The Blues Highway Road Trip: Exploring the Great River Road (2024)

In the year before our youngest daughter Connie was born we were panicking that our world travels might be about to end! So, we made a decision to take two epicbucket list trips. The first of these was a spectacular six week USA road trip that included the Blues Highway road trip route. The second was a four-country African (South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe) road trip, which we’ll post about soon.

Our 6 week road trip across America took in three well-known and popular USA road trip routes: the Blues Highway; Route 66; and the Pacific Coast Highway. We have three blog posts covering our route. This post covers the Blues Highway road trip portion. But you can check our post about the full route here:

• Road Tripping Across America: Ultimate 6 Week Itinerary

But this post is about Route 61 – also known as the Blues Highway or Great River Road. The Blues Highway road trip route winds its way through the soul of the USA from New Orleans in the South to Minnesota in the North. From the birthplaces of blues and jazz to the haunting trails of the civil rights movement, few routes take in so much history and culture. If I was to do one USA road trip, it would be this one. The Blues Highway road trip has so much character.

The United States is a vast country. And with so much to see, choosing a road trip route can be really challenging. I have written a related post here outlining the planning process that went into making our New York to California road trip happen. In paticular, we highlight that it’s very expensive to hire a car as a tourist in one US state and drop it of in another. But if you are hiring a car we always recommend Discover Cars. They do a great job at trawling through various websites to get you the best deals on the market.

Also, always make sure you have travel insurance; you really never know when you might need it. We use SafetyWing when travelling for our peace of mind and in case of any unforeseen emergencies.

In that pre-road trip planning post I also provide an outline of the steps we took in our planning process. That included listing all possible major routes, accommodation options, and all-important tips to keep road trip budgeting under control. Very important! I suggest reading it before you start planning your own trip – it will be useful.

Our Blues Highway Road Trip

So, if you are not from the USA you might be asking – where is Highway 61? Well, it’s a major Highway that runs through the US heartland and follows the Mississippi River from New Orleans to Wyoming, Minnesota. But we drove the route in the opposite direction because it suited our itinerary. It is known as the Blues Highway road trip because of its long history with blues music. It even gives title to Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited.

Our route should not be confused with Old Highway 61 (old hwy 61) which ran from the Gulf of Mexica to Canada until 1990 when the part of Route 61 north of Wyoming, Minnesota was retired. That route looks fantastic too but it takes in different places to our route.

We typically drove around 5 hours per day, although we had drives as short as one hour and as long as 8 hours.

The Blues Highway left such a beautiful impression on us. There is so much to this stretch of road – the history of blues music (61 highway blues!), a focal point of the civil rights movement, and Creole and Cajun cultures, to name only a few.

Driving past the Mississippi Delta and cotton plantations felt surreal. At times the visible poverty is very striking, but I can hardly think of a trip that moved me like this one. If you are looking for one road trip to take in the USA, make it the Blues Highway.

Blues Highway Road Trip Itinerary

I have provided an itinerary below listing each of our overnight stops. As you will see, we usually took several pitstops between overnights. This is a 3 week USA road trip itinerary. However, you could easily lengthen it to four weeks or also get through it in two weeks depending on your schedule and preferences.

Also, you will see a number of Blues Highway blog posts online but most of them are road trips that do part of the route. We road tripped the full length of the Route 61 in our Blues Highway road trip adventure!

We had a list of priorities for our trip in advance: we wanted to hear some great music. We wanted to camp and hike in beautiful places. To see natural wonders and learn more about the history of the deep south. And we also wanted to visit at least a few quirky roadside attractions. We managed to do all the above.

Minnesota and the start of the Blues Highway (1 or 2 nights)

Our Blues Highway road trip began on Highway 61 at Wyoming, Minnesota. We had already taken a detour from NYC at this point and headed towards the Mississippi river and the official start of the Route 61.

We were not on it for long though! We stopped in the twin cities of Minneapolis–Saint Paul for a few extra nights with our friends. Being honest, I hadn’t thought much about Minneapolis, but it is such a cool city and one of the best things about it is that many of the best activities there are free.

