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Stuck with nothing to do between last night's Phish show in Camden and Bonnaroo on Thursday? Why not make an extended road trip out of the mega haul from Jersey to Tennessee? We've got some cities you should check out, a couple of mountain ranges, a few other festