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An hour west of Austin lies the Balcones Escarpment, a long geologic fault zone that divides Texas in half. Balcones is Spanish for “balconies,” an apt way to describe how the Texas Hill Country suddenly thrusts up from the gently rolling prairie to create limestone canyons. On lonely backcountry roads, you’ll be driving under tall cypress trees past large cattle ranches and fields of bluebonnets that are in bloom come April. Take US 290 west from Austin to Johnson City’s Wildflower Loop. Then be sure to tour the nearby LBJ Ranch in Stonewall, stop for bratwurst and a pint of Shiner Bock in the German settlement of Fredericksburg, go for a stroll on the pebble-strewn paths of the 5400-acre Hill Country State Natural Area, and listen to the next Willie Nelson at the legendary country music hamlet of Luckenbach. The homey Hoffman Haus B&B in Fredericksburg is a good place to rest your legs after a day of touring the region. 

Highway 1 on the mid-Californian coast is the road you see in car ads, a stunning stretch of road that deserves to be driven in a red convertible. The climax is the route through Big Sur, where the stomach-dropping turns edge the bluffs as you gape in awe at the wide clean beaches and cliffs that drop precipitously to the frothing ocean. Spend the first night at the sleepy hamlet of Avila Beach, staying at a room overlooking the water at Avila Lighthouse Suites. The next morning, drive north to tour Hearst Castle and see the dreamy blue-tiled indoor pool, inlaid with 22-karat gold. No wonder Cary Grant visited the estate more than 40 times. Four miles north of Hearst Castle, a must-stop is the beach of Piedres Blancas to watch hundreds of large elephant seals lounging, grunting, wrestling, and diving into the Pacific. Continuing north, the mountains of Los Padres National Forest rise above the Pacific and the road becomes a mix of ups, downs, and hairpin turns. A quarter-mile walk at Pfeiffer Burns State Park leads you to the waterfalls and wildflowers of this rugged paradise. For lunch, stop at Nepenthe to dine on nachos while overlooking the stunning surroundings. Finish the drive in Monterey, to visit one of the America’s most innovative aquariums, bike along the waterfront past seals, and dine at seafood restaurants on the street John Steinbeck coined Cannery Row.  

The amount of musicians that began their careers in the small Delta town of Clarksdale, population 21,000, is remarkable. Muddy Waters was raised on the Stovall Plantation outside of town. Soul man Sam Cooke was born here, along with electric blues master John Lee Hooker, W.C. Handy, and Ike Turner, whose green house still stands on Washington Street. Learn about the birthplace of the Blues at the Delta Blues Museum, and then spend the night at one of the most intriguing properties in America, the Shack Up Inn. Set on the Hopson Plantation, where the mechanical cotton picker made its debut in 1941, owner Bill Talbot has converted six former sharecropper shacks into his own version of a B&B (bed and beer). The next morning head south on Highway 61 through the rolling green farmland that makes up the heart of the Delta. Eventually you’ll reach the trenches Union and Confederate troops dug during the Civil War’s bloody Siege of Vicksburg, now a National Military Park. Another hour of driving and you’ll find that gem of a town on the Mississippi River, Natchez. During its heyday prior to the Civil War, when cotton was king, Natchez had more millionaires per capita than any other city in the country. They built palatial estates, like Monmouth Plantation, your final stop. Monmouth’s meticulously landscaped grounds, shaded by centuries-old oaks and their thick dress of Spanish moss, is bursting with colorful azaleas come spring. 

It actually hit 55 degrees in Boston on Saturday. After the hellish winter of arctic temperatures and far too much snow, that’s a miracle. Even better now that we have one more hour of daylight now that Daylight Savings Time is underway. Needless to say, most of America is ready to say goodbye to Polar Vortex and hello to Spring Fever. The five phenomenal drives I describe this week should get you in the mood.