Biltmore Estate as well.

Nashville, Tennessee

After leaving North Carolina our USA road trip itinerary took us on the Cherohala Skyway scenic drive to Nashville, Tennessee. If you’ve never been to the “Music City” it reminds me a little bit of a mini-Las Vegas, (without the gambling) and focused on Country music. The buildings are plastered with neon signs, nearly every venue is a party place, and you’ll pass hundreds of people crowding the sidewalks in boots and cowboy hats.

You would have never known that we were still in the midst of a pandemic because I rarely saw a facemask the whole night. We did see some inviting rooftop dining areas and nearly every venue had a live band on stage just inside the door. The windows were open to the sidewalks so you could hear the band without even stepping foot inside. We decided to pass on going into any of the places due to covid, but we enjoyed seeing all the seemingly happy people celebrating their favorite Country artist. We stayed in an adorable Airbnb outside of the downtown area. I’ll tell you about that later, so be sure to sign up for my mailing list to get updates on new posts.

Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas

In case you haven’t heard, one of my bucket list items is to get to every USA national park in my lifetime. I’m about halfway down the list and since Arkansas isn’t a state we’d normally pass through often, we decided to add Hot Springs to our USA road trip itinerary and visit the national park there. If you’re a fan of “America’s Best Idea” you’ll see that Hot Springs National Park is a bit different from others that you’ve been to. In many ways, it’s more of a historical site than a park, but it was originally protected by the Federal government to safeguard the unique geology of the place from those that would exploit and ruin the natural hot springs in the interest of greed.

We had a chance to do a self-guided tour of the Fordyce Bathhouse and Visitor Center, which operated from 1915 to1962. This beautiful example of early 1900’s architecture has exhibits displaying how the bathhouse looked when it was open. The national park visitor center is in the lobby area where you can chat with park rangers, pick up maps, get suggested itineraries, and have your questions answered. The park celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2021 and if you love history, architecture or geology, it’s well worth a day or more on your road trip.

When you’re in town be sure to stroll Bathhouse Row and the Grand Promenade. Stop and see one or more of the hot springs along the way. Take one of the scenic drives to the top of the nearby overlooks. Grab a bite to eat at a historic restaurant like the Ohio Club, and check out the kitschy shops and museums on Central Avenue.

Austin, Texas

Don’t you just love this sweet cat in the rolling cart? As you may have guessed, Austin was another visit with family. This was a change from our original USA road trip itinerary because our daughter was in the middle of a big (short-notice) move and couldn’t meet us where we originally planned. In order to see her and her partner, we took a detour to Austin to help them do some packing. Texas was another state with high COVID rates and low vaccination rates (although Austin is the best city in Texas for vaccinations) the overall situation prevented us from doing much sightseeing.

Thankfully we visited Austin pre-pandemic and did some fun stuff, so I’ll fill you in on those ideas in a detailed post. Suffice it to say that the food and music scene alone are worth stopping for. Be sure to try some BBQ and the Queso dip and chips if you go for any kind of Mexican food. It’s a specialty there.

Just west of Austin we made some cool discoveries as well in the Texas Hill Country, so you’ll want to come back to hear about those.

Carlsbad, New Mexico

Carlsbad, New Mexico was another National Park stop, although we had been to these gorgeous caverns nearly 40 years ago. We were on our way to Santa Fe and this was a great stopping point outside of Texas that gave us a chance to sleep and enjoy the cool temperatures and stunning geology inside Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Depending on the time of year, this is the perfect addition to a USA road trip itinerary. If you’re looking for other out-of-this-world destinations nearby you may want to try the aliens at Roswell, New Mexico too.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Is the chorus of the Newsies song running through your head now? I LOVE that song and I can see why Jack Kelly was dreaming of going to Santa Fe…for space and fresh air. It’s a magical place. We’ve visited a few times and it’s the perfect introduction to the Southwest on your ultimate USA road trip itinerary.

We had some very special friends (that we hadn’t seen in a while) meet us in Santa Fe, so we had a blast just catching up and enjoying the town. On Tuesday we stopped by the Santa Fe Farmers Market in the Railyard and picked up some scrumptious fresh produce, bread, and meat for the perfect farm-to-table meal at home. Terry and I made up for lost time on the East Coast by ordering Mexican food for nearly every meal out. Santa Fe is a great place to try Southwestern Cuisine of all shapes and sizes. Be sure to make reservations ahead of time if at all possible. Many restaurants are short-staffed and have shorter hours.

Spend time wandering the historic plaza with shops, restaurants, and unique buildings from the past. If you’re an art lover, you’ll get lost in all the spectacular galleries and museums around town. We found a special spot to watch the sunset over the city and it happened to be an easy walk from where we were staying. More on that next time.

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Our last stop for this portion of the trip was Colorado Springs, CO. This is another place that we’ve been to a few times, but it’s one of the places the screams Colorado. It sits on the doorstep of Pikes Peak and seems to be surrounded by mountains.

Be sure to visit the beautiful red rocks of the Garden of the Gods that are striking against the lush green trees. One cool thing I discovered when we visited is that someone with my family name helped to create the park. In 1909 the children of Charles Elliott Perkins left much of the land to the city of Colorado Springs with the stipulation that it would be free to the public forever. (A man after my own heart. I need to find out if we’re related.)

We were also a bit lucky to time our visit perfectly to catch the re-opening of The Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway. After 126 years of operation, the Cog Railway decided not to reopen for the spring 2018 season. Between then and the summer of 2021 the entire experience was redesigned and updated. A new modern railway system was imported from Switzerland, a new Visitor Center was built at the summit and many other improvements were made. I’ll fill you in on all the tips and secrets for making a delightful day and trip to the top of Pikes Peak in my upcoming detailed post.

We’ll Continue our Ultimate USA Road Trip Itinerary

If you’re looking forward to getting more details on these destinations on our USA road trip itinerary and learning about our upcoming national park and small-town stops on the rest of our trip, be sure to follow me on Instagram and Facebook, AND sign up for my mailing list where I’ll send notifications of new posts, plus other cool stuff. I promise I never send more than one email a week.

Have you been to any of these places? If so, what was your favorite part? I’d love to hear about it.

Tags: America, Arkansas, Colorado, featured, Map, New Mexico, North Carolina, road trip, roadtrip itinerary, Santa Fe, Tennessee, Texas, USA road trip

Category: United States, Arkansas, Colorado, Colorado, Midwest States, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rocky Mountain States, Southwest States, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia