In Nashville, tour the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, 222 5th Ave. S. (tel. 800/852-6437). In Memphis, immerse yourself in the wonderful new Soulsville: Stax Museum of American Soul Music, 926 E. McLemore (tel. 901/946-2535), as well as at the Beale Street-area Memphis Rock 'N' Soul Museum, 145 Lt. George Lee Ave. (tel. 901/543-0800). OK, you've just completed a crash course in the history of American popular music!
Get that old-time religion at the Sunday-morning Cowboy Church (tel. 615/859-1001) at the Texas Troubadour Theater in Nashville. For a cross-cultural point of comparison, while in Memphis seek out the Full Gospel Tabernacle, 787 Hale Rd. (tel. 901/396-9192), where Grammy-winning soul legend the Reverend Al Green still regularly preaches.
Heading west to Memphis from Nashville, take a breather from the interstate at Hurricane Mills (I-40, Exit 143), drive a few miles deep into the wooded countryside, where you can sightsee and even spend the night at Loretta Lynn's Ranch and Family Campground. The poor coal miner's daughter bought this Graceland-esque mansion an hour's drive from Nashville when she made it big as the Queen of Country Music. Guests may tour her Plantation Home and the new 18,000-square-foot Coal Miner's Daughter Museum, which are nestled along a leafy stream within her picturesque 3,500-acre farm. There's even a log-cabin replica of her Butcher Holler Home Place in eastern Kentucky. Before you get back onto the main highway, stop at Loretta's Country Kitchen (and gift shop) for a down-home buffet of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, biscuits, and all the trimmings. For more information or to make campground reservations, call tel. 931/296-7700; www.lorettalynn.com).
An hour east of Memphis, you can stop by Carl Perkins's old hometown of Jackson, Tennessee. The rockabilly pioneer (Blue Suede Shoes) died in 1998, but his memory lives on at the fledgling Rockabilly Hall of Fame in the historic downtown district. In addition to the expected Sun Records memorabilia including costumes, vinyl 78 records, photos, and instruments, there are a few eye-popping oddities on display: the "paddles" from the circa-1977 defibrillator that supposedly shocked a dying Elvis at a Memphis hospital; and a wall of fame devoted to 8-by-10 glossies and newspaper clippings of game-show host Wink Martindale, who hails from these parts. For details, contact the Jackson/Madison County Convention and Visitors Bureau (tel. 800/498-4748).
While you're in Jackson, tour the train museum and sip a root beer float at Casey Jones Village (tel. 800/748-9588), an old-time country store and soda fountain in Jackson named for the legendary turn-of-the-century railroad conductor who lost his life rescuing others in a fiery train wreck. Let the kids blow off some steam (so to speak) by climbing aboard a real turn-of-the-century locomotive.
