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by ANDREW LEMIEUX You have the space, the time, and the creativity. Now, it’s all hands on deck to design your dream backyard. The typical Southern backyard is warm, welcoming, and cozy, and with the theme already cast in stone, all you have to do is customize it to your liking. Southerners hierarchize outdoor living; the backyard is the canvas we use to showcase our creativity, unique identity, rich history, and distinct culture.

by AINSLEY LAWRENCE When you move to or live in the South, there are a few things you can expect. You can expect to see beautiful homes and architecture, clean living, and a healthy dose of what we call Southern hospitality. Essentially, this is a two-word term that means that we will greet and treat you with kindness, warmth, and a friendly smile. But that is just the tip of the iceberg of what Southern hospitality can be.

Keith Langston paddles along Shingle Creek. | Anne Braly by ANNE BRALY In the shadow of the busyness of Orlando and the dizziness of Disney World lies Kissimmee, a town that has, without a lot of fanfare, built a tremendous following of folks looking for Florida’s wild side while staying within a stone’s throw of Walt Disney World Resort, Universal Orlando Resort and other attractions.

by ASHLEY STEENSON According to John Preble, Curator of the Abita Mystery House Museum in Abita Springs, La., Highway 90 or The Old Spanish Trail was “the southern Route 66.” Mississippi historians Deanne Nuwer and Charles Sullivan claim representatives from Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana first met during the Progressive era to propose the construction of a highway up the Florida Gulf Coast to Mobile and New Orleans.

Photos by Ashley Steenson by ASHLEY STEENSON In 1992, historian James C. Cobb famously called the Mississippi Delta “the most Southern place on earth.”  Immortalized by William Faulkner in the story “The Bear,” centuries-old forests and American black bears once covered the roughly 200-mile floodplain stretching from northwest to central Mississippi. By the end of the Reconstruction era, however, the Delta had become synonymous with its flat, fertile farmland.