Life on the Mississippi - Southbound

Tour begins: 5:30 PM, The Peabody Memphis. A transfer is included from Memphis International Airport to The Peabody Memphis, an icon of hospitality since 1869 and home to the famous Peabody ducks. Join us for a welcome reception and dinner at the hotel tonight.

Learn about the history of Memphis through music on a city tour with a local musician. See Sun Studio, Beale Street, Stax Studio, Cotton Row, Overton Park, Historic Central Gardens, and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. Pass by the homes where music legends like Elvis, B. B. King, and Johnny Cash lived and visit the Rock ‘n Soul Museum. After a Memphis-style barbecue lunch, take a tour of the Lorraine Motel where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated while a guest at the motel, now the National Civil Rights Museum; your tour reveals compelling exhibits that chronicle the struggle for African American freedom and equality from the earliest days of slavery in America. Embark the American Duchess this afternoon for your 7-night cruise on the Mississippi River.

Cultural roots run deep in the Mississippi Delta, as you’ll learn in Helena, Arkansas, which Mark Twain wrote, “occupies one of the prettiest situations on the Mississippi.” Enjoy a city tour with a visit to the Delta Cultural Center, home to an interactive exhibition of Delta music including the King Biscuit Blues Festival and the broadcast facilities for King Biscuit Time which is the longest running blues radio program in the nation. Experience the town’s rich tradition of Blues and Gospel at private concerts this morning. Return to your riverboat for lunch and an afternoon of steamboatin’ down the Mississippi.

Disembark for a locally guided tour of the port city of Vicksburg. In talking about its significance in the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln said: “Vicksburg is the key. The war can never be brought to a close until the key is in our pocket.” At Vicksburg National Military Park, step back 150 years to the 47-day siege that ended on July 4, 1863, giving the Union control of the Mississippi. Explore the park with a National Park Service guide; see the U.S.S. Cairo, raised from the bottom of the Yazoo River. This afternoon, explore 19th-century Vicksburg on a guided tour of the city’s oldest neighborhood. Learn how the city’s pre-Civil War history shaped its architecture, with invitations to go inside Christ Episcopal Church, built in 1846, and the Duff Green Mansion, owned by seven generations of the same family.

Enjoy a full day of exploration in Natchez, home to over 500 pre-Civil War buildings reflecting the huge fortunes built by the cotton and slave trades. Learn about the backbreaking slave experience that led to the town’s immense wealth from a local expert who shares historical insights on their daily lives. Pre-war Natchez had more millionaires per capita than any city in the U.S., and many mansions survive today; visit select mansions as you drive through the city.

Dock in St. Francisville, a hidden gem of Louisiana towns with pre-Civil War mansions and historic homes with diverse architectural styles. Explore with a local guide who shares anecdotes about the people who lived here, including the artist John James Audubon. Audubon worked as a tutor at the Oakley Plantation and spent his free time combing the woods for bird specimens. The abundance of bird life inspired one of Audubon’s most successful artistic periods with many of his watercolor illustrations appearing in his book, The Birds of America. Enjoy time at leisure to stroll its charming streets before returning to the riverboat for lunch.  

Steam into Baton Rouge for a look at Louisiana’s capital and the flamboyant man who was Louisiana Governor, Senator and Presidential hopeful, Huey P. Long, a.k.a. the “Kingfish.” On a guided tour of the city, view the New State Capitol (Long’s “monument to himself” and one of his many public works projects); go inside the Old State Capitol (“the Castle”) and see other landmark sites. This afternoon, visit the WW II destroyer, USS Kidd, now a memorial to Louisiana’s WWII veterans.

Go ashore for a boat ride into the bayous of eerily beautiful Manchac Swamp with a wetlands expert to learn about life in the Louisiana Wetlands, and the inhabitants of the swamp, including the American Alligator. Hear stories about the unique history of the Cajun town of Frenier, a ghost town with haunted tales to tell. After lunch onboard, continue to Nottoway Plantation for a tour of the mansion – a former sugarcane plantation, it is one of the South's largest historic homes, layered with grand balconies, white columns and a three-story rotunda that overlooks sweeping, oak-draped lawns.

Disembark ship this morning in New Orleans. A discovery-filled day in this amazing city starts with a locally guided tour of the French Quarter, resplendent in lacey wrought iron balconies, pastel hued homes and French, Spanish and American architectural influences. Continue to the New Orleans School of Cooking for a private cooking demonstration and lunch, followed by a private jazz performance at the famed Preservation Hall. The rest of the day is free for you to enjoy the sights, sounds and culinary delights of the Big Easy as you wish. Your hotel is ideally located on the riverfront in the heart of the city.

Enjoy a walking tour of the Garden District with a local guide, seeing ancient live oaks, stately mansions centuries old and manicured parks. Have lunch as you please before joining us for an informative visit to the acclaimed National World War II Museum that includes viewing the “4D” film, Beyond All Boundaries, narrated by Tom Hanks. This evening, join us for a farewell dinner at famed New Orleans restaurant, Arnaud’s, where it has been serving up Creole cuisine and Dixieland jazz since 1918.

Tour ends: 9:00 AM. Fly home anytime. A transfer is included from Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans to the Louis Armstrong International Airport. Allow 2 hours for check-in.