The Southeast is known for its diversity which extends to its sometimes-unconventional attractions. And these unique experiences may be just the thing you need to kick off a new chapter.
Consider these five offbeat ideas for your travel checklist this year.
Carved tree spirits – St. Simons Island, Georgia
Nature spirits are usually found in fairytales — but on Georgia’s St. Simons Island, you can see one artist’s version in the trees.
Beginning in the ‘80s, local artist Keith Jennings began carving trees depicting wizened faces, women with long hair and even a mermaid. These detailed “Tree Spirits” are placed on the bark’s scar tissue, making sure the living tree isn’t harmed. More recently, Jennings’ son, Devon, has taken the reigns to create the newest Tree Spirits.
Some of the 20+ carvings are on private property, but the public can access several. That’s why the Golden Isles Convention and Visitors Bureau created a scavenger hunt you can download on your phone. Winners get a free sticker of the mermaid carving!
The carvings aren’t the only thing that draws visitors to St. Simons Island. As the largest barrier island in Georgia’s Golden Isles, it’s known for its fishing, restaurants, outdoor recreation, and historic St. Simons Island Lighthouse.
Click here to learn more about St. Simons Island.
Venetian Pool – Coral Gables, Florida
Built in 1923 from an abandoned coral rock quarry, the Venetian Pool is the only swimming pool on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s also the largest freshwater pool in the U.S.!
Every day during the summer, the pool is drained back into an aquifer, which has natural filtration abilities. Then it’s filled up again in the morning, ready for the day. The pool also connects to natural grottos that swimmers can find and explore.
The Venetian Pool is in metro Miami, which is its own premier destination. Beloved for its fishing, beaches, nightlife, restaurants, and more, you’ll never be short of something to do in Miami.
The Venetian Pool reopens for the summer in May 2025. Click here to learn more.
The Hemingway Home and Museum – Key West, Florida
One of the 20th century’s most celebrated writers, Ernest Hemingway’s house still stands in Key West as a museum — and there’s more to it than meets the eye.
Dating back to 1851, the Spanish Colonial-style home is filled with timeless relics, like Hemingway’s typewriter, mounted heads and skins from his hunting trips in Africa, and — oddly enough — dozens of six-toed cats.
Hemingway was once given a six-toed cat by a sea captain, from which the modern cats are descended. The famed writer named his cats after people, so today’s cats follow the same rule, with fun monikers like Hairy Potter and Marilyn Monroe. The tie between the author and these unique cats is so strong that six-toed cats are often called “Hemingway cats!”
Of course, Key West draws visitors all by itself. After visiting the museum, enjoy the local white-sand beaches, deep-sea fishing, and endless culinary delights.
Click here to learn more about the Hemingway Home and Museum.
Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum – Birmingham, Alabama
Do you have a motorcycle fanatic in your life? If so, the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham isn’t just a museum — it’s a little slice of heaven.
George Barber raced Porsches in the ‘60s and had a zeal for collecting cars. But after learning the world’s largest car collections were already well-established, he pivoted to motorcycles. Now, the collection numbers over 1,800 bikes, with more than 1,000 on display at a time in the museum — the world’s largest private collection, just as he planned.
On its grounds, the museum also has a 16-turn, 2.38 mile racetrack, which is used for professional races like the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. In 2014, it added a separate proving ground, where the vehicles can be tested and showcased.
Barber built the museum in Birmingham because it’s his hometown, and it’s home to plenty of other attractions. Consider checking out the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, and the Birmingham Zoo.
Click here to learn more about the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum.
Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden – Bishopville, South Carolina
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Bishopville’s Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden isn’t your typical topiary garden. And Pearl Fryar isn’t your typical gardener.
Born in 1939 to a sharecropper in rural North Carolina, Pearl Fryar eventually ended in Bishopville, after an army tour of service in Korea, and ten years working in New York. Pearl and his wife purchased land that had once been a rural cotton field in Bishopville in the early 1980s. But when their home construction expenses blossomed the money originally budgeted for a garden had to be used, and landscaping was put on hold.
By 1985, with a modest yard and meticulous grooming in place, Fryar heard that Bishopville had a Yard of the Month Competition. But the competition was only open to town residents, and he lived just beyond the city limits. Fryar knew that he would need to something special enough that the garden club would make an exception. With no formal horticulture experience, Fryar began his topiary garden with a malnourished juniper, otherwise destined for the garbage at a local nursey.
More than 40 years later, the 3-acre topiary garden is still around — and it’s widely celebrated for its beauty. The free-to-visit attraction has more than 400 curated plants! Arguably the most famous part of the garden is a message carved into the ground and marked with flowers: “LOVE PEACE & GOODWILL.”
Bishopville is close to Lee State Park, where you can enjoy fishing, hiking, and horseback riding. It’s also about an hour from Columbus, South Carolina’s capital, which is home to several historic sites and the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden.
Click here to learn more about the Pearl Fryar Topiary.
Try something different this year
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