Vibrant, generous and bursting with flavour: what’s true of the Deep South’s cuisine, from creamy cheese grits to piquant gumbo, is true of the region itself. Despite one of the most distinct identities in the US, it remains a melting pot of influences from Europe and Africa, the Caribbean and South America — one that’s birthed entirely new cultural forms across the centuries, from Creole architecture to rock ’n’ roll.
There are stereotypes, of course — some are even true. Southern hospitality is no fiction; just count the number of folk who greet you in the street. This is still the nation’s musical homeland, too. Jazz, blues and rock trace their roots to its throbbing bars and wooden porches; Muscle Shoals remains America’s Abbey Road; Cajun festivals roll on long into warm, starlit nights.
In the past few years, the Deep South has shrugged off some of its more lugubrious character. Embracing an urban energy in its thriving cities, making a name as an adventure playground — for mountain-trekking, river-canoeing and swamp safaris. But a drive across its changing landscapes is still a languorous one. The bluehazed Appalachian Mountains complete their southern thrust in Georgia, ending abruptly in Atlanta’s vast metropolitan sprawl. The sun-baked countryside and historic small towns of Alabama cede to the flat, black marshes of the Mississippi Delta. Teeming subtropical forests and pristine white sand beaches meet on Louisiana’s coast.
This story is from the October 2021 edition of National Geographic Traveller (UK).
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This story is from the October 2021 edition of National Geographic Traveller (UK).
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