This Tennessee museum is dedicated to a tragic railroad hero who inspired the famous ballad that bears his name.

This simple, broken column marks the final resting place of one of America's most famous explorers.

The bad-ass ride of a soul legend, housed in one of the world's few soul museums.

A restored, one-room African-American schoolhouse in the diva's hometown now preserves the legacy of its most famous student.

The juke joint where legendary soul artists ate, drank, and made merry.

An unknown Hall of Fame in Jackson, Tennessee.

When Motown musicians came to Nashville in the 1960s they stayed at this historic record-pressing company because hotels wouldn't host them.

Elvis's own personal tropical hideaway.

This award-winning men's bathroom was just too beautiful to not allow women to see.

This Memphis recording studio launched the careers of Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley.

At 135 years old and counting, this historic print shop is heaven for poster nerds and music buffs.

A recreation of the doomed ocean liner in the middle of the Smoky Mountains.

The hotel where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot is now a museum dedicated to his work.

Walk the whole Mississippi River!

This head-spinningly bizarre Depression-era art cave is wall-to-wall quartz and Jesus.

The secret city built by the Manhattan Project.

Home to drunken tower-climbing goats... seriously.

This replica of the Greek structure is in the heart of Nashville.

The ill-fated plan to reroute the Mississippi so that Union ships could bypass Confederate fortifications on the river bend.

A small town museum honors local WWII veterans and the queen of pop who put it on the map.

This Birdsill Holly fire hydrant is the remnant of a very different type of hydration innovation.

A treasure trove of rare and exquisitely detailed antiques

A mysterious find dredged from Louisiana waters.

A small park on Bourbon Street features life-size bronze statues of New Orleans musicians.