Road trip to the South - USA

[nordwulf]

I have time off until January 2nd so I figured I may as well get in the Saab and drive south. Weather seems nice there and I have never been in that area before.

Does anyone have any suggestions what to see or do in Mississippi, Alabama or Louisiana? Especially anything car-related like museums or other attractions?

[Dave T]

Nissan factories in Tennessee and near Jackson, MS have tours every Tuesday and Thursday by appointment. Nissan North America Production Plant Tours - N.A. Plant Fact Sheets - Nissan Online Newsroom I think Mercedes Benz near Tuscaloosa/Birmingham, AL is also open to the public.

Guidebooks would have historical points that are not car related. One of Maya Lin's granite artwork, similar to her Vietnam War Memorial (Washington, DC) is at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, AL. Huntsville has some rocket related stuff. Tirerack has a retail store in Shreveport, LA.

[rpiereck]

Head down to Birmingham, Alabama and catch the Barber's Motorsports Museum. It is the largest motorcycle museum in the world, and has the largest gathering of Lotus cars in the world. It located at Barber's Motorsports Park, the home of the Porsche Driving School, and if the weather is good you might see some fast cars on the track: Barber : Home

You can also visit the nearby Talladega Superspeedway for a bit of Saab history: http://www.talladegasuperspeedway.com/

[nordwulf]

Great tips, I always enjoy museums and factory tours. I am a few 100 miles north of Memphis now so I'll first go to New Orleans and visit Birmingham and maybe a factory tour later in the week.

[Dave T]

Perhaps, this could be the start of a series of photos of recognized landmarks with a Saab in front. We could have several similar photos of Saabworld participants' cars in front of landmarks.

Possible landmarks are unlimited and could include...

Saab with Opera House or bridge in Sydney, NSW, Australia in the background
Saab with Esplanade, Singapore in the background
Saab with Burj Khalifa, Dubai in the background
Saab with the Houses of Parliament or 007's MI-6 headquarters in London in the background
Saab with the Arc de Triomphe or newer Grande Arc in Paris in the background
Saab with the Saab factory in Trollhattan in the background
Saab with the New York skyline in the background
Saab with the CN Tower, Toronto in the background
Saab with the Space Needle, Seattle in the background
Saab with the Olympic Village or BMW building, Munich in the background

These landmarks are in places where there are quite a few Saab drivers. They are not as hard as getting a photo of a Saab in front of Mount Everest or the Giza pyramids.

[nordwulf]

Why don't you start a new thread for Saabs at famous landmarks? I have a few places to share.

[Burnsside42]

Contact Aireeca from FOOR (Erica) - she used to live in Alabama and knows a bit about the landscape.

[nordwulf]

I spent a few days in New Orleans and now made my way along the coast through Mississippi, Alabama and now in Pensacola, Florida. This isn't much of a trip report but thought I'd share a few pictures anyways.

I bought a Canon T4i a few weeks ago and am pretty happy with the image quality so far. The 18-55mm and 55-250mm lenses are good but I may buy one or more better lenses in the future. Especially the low light performance is pretty good, so much better than the point-and-shoot I used to have. I am still learning all the camera features so need to figure out the best settings for each situation. Picasa does seem to blur images a bit and slightly dulls color so some may not seem as sharp as they should be.

Find the complete album here: https://picasaweb.google.com/1135790...ip2012SouthUSA

Sun studio where many great artists recorded their music.



New Orleans

[nordwulf]

I am on a mission to visit all 49 states in my Saab and take a picture of each welcome sign. 4 done, only 45 more to go! I may as well include all Canadian provinces so I have some roadtrippin' to do.



Overcast skies in the Sunshine State but still 65F. Too cold for most Floridians but so nice if you're from the upper Midwest.

Interesting fact of the day: From this location at the border of Florida and Alabama, it is the same driving distance to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico and to Key West, FL. From here to Chicago is just 80 miles more.



After touring the Florida and Alabama beach areas, I headed back towards Mobile, AL and made a quick stop at the USS Alabama. They close early in winter so I didn't have enough time to see the ship. Still very impressive to see from a distance.

[Dave T]

I am on a mission to visit all 49 states in my Saab and take a picture of each welcome sign. 4 done, only 45 more to go! I may ]

Great project because it will allow you to see a lot, not just the signs. I've been to 49 states, but not North Dakota. My current Saab has only been to 13 states and 3 countries.