Don't leave Georgia without exploring the Golden Isles. Start at U.S. 17 about 17 miles south of Darien (or exit off I-95 south at the Golden Isles Parkway), head toward Brunswick, and then travel to St. Simons and Sea Islands. The drive culminates in Jekyll Island, once the private enclave of wintering wealthy like the Rockefellers and the Vanderbilts but now open to all.

If you can afford it, plan to spend at least one night at The Cloister on Sea Island, the grandest resort in the tri-state area. For escapists, there are also Little St. Simons Island and Cumberland Island, the idyllic wilderness where John Kennedy, Jr., married Caroline Bessette 3 years before their tragic plane crash.

Based at a hotel on the Golden Isles, you can make a day trip to one of the greatest attractions in Georgia: the Okefenokee Swamp, the largest freshwater swamp still preserved in the United States.