We particularly enjoyed Minnehaha Park and took bikes (you can rent them) and cycled around the park. The waterfall is pretty and the tacos at the Sea Salt Eatery were great (although the line is LONG!). The Sculpture Garden is worth a visit too, as is the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and both are free. We finished the evening with a sunset walk over the pedestrian Stone Arch bridge, and realised that despite a full day of activities we had spent almost nothing. We spent the entire second day in the Chain of Lakes Regional Park, taking a picnic and our bikes. It’s a great way to spend a day and, again, entirely free!

The Great River Road: Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa (1 night)

Back on the Blues Highway, we drove to our first quirky roadside attraction, The World’s Largest Six Pack in La Crosse, Wisconscin. From there, and armed with some of Wisconsin’s delicious Spotted Cow beer, we drove towards Prairie du Chen, where we had a snack overlooking the Mississippi in the unusual little Depot Restaurant.

We spent the night in Galena, Illinois. I had seen a picture of this little town, which is one of the oldest preserved towns in the USA and it had immediately appealed to me. Being in Galena is like stepping back in time and we loved its quaint feel, little shops, and delicious food offerings. It is definitely worth a visit.

We camped in Galena, this time in a private campsite called Palace Campground. The location was excellent, but I didn’t like it as much as the State run campsites we stayed in. The camp sites were close together, it was noisy, and the services we not on par with the State-run sites. However, at $20 for the night, you can’t complain too much.

It’s Not a USA Road Trip Without Quirky Attractions

After a fantastic breakfast at Big Bill’s Sandwich Shop in Galena, we hit the road again, headed for a few more quirky attractions on our way to St. Louis.

First stop, ‘if you build it they will come’!! Yes, the iconic movie set of the Field of Dreams in Dyersville Iowa is just under one hour of a detour from Galena. Enda was a big childhood fan of this movie and was thrilled by the fact that the baseball pitch and house are still exactly as they are in the movie. Pretty amazing really!!

Our second quirky stop, the American Gothic House Center in Eldon Iowa, where you can dress up to re-create Grant Wood’s famous painting.

This section of the road was also where we began our fast-food tour of the USA,. We stopped at fast-food outlets that we had never been to that are part of US popular culture. Think Taco Bell and IHOP! The combination of quirky attractions and fast-food chains gave us strong road trip vibes.

After a long day spent driving alongside beautiful Old Man River, we reached St. Louis.

Meet me at St. Louis! (2 nights)

We spent two nights in St.Louis. On the first night we booked a shared Airbnb in downtown. The second night we camped at Babler State Park. Babler State Park is located 30 minutes outside of St.Louis and the site and facilities were excellent – it even had a kid’s playground. One night in the city and one night outside it worked really well for us. We enjoyed the mix of seeing the city and hiking the trails in the park.

As we tend to do for any new city, we started St. Louis with a walking tour. But this time rather than use a guide, we used the Smart Guide app. Smart guide is an app that provides digital guided tours, usually with multiple options to chose from for cities. It can be a bit glitchy and inconsistent and is not really an adequate substitute for a real guide. But sometimes it works really well. It worked great in St. Louis and the tour gave us a quick history of the city and showed off the must see sites.

As with Minneapolis, our favourite activities in St.Louis were free (essential on a long road trip!). They included Lone Elk Park (great wildlife), St.Louis Art Museum, and Forest Park (bring a picnic). On our second day we hiked several of the trails in Babler State Park.

We self-catered in St.Louis, so I don’t have many food recommendations. But we did try Ted Drewes famous frozen custard and can recommend it.

Nashville (3 nights)

After leaving St. Louis, we continued along Route 61 until Cape Girardeau, Missouri where we branched off for my favourite quirky road trip attraction, Metropolis, Illinois!

Metropolis is a town in Illinois made famous (ish) by its shared name with the fictional city in Superman. And, oh, does it milk it! There is Superman Square (have fun setting your GPS for that), which boasts the World’s Largest Superman statue, a Lois Lane statue, and the ‘Super Museum’. If you like quirky as much as we do, this is a must stop for you!

The next stop on our Blues Highway road trip was Paducah, Kentucky for a picnic lunch by the waterfront and a short wander around the town. We ended up in the National Quilt Museum, which was surprisingly good. I only found out when we were there that Paducah is a UNESCO creative city and has a fascinating history. It is well deserving of pit stop.

