Lonely Planet Road Trip Blues and BBQ - Slim and thin enough to fit in your back pocket (well, OK, it will jut out a bit), this perfect guidebook nonetheless manages to contain every ounce of information you need to make this pilgrimage down the Mississippi River from Memphis to New Orleans through the Delta. Spot-on recommendations of sights, places to stay, and places to ea along with some background and history. Such a pity it's out of print (though B&N does sometimes have a copy or two in stock)...

Blues Traveling: The Holy Sites of Delta Blues - A trip through Mississippi blues sites is a pilgrimage every music lover ought to make at least once in a lifetime, to see the juke joints and churches, to visit the birthplaces and graves of blues greats, to walk down the dusty roads and over the levee, to eat some barbecue and greens, to sit on the bank of the Mississippi River, and to hear some down-home blues music. Blues Traveling is the first and only guidebook to Mississippi's musical places and blues history. With photographs, maps, easy-to-follow directions, and an informative, entertaining text, this book will lead you in and out of Clarksdale, Greenwood, Helena (Arkansas), Rolling Fork, Jackson, Natchez, Bentonia, Rosedale, Itta Bena, and dozens of other locales that generations of blues musicians have lived in, traveled through, and sung about. Stories, legends, and lyrics are woven into the text so that each back road and barroom comes alive. Touring Mississippi with Blues Traveling is like having a knowledgeable and entertaining guide at your side...

Blues Highway: New Orleans to Chicago, 2nd Edition - The Blues Highway is a classic road trip through the cradle of musical innovation in America. This definitive travel and music guide follows Highway 61 and the Mississippi River to explore the roots of jazz, blues, Cajun, zydeco, country, gospel, soul, and rock & roll music. The Sunday Times said: "If you have even the remotest interest in the blues or are thinking of visiting any part of the country cut through by Route 61, then you would be mad, bad, or otherwise afflicted not to take this along..."

Travel Smart: Deep South - Covers Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and the Florida panhandle Deep South Travel-Smart is perfect for people who want a great trip but don't have a lot of time. Driving guides, lots of maps, and an easy-to-use rating system make it easy to organize a trip. Special itineraries include Civil War sites and Mississippi River attractions...

Lonely Planet: Louisiana and the Deep South - Keep in mind the second half of that title, since it's what lets you know that, though focused on New Orleans and the Louisiana mansions, this is another of the very few guidebooks that actually covers the Mississippi Delta. Seven years old and now out of print (though B&N does sell some used copies for under $10), it's still extremely useful—it's where I found the Shack Up Inn in Clarksdale, one of the best places we stayed the whole trip...

Lonely Planet: Carolinas Georgia & the South Trips - So very few guidebook series bother covering this bit of the Deep South (you'll find plenty of Georgia—read: Atlanta and Savannah—and of the Carolinas—Charleston and Hilton Head—and loads of New Orleans, but that's about it). This new book starts changing that. It's a new series from Lonely Planet featuring 66 regional trips with maps. Great for any adventure traveler, from gator watching to hiking & rafting. Covers North & South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee & Kentucky...

Moon Handbook: Nashville and Memphis - This trip starts in musical Memphis, and this is an excellent guide to that town. Journalist and Tennessee native Susanna Henighan covers the best of Nashville and Memphis, from sampling Southern home-style cooking to exploring Graceland. Henighan includes unique trip ideas for a variety of travelers, such as Birthplace of the Blues, a Culinary Crusade, and club-hopping on Beale street...

Mississippi Off the Beaten Path - Whether you're a visitor or a local looking for something different, let Mississippi Off the Beaten Path show you the Magnolia State you never knew existed. Journey to the land of talking frogs and fashion-conscious pigs at the Birthplace of the Frog, a museum honoring Mississippi native and Muppets-creator Jim Henson; explore the ceremonial Choctaw Indian mounds and sacred cave at the Nanih Waiya Historic Site; or visit lions, tigers, panthers, and other exotic animals at the Collins Exotic Animal Orphanage. So if you've "been there, done that" one too many times, get off the main road and venture Off the Beaten Path...

Insiders' Guide to Mississippi - I'm going to tell you right now: this ain't a great guidebook. Still, beggars can't be choosers, and since there's practically nothing written about Mississippi to begin with (from a travel guidebook stand anyway), this guide gets to come in second. Plus, since it's out of print, the price is right: $1.99 used at B&N.

Cajun Country Guide - "The most valuable commodity for anyone exploring Cajun country", according to "The Times Picayune", shows visitors where to eat, dance, and have a good time. Directions, telephone numbers, prices, and vivid descriptions provide the most up-to-date information available...

Moon Handbooks New Orleans - New Orleans aficionado and travel writer Andrew Collins (good guy) knows the best way to experience New Orleans, from exploring the plantations on the Great River Road and where to grab a drink Bourbon Street to taking a swamp tour on the North Shore. Collins includes unique trip ideas such as "Two-Days in The Crescent City" and "Eating Your Way Through Southern Louisiana."...

DeLorme Atlas & Gazeteer state maps - Insanely detailed, frighteningly priced (they list for $19.95, though B&N sells them for $17.95), and worth every penny. Just about every single road, including dirt ones, in each state is not only shown on these maps, but named. Before the advent of GPS, these were the only way to ensure you would never, ever get lost no matter how far off the beaten track you drove. Each atlas—Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana—covers an individual state in its entirety with detailed, full-color topographic maps. Details include back roads, hidden lakes, boat ramps, hiking trails, campgrounds, public lands, forests, wetlands and more. The Gazetteer sections feature information on places to go and things to do. These atlases are year-round favorites with outdoors enthusiasts and anyone who likes to leave the main roads behind....

Rand McNally 2009 Road Atlas: US, Canada, Mexico - Don't want to buy seperate maps for each state? Fine, go with a continental road Atlas. Maybe it's just me, but I love maps. I love to look at them and mentally retrace old adventures, and dream of new ones along roads I haven't yet been down...


National Geographic Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways: The 275 Best Drives in the U.S. - This stunning new edition features unique driving tours through virtually every kind of landscape—spectacular coastlines, mountains, lakes, small towns, ranch and farmlands, islands, bays, and river valleys—in all 50 states including bits followed on on this road trip, such as the Great River Road and the Natchez Trace...