Stops to make after Roanoke, VA

Memphis see Graceland Mansion, Beale Street, National Civil Rights Museum,Sun Studio, Corky's Ribs & BBQ. Next stop Little Rock. Whatever your political position, the William J Clinton Libraryand the Clinton Presidential Park Bridge are really impressive. If you stop in Oklahoma City the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum is a moving experience and Kitchen No. 324 is a wonderful place for breakfast.  Amarillo is a nice stop before your big trek across New Mexico. Jack Sisemore RV Museum is a fun stop and if like canyons Palo Duro Canyon is a beautiful place and is the 2nd largest canyon in the USA. Coyote Bluff Cafe has a fantastic burger and a really cool southwest vibe  Albuquerque is also a really fun city. Stops at Petroglyph National Monument, Old Town (New Mexico), and having a sopapilla with, green, red or Christmas chilie sauce Mary & Tito's Cafe would all be memorable stops.

Hi Ruth! I road trip twice a year from New York City to New Orleans and these are my favorite stops/places to see:

• Shenandoah National Park
• Great Smoky Mountain National Park
• Memphis (if you can only do one, do Memphis over Nashville.Way more interesting and authentic and historical)
• Asheville NC
• Florence (Alabama) AL
• Birmingham (Alabama)--the Highlands Bar & Grill in Birmingham just won Best Restaurant in the country at the James Beard awards. And it's only a 1.5 hours drive from The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which I plan to go to this summer https://museumandmemorial.eji.org/
• Natchez MS--an old, artsy progressive town in Mississippi filled with beautiful architecture

Have a fabulous time! And get off the interstate and drive the smaller highways whenever you can. There's SO much to see on those--interesting towns and intense history. Happy trails!

From Roanoke I would suggest you drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center One of the visitor's centers is there in Roanoke, as far as Asheville and Great Smoky Mountain National Park  But the Blue Ridge may be closed in the winter.  However you can still go to  Asheville (home of the Biltmore) and the Great Smoky Mt NP will be open and it is much less crowded in the winter.  From there you can go to Chattanooga or Nashville and then make a stop in Memphis (home of the three kings (B.B. King, ML King and Elvis).  Then head for Hot Springs - the National Park there is free, but you pay to go up the tower or have a bath in one of the bath houses.  From there it's Fort Worth (long horn cattle drive) and then visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park on the way to El Paso before you get to Scottsdale