Nashville is a vibrant city with a real Southern feel to it. We stayed three nights in total – two nights in an Airbnb room near downtown, and one night in Seven Points campground 30 minutes outside the city. Seven Points offered beautiful camp spots right on the lake. Swimming in the lake was magnificent! It was one of our favourite campsites, along with Yosemite, St.Ignace and Lake Tahoe on the other routes.

We arrived in Nashville as the sun was setting.

We also started Nashville with a walking tour. This time, for the city that’s in it, we chose a night singing tour the evening we arrived. It was so much fun!

We spent a lot of time in Nashville enjoying the nightlife. Our favourites were:

• Brooklyn owl: Live music venue/bowling alley/diner. Very reasonable – we paid $15 for a show and danced our feet off.
• The Station Inn: Authentic bar playing bluegrass music.
• Robert’s Western World: A Broadway honky-tonk is a must-see in Nashville, and this is one of the better ones.

We were over budget by this point, so kept many of our attractions on the cheaper side. The free options were not as good as Minnesota and St. Louis, but we enjoyed a trip to Arrington Vineyards. It’s 30 minutes from the city and you can drink wine and listen to live music – not bad! We also gathered a phenomenal picnic from the Nashville Farmer’s market which we ate by the Parthenon in Centennial Park. We did pay for entrance into the Country Music Hall of Fame. We are not big country music fans so although it was interesting to see, you really need to be more into that kind of music to appreciate it.

We had some great food in Nashville and Graze vegetarian restaurant and Folk, which had just opened when we were here, stands out. The Farmer’s Market had excellent offerings too.

Our last day was spent swimming in the beautiful lake beside our campsite at Seven Points State Park. If I was to return, I would spend an extra few days there and try some of the water sports and activities they have on offer. It’s a really fun place and if you were doing a USA road trip with kids, it would tick a lot of boxes.

Birmingham, Alabama (1-2 nights)

Departing Nashville later than planned we then drove to Birmingham, Alabama.

Without doubt, the most interesting activity we did in Birmingham was the Civil Rights Heritage Trail. It is a free self-guided tour that starts at Kelly Ingram Park, corner of 6th Avenue North and 16th Street. The tour is so well done and incredibly moving. It’s a must-do if you are in Birmingham. The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute offers free walking tours with a dedicated guide too, often on a weekly basis, so keep an eye on their events page if you are going to be there when tours are being offered.

You can also visit Birmingham Civil Rights Institute itself which was also excellent and is free. I liked the contemporary focus of the museum in addition to the historical information it provides. I did find it upsetting in parts – not a reason not to visit of course, but worth knowing. Our last visit of the day was the Birmingham Museum of Art which is also free to enter.

We ate some good, affordable Southern cooking at Yo Mama’s. For accommodation, we got particularly lucky and were able to trade in Hyatt points from work travel (see how use tricks like this all the time to keep on budget for trips). We stayed in the Hyatt Regency in Birmingham, which was not central but felt pretty luxurious at this stage of the trip!

The U.S. Civil Rights Trail and Jackson, Alabama (1-2 nights)

We had a bit of an unwelcome discovery while in Birmingham. The air conditioning stopped working in our car! We took it to a garage, but they couldn’t fix it without an expensive part. So, we spent the rest of the road trip, all across the most southern states, in August, without air conditioning! Truthfully, it was hot and uncomfortable at times, but manageable with the windows down and the silver lining was that we tended to hit the road early, often seeing the sunrise while driving!

From Birmingham we headed to Selma, Alabama. At this point we were trying to follow as much of the U.S. Civil Rights Trail as possible within the loose confines of our itinerary. This hadn’t really been our plan when we set out, but I had read about the Trail in Birmingham, and we wanted to discover more of it. This was one of the few points on the trip that I wished we had more flexibility. We didn’t really have this option though, because good quality, reasonable accommodation is hard to find in the USA in summer. And for the most part, ours had already been booked in advance which meant we had to stick to our itinerary.

The US Civil Rights Trail is a collection of churches, courthouses, schools, museums and other landmarks across 15 US states. Collectively, they played a pivotal role in advancing civil rights and social justice in the 1950s and 1960s, ultimately shifting the course of US history. You can read more about it here and find a map with all the sites here.

