Nashville vs Route 66

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.

Route 66 is the great American road trip: roughly 2,400 miles of the Mother Road from downtown Chicago to the Pacific at Santa Monica, crossing eight states and three time zones. This Chicago to Santa Monica itinerary packs it into 10 days, which is fast. Expect about 200 to 330 miles and five to seven hours behind the wheel most days, mixing interstate stretches with the best surviving original alignments; two to three weeks is ideal if you can spare it. Start with a photo at the Begin sign, then roll past Illinois giants, the bent Chain of Rocks Bridge over the Mississippi and Ozark frozen custard stands. Cross the short Kansas corner and Oklahoma's diners before painting your own stripe at Cadillac Ranch outside Amarillo. In New Mexico, sleep under the glowing neon of the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, then drive through the badlands of Petrified Forest National Park, the only national park that protects a stretch of Route 66. A day off the road from Williams takes you to the Grand Canyon's South Rim. The finale climbs over the Black Mountains to Oatman, crosses the Mojave and ends with a sunset at the Santa Monica Pier. Book classic motels ahead in spring and fall.