Florida Keys vs Nashville

The Florida Keys are America's most famous road trip island chain, a necklace of coral islands linked by the Overseas Highway as it hops 113 miles from Key Largo to Key West over 42 bridges and turquoise water. Starting from Miami, you can be snorkeling North America's only living coral barrier reef at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park within a couple of hours. Farther south, Islamorada is the sportfishing capital with tarpon feeding at the docks, Marathon has a sea turtle hospital and the soaring Seven Mile Bridge, and Bahia Honda State Park offers some of the best natural beaches in the Keys. The road ends in Key West, a colorful, easygoing town of conch houses, Hemingway's cats, and the nightly sunset celebration at Mallory Square. This plan covers the full Key Largo to Key West run in four days, then adds a day trip by ferry or seaplane to remote Dry Tortugas National Park and its giant brick fort. Navigate by the green mile markers, slow down in Key deer zones, eat plenty of fresh fish and key lime pie, and book Key West hotels early in winter.

Nashville is built for a weekend. On Lower Broadway, neon-lit honky-tonks have live bands playing from late morning until well past midnight, usually with no cover, and the next great songwriter might be on stage at noon. A block away, the Ryman Auditorium, the 'Mother Church of Country Music,' offers daytime tours and some of the best acoustics in the country at night. Walk the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge over the Cumberland River at sunset for the classic skyline view, and fuel up on Nashville hot chicken, fried crisp and dusted with cayenne at whatever heat level you dare. Weekend mornings belong to brunch: grab a table in walkable 12 South, laid-back East Nashville or the sleek Gulch, then wander their murals and boutiques. Stay longer to tour the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, catch a show at the Grand Ole Opry, sip wine at the Belle Meade Historic Site and spend a day in Franklin, a charming Civil War-era town 30 minutes south. Spring and fall bring mild weather and packed music calendars, but Music City delivers year-round as long as you book shows and hotels early.