Our first stop was Selma, Alabama where we walked over the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of the brutal Bloody Sunday beatings of civil rights marchers.

We then drove to nearby Montgomery (AL) where we visited the Legacy Museum, Civil Rights Memorial, and Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church (where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was pastor). The Legacy Museum is an incredibly powerful museum detailing the history and legacy of slavery in the U.S. The entry fee is very reasonable ($5) and if you are in this area, I would classify it as a must-see.

Our final stop that day before heading to Vicksburg for the night was in Jackson, Mississippi. Several of the Mississippi Freedom Trail markers are in Jackson and so we followed those. They include the home of Medgar Evers, the Greyhound Bus Station, Mississippi State Capitol, Council of Federated Organizations Civil Rights Education Center, Tougaloo College, Jackson State University and the site of the 1963 sit-in at Woolworth’s.

We then visited the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, which is another excellent museum and another must-see activity. Entry is on the more expensive side ($15), but it is absolutely worth the cost. It is also free on Sundays so if it work’s out you should try to go then!

Vicksburg, Mississippi and Louisiana (1-2 nights)

Finally, we stopped for the evening in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Here, we stayed in a Casino hotel right on the Mississippi River which, honestly, was a little grim. The views over the river were stunning but the hotel itself was not what we imagined.

Vicksburg is famous for its pivotal role in the US Civil War. In the morning we visited Vicksburg National Military Park which commemorates the civil war battle site. You drive around the main sites and there is an app you can download in advance that talks you through the markers. We thought it expensive though, at $20 for our car, although the app did provide really detailed information and we learnt a lot.

Our final day driving along the Blues highway was an eventful one after we discovered literally thousands of ants in our car! This was because somebody (me) had left honey in our food bag after camping. We had to stop at a gas station outside Natchez, Mississippi to vacuum them up, in the blazing sun, in a car without air-conditioning. It was a hot drive!

Even with the heat we managed a few stops along the way. The first was Natchez, which is a quintessential small southern town with an interesting history and so, so much charm. Our second stop that day was at the Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site. Rosedown is an excellently well-preserved plantation estate and the guided tour there was one of the best guided tours I have had of a historic site.

Finally, we stopped in Baton Rouge for a short wander around and to see the Louisiana State Capitol, which is free to enter and has a 27^th floor observation deck. We also visited the Old State Capitol, which is a key site on the US Civil Rights Trail.

With the sun setting over the bayou we arrived into New Orleans, hot but ready to listen to some great jazz.

New Orleans (4 nights)

We spent four nights in New Orleans and even that was barely enough. This is a city with a strong and vibrant culture, interesting history, excellent music scene, and delectable cuisine. You will never want to leave!

We started Day 1 with Beignets, coffee and people watching at the famous Café Du Monde. We then headed for a tour. We wanted a tour that included more than the tourist sites around the French Quarter and Garden District, and one which covered the harder parts of the city. I found a CN Traveller review of a 3-hour tour with Celebration Tours which sounded like it fit this criteria and more.

It was a small group tour and therefore on the more expensive side ($59 per person), but it included the neighbourhoods most affected by Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans Graveyards, in addition to the usual tourist sites. Our tour guide, the company owner (Ozzie), was also fifth generation New Orleans and his knowledge and enthusiasm were unparalleled. Ozzie gave us some great local recommendations too, including for food.

It probably does not come as a surprise that the Creole and Cajun food in New Orleans is out of this world! Some of our local, affordable favourites included:

• Bearcat café: Brunch with a Southern Twist. Will never forget their cauliflower grits!
• Oceana Grill: The best reasonably priced seafood around. Southern and spicy!
• Daisy Mae’s Southern Fried Chicken and Breakfast: Busy spot, breakfast and fried chicken!
• Parkway Bakery and Tavern: For Po-Boys. A New Orleans Institution.
• Camellia Grill: Very popular local spot. Old world diner vibes.
• The Daily Beet Healthy: Not Creole or Cajun, but still very good. Predominately lunch options

I have a good friend who is really into music and spent three months in New Orleans. He told me that “the best jazz of your life is to be found on Frenchmen Street in the afternoon”. We took his advice and spent the afternoon listening to truly excellent jazz and drinking a few Hurricanes (New Orleans signature co*cktail).

