Only 5 more sleeps...

...then we finally embark on our 3-week adventure in the USA. 🤗 🛫

Us? Steffi and friends? -No, this time Stefan is actually coming along. Most friends and acquaintances were surprised, as Stefan usually prefers to stay in other parts of the world, but now he is eagerly looking forward to something new. 👍

Flights, rental cars, and accommodations (except for a few that we will visit spontaneously) are booked. We have some dollars ready, a new toothpaste is bought, travel guides and maps, as well as a navigation system, are organized. Even ESTA won't be a problem for us.😅

Now, a quick overview of our route 'through' 9 states:

We start in Chicago (Illinois) and spend 5 days in the 'Windy City' - including the St. Patrick's Day Parade and the River Dyeing (a tradition where the Chicago River is dyed green). 🍀

We pass through Springfield to St. Louis (Missouri) and from there through Illinois and Indiana to Kentucky. Here we admire the vastness of the huge caves in the Mammoth Cave National Park. Then we continue to experience country music, beer, and Johnny Cash- welcome to Nashville (Tennessee).

After a detour to the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg, we come to Chattanooga and from there we enter the Great Smoky Mountains. This national park is the most visited NP in the USA- who would have thought? In Gatlinburg, we stay in a cabin with a hot tub and a view of the mountains for 3 days. Of course, we also thoroughly explore the area. By the way, we are still in Tennessee, but we also set foot in North Carolina.

We leave the Great Smokies and head west. We drive through Alabama via Huntsville and Florence to Memphis (Tennessee). They say that BBQ sauce flows through the veins of the residents there. We will test that theory by trying out the menus. Of course, we won't forget about Elvis. 😎

From Memphis, we follow the Mississippi River south. Vicksburg and Natchez (Mississippi) are on our list and offer grand plantations and a lot of history about the American Civil War.

Finally, we are greeted by New Orleans (Louisiana) with swamp tours, nightlife, jazz, and French flair. 🐊

We plan to regularly update this blog with posts and photos... But to what extent we will actually manage to do so remains to be seen. For us, it's the first time we're writing a blog, and it's also the biggest road trip we've ever taken.

You can be excited... Yours, Steffi and Stefan🤘