Vicksburg - Chattanooga - 13 days

Well worth the Price! Upon arrival, you, like Mark Twain, will immediately encounter the passion and paradox that characterize life in the most fertile place on earth.
Your first stop is Greater First Baptist Church, where you will enjoy a stirring performance of traditional black gospel music that will give you a glimpse into the culture from which it emerged.

After a drive through historic Helena, site of the Civil War’s Battle of Helena, you will arrive at the Helena Museum, home to an eclectic collection of artifacts.

Next, you’ll visit Granny Dee’s, where Granny herself will prepare you a welcome of soul food and cornbread that will make you feel like kin.

Afterward, you’ll have the opportunity to explore Helena’s historic downtown, including the Malco Theatre, several boutiques and gift shops, and the Delta Cultural Center, which houses exhibits chronicling the sights, sounds and history of the Delta, including “King Biscuit Time,” the longest-running daily radio program in the country.

Your adventures will conclude with a live performance from local blues legend “Super Chicken,” who creates his own guitars from gas cans, skillets, and whatever else he can find.

You’ll return home having savored the full flavor of a region that influenced more of 20th-century American culture than any other, and leave with insight into the rise, fall and hopeful revitalization of small-town America.

Transportation:

Included

Price:

$75.00

Duration:

3 1/2 - 4 hours

Tour Capacity:

55 guests

Explore Buck Island with our eco-nature tour with Quapaw Canoe Company. Explore the wilds of the Lower Mississippi River in the beauty and elegance of a hand-crafted voyageur-style canoe. No  paddling experience necessary, the 30-foot long Louisiana bald cypress strip voyageur canoes are paddled for you so you have time to take in every portion of this wildlife-friendly reserve.

Buck Island, a 1,500-acre island one mile upstream of the Helena Harbor, offers exceptional birding, animal viewing, tracking, fossil hunting and beach combing opportunities along giant sandbars and back channels. Common bird sightings are the white pelican, least tern, pileated woodpecker, and kingfisher (all year). Sixty percent of migrating songbirds, including the prothonotary warbler and indigo bunting (April–May), use the Mississippi Flyway.

Beavers and river otter abound, although you may not see more of the coyote than his tracks. The bottomland hardwood forests boast North America’s richest habitat for white-tailed deer. Fragrant willow stands in the lowlands give way to cottonwoods and sycamores higher up, and then yield to oaks, sweet gums, locusts, elms and cypress in which are commonly found fruits and flowers such as persimmon, paw-paws and wild grapes.

The Mississippi supports over 200 species of fish and over 50 species of amphibians, including the Mississippi map turtle.
Six (6) maximum per canoe. Rain or shine.

Transportation:

Included

Price:

$235.00

Duration:

3 1/2 - 4 hours

Tour Capacity:

18 guests

Enjoy private interaction with select artists of Paducah. The group will divide up to tour artists’ studios/homes in the Lower Town Arts District, Paducah’s oldest residential neighborhood. Hear the compelling stories of the artists who transformed this historic neighborhood into a vibrant arts district.

Experience a special presentation by Caryl Bryer Fallert, a rock star among quilters, in her gallery of art quilts. The Steamcoach will run a shuttle between the studios (approximately 2 blocks) when the group is ready to swap places. Caryl Bryer Fallert will accompany the group to the National Quilt Museum of the United States, where you will see her award- winning quilts among the most impressive collections of contemporary, miniature and traditional quilts in the world.

The Grand Lodge on 5th
Arrive at The Grand Lodge on 5th (Old Elks Home) for lunch in one of Paducah’s great historic environments. Dine and listen to a speaker portray the most famous member of Paducah’s Elks Lodge, Irvin S. Cobb.

Behind the Scenes at Luther F. Carson Center
Take a special behind-the-scenes tour of the Luther F. Carson Center for the Performing Arts, made available just for your group. Also learn how a town of Paducah’s size is able to support its own symphony orchestra in a world-class performance hall.

Transportation:

Included

Price:

$89.00, including lunch

Duration:

3 1/2 - 4 hours

Tour Capacity:

40 guests

Experience time travel: move from the slow-paced and relaxed era of the American Queen steamboat to your “Steamcoach,” which will transport you to some of Huntsville’s beautiful antebellum homes, and end with an exploration of space at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. Experience Huntsville's role in making the moon rocket, the space race and the Apollo missions, and learn about the space shuttle program, the International Space Station and NASA's future missions.

Trace the evolution of humankind's ventures into space and watch as tomorrow's potential engineers, scientists and astronauts train in one of the Space Camp or Aviation Challenge Programs.

The U.S. Space & Rocket Center is one of the most comprehensive U.S. manned space flight hardware museums in the world. The facilities include Spacedome Theater, Rocket Park and the Education Training Center, which houses NASA's Educator Resource Center.

Your included admission today includes a one-hour guided tour of the entire facility and a movie in the gigantic theater.

The U.S. Space & Rocket Center, NASA's first visitor center, opened in 1970 and has served over 12 million visitors. As the official visitor information center for the Marshall Space Flight Center, the USSRC is committed to educating the public and students who attend Space Camp about the work being done at MSFC, particularly in the area of propulsion. MSFC made significant contributions to the Apollo and shuttle programs and is again on the forefront with the Ares rockets.

Transportation:

Included

Price:

$59.00

Duration:

3 1/2 - 4 hours

Tour Capacity:

110 guests