"Best "out of the way" places to see-South Eastern US" Topic

I have some time to travel this fall so i was looking for best Museums Sites, battlefields, general History things to do. At some point i will

For the sake of discussion lets ignore National Parks as i have been to (almost) all of them. ANd lets make a boundary of PA South and East of the Mississippi

What are some of the state/private owned things around that are hidden Gems that are worth a significant detour from my route from Philly to Cleveland to Orlando

Franklin, Tennessee: The Carter House, Carnton, The Lotz House, Fort Granger. One of the few ACW battles fought at night.

Beautiful town, quaint shops, nice restaurants. You might even run into some country music stars who call Franklin home.

You can also hit Fort Donelson, Stones River, and Shiloh.

AAF Tank Museum
aaftankmuseum.com

Pamplin Park
pamplinpark.org

Sailors Creek Battlefield
link

Pickets Mill Battlefield
link

Atlanta History Center, home of the recently restored cyclorama of the Battle of Atlanta.

when i was last "near" frankiln, the brochure didn't impress me. made it appear to be like one house and no battlefield. so i didn't go

Fort Donelson- Liked it. The ranger was actually a naturalist. so it was a pleasant but unexpected tour

The National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, GA is pretty cool.

portcolumbus.org

Guilford Courthouse battlefield outside of Greensboro is pretty nice too.

Cowpens is quite nice, Guilford is as well.

The city of Savannah is very nice with Forts Pulaski, Jackson, and McAllister all being worth a visit.

Museum of the Revolution at Yorktown, Jamestown Settlement Park, Monitor Center at the Mariner's Museum.

Cowpens is a good half day. Camden has some worthwhile sights. Charleston and Georgetown are both worthy of a visit. King's Mountain is a good hike.

Battlefields at Chickamauga and Kennesaw Mtn between Atlanta and Chattanooga

There is the tank museum in Danville, VA. It is well worth a visit.

Pickett's Mill and Allatoona Pass in Georgia. Richmond and Perryville in Kentucky. All of them are state parks.

Has anyone been to the Horseshoe Bend battlefield, about 80 miles east of Birmingham, AL? Andrew Jackson against the Creek Redsticks.

I have not, and regret the one chance I had. Blew a head gasket in November 2017, driving into Birmingham on way to Texas from Pennsylvania. Dealer east of Birmingham took us in on Saturday evening, and we decided to stay local until Monday to get an idea of cost. Decided not to drive the Rental that weekend, so missed this field.

GdeP

Stop in Wilmington, NC

Almost every house in the Old Town has a plaque about its history.

There's Bellamy Mansion Museum bellamymansion.org

Battleship North Carolina battleshipnc.com

about 20 minutes east by the beach.
Fort Fisher link

About 25 minutes west
Moores Creek National Battlefield nps.gov/mocr/index.htm OK so it's a National Park but still good and nearby.

If you come down thru Kentucky, hit the Jim Beam Distillery. From Nashville to Nanchez MS there is the Nanchez Trace. It follows the military road cut by Andrew Jackson and has a host of small historic sights all along it's sceanic drive.

If you're on the east coast, I'd hit the CSS Neuse Museum in Kinston, NC. cssneuse.org
Also, if you pass thru Savannah, there is the 8th AF Museum.

These may not count as "out of the way" but they are probably not on the usual map of the AWI or ACW fan.

Baltimore: Walk the route taken by the Massachusetts militia in the 1861 riot from President's Street Station to Camden Station. Then visit the U.S.S. Constellation in Baltimore harbor. Then visit the Baltimroe & Ohio Museum which has some trains and structures dating from or before the Civil War. If you want to extend it take a ride on reconstructed ACW era locomotives and cars from New Freedom PA to Hannover Junction, the route Lincoln took to give his Gettsburg Address.

Washington DC: Take a tour of the forts built or used to protect Washington in the ACW. Forts Washington and Foote on the Potomac, Fort Ward in Alexandria, Fort Marcy in McLean and Fort Stevens in DC all are in good shape or have been partially restored. If you look closer you can find a number of others, including one that is in a neighborhood traffic circle. If you have extra time visit the galley Philadelphia in the Smithsonian's American History museum.

North Carolina: Visit the remnants of the C.S.S. Neuse in Kinston. Then visit Tryon Palace, the last Royal Governor's residence in New Bern and then visit Fort Macon near Beaufort NC. Possible extensions to this would be to visit Bennet Place where Johnston surrendered to Sherman and Alamance battlefield. If you've headed that far west you might as well continue to Guilford Courthouse. An alternative extension would be to visit Bentonville battlefield and then go on to Wilmington.

8th AF Museum mightyeighth.org
Savannah is also an excellent place to visit

Corzin, the posters upthread have covered the bases !

All you have to do now is map out your route and GO !

Great job, guys !

The Olustee battlefield state park is worth the visit if you want something out of the way.

Pretty much everything else has been covered above.

Depends how far south and east you want to go; I would recommend Castillo de San Marcos in Saint Augustine FL (and its little brother Fort Matanzas, right nearby) Fort Caroline in Jacksonville FL and Fort Clinch is just north of there on Amelia Island. These all have the added advantage of having family style attractions nearby to distract any significant others you may be bringing along.

You can see photo-journals of my visits to them on my blog; link

If you are near Savannah Fort Pulaski and Fort Jefferson are very well preserved and well worth the visit

Once you have entered the Orlando area there is Fort Christmas (in Christmas FL, oddly enough) and Fort King in Ocala, both dating to the Seminole Wars

the "problem" with horseshoe bend (other than being in the middle of nowhere:) is that it is pretty small. not sure worth a special trip…but i was driving near enough to it so i went

like your site anton- the old northwest may be next year.

some other things
if chickamauga was in Virginia, it would be my favorite battle field.
i Do love the B&O Museum

not 100% sure, but i suspect i am coming south via west of the Appalachians. then returning up 95

if you are doing an AWI trip in the carolina's ninety-six is also pretty cool

If you are following Major Mike's idea to go to Kentucky, then the Perryville Battlefield is very well preserved. It is also interesting as a Confederate tactical victory and operational defeat.

In north-eastern North Carolina is a wonderful, well preserved civil fort on the Ronoake river called Fort Branch. This fort still has her guns. It is out of the way and a treasure. fortbranchcivilwarsite.com

In southern Maryland, near National Harbor, is old Fort Foote and her pair of Rodman Guns guarding the southern approach to Washington DC on the Potomac. Worth a drive by if you are taking the southern arc of the DC Beltway. link & link