The Rockin' Road to Bonnaroo

Stay south on I-81 until you come across I-26. Go south on I-26 to get to Asheville, North Carolina, and head to the Civic Center to catch Phish. Don't have a ticket? You can probably find someone selling a few for face value, but if not, hang out in the parking lot and make friends; most of these cats are on their way to 'Roo too! Afterward, sleep in the car or start to make your way West into the heartland of American music: Tennessee.

Take I-40 west through North Carolina's leg of the Appalachian Mountains. You're going to ride through some heady backwoods roads, so make sure you gas up and keep your brain straight for the next few hours. Enjoy your ride on State Route 19 through the Cherokee National Forest before crossing into Tennessee on State Route 64.

Meet up with I-75 south into Chattanooga, Tennessee — the city that inspired Glenn Miller's classic "Chattanooga Choo-Choo." The Riverbend Music Festival is going down this week in Chattanooga, and we think you should pay a few bucks to watch the psychedelic rock outfit (and onetime RS Artists to Watch) Dead Confederate, performing at 10 p.m. on Wednesday night. When the encore is over, make your way to Chattanooga's old Terminal Station, now a renovated 24-acre entertainment complex. Grab a bite to eat at the Station House Restaurant, known for their singing servers, or catch one of the daily rock and roll review theater shows before crashing at the Terminal's Choo-Choo Holiday Inn, where you can sleep in renovated train cars.

Thursday already? Take a shower (for everyone's good) and eat a hearty meal at a local Waffle House, because you're about to enter the realm of 'Roo. Tune your radio to 105.7 WFIV — Radio Bonnaroo — for all the latest traffic updates and reports from inside the Bonnaroo Manchester Farm. Turn up the music and have your passengers start cracking beers (it's legal to drink in a moving vehicle in Tennessee if you're over the age of 21 and not driving). In two short hours heading west on I-24, you'll be at the gates of Bonnaroo, road-tested and with a good portion of the Eastern coast under your travel belt.