Day 2 started with an early morning run through the city to shake off the co*cktails! By now we were at the upper limit of our budget for attractions, so settled on some free/very cheap activities. We spent some more time wandering around the French Quarter and Garden District, soaking in the buzzing atmosphere and tree-lined streets. In the afternoon we took a picnic to City Park, a large public park with lots to explore, and walked, ate, and relaxed.

Our evening activity was one of our favourites. We took the ferry from Canal Street (beside Aquarium of Americas) across the Mississippi river to the neighbourhood of Algiers. The ferry is a local ferry used frequently by commuters and the cost is $2 per trip! We explored the neighbourhood and then timed our return ferry for sunset. The views coming into New Orleans at sunset over the Mississippi River were so special. We then ate our fill of seafood in Oceana Grill, where I had my first try of delicious gumbo.

Day 3 started with eggs, bacon and toast in Camellia Grill, a local very low fuss diner. Enda loves diners because there is no European equivalent, and this one was the real deal. After breakfast we visited the Lower Ninth Ward Living Museum. It’s a free museum dedicated to celebrating the history and culture of the Lower 9^th.

In the afternoon, we took the old streetcar to Bayou St. John where we spent most of the day. A Streetcar named Desire is one of my favourite movies, so taking the streetcar was a must for me! We rented kayaks in Bayou St. John through Bayou Paddle Sports (cost $25) and spent two hours out on the bayou.

For dinner we had the most delicious shrimp po-boy from Parkway Bakery and Tavern, a Bayou St. John Institution. My understanding is that there is always a long line for it, but it moved quickly when we were there.

I had booked tickets that evening for an 8.45pm show in Preservation Hall, a New Orleans Institution. The combination of the show, and the dinner the next day put us a little over budget but we felt it was worth it. Preservation Hall is a New Orleans Jazz Institution and at $20 for the standing section (now $25), I can say it was worth every cent. The band we saw were truly fantastic, and my understanding is that is the calibre of everyone playing there is high.

We had intended to spend our last day in New Orleans visiting several of the cities museums. However, while they look excellent, there is an entry cost for almost all of them with no options of free days/times like in other cities (except for NOLA residents). The entry fees are expensive too, with $15 being about minimum. We were disappointed by this and so we didn’t go them.

Instead, we headed to Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve – Barataria Preserve. The preserve is a great place to see some of the wildlife from the swamp and marshland. It is such a different ecosystem to the one we are used to in Ireland and it was pretty cool to see alligators in the wild. There is a free wetlands walk with a park ranger most days (Wed-Sun), which we went on when we were there, and it was very informative.

We had decided on a fancy final meal in New Orleans before we set out on the road trip and had booked Gallier’s Restaurant and Oyster Bar, at the suggestion of my friend who is a NOLA resident. The meal was spectacular. If you go to NOLA, I strongly suggest a trip here. Your stomach will thank you for it!

We finished the day in the infamous Bourbon street. I would be lying if I said I was enthusiastic about Bourbon street, but I will admit that there is some good people watching!

End of the Blues Highway

Exhausted, but completely in love, we had finished the Blues Highway road trip portion of our epic New York to California road trip. It’s hard to sum up the Blues Highway. It is so spectacularly beautiful and there are so many cool and interesting attractions and glorious food. But the people we met were amazing. And in that way, the Blues Highway is a very human road trip. The people are so warm and friendly and interested in engaging with you – more than any other part of our road trip.

People’s schedules vary considerably and its not always possible to spend 3 weeks on a USA road trip. If that is the case, it’s not a problem. It is possible to do the Blues Highway road trip as a 2 week itinerary. The table below gives a rough outline of how you might do this. But it’s flexible and you can switch things up to suit your interests.

See Our Other Travel Posts

If you are interested in our travels and want to know more, go ahead and take a look at our other travel posts here:

• Marmaris to Rhodes Ferry: Ultimate Guide to a Seamless Journey
• Best Home Exchange Websites: Accommodation on a Budget
• Cleopatra Island: A Hidden Gem in a Turkish Paradise
• Places to Visit in Namibia: The 10 Best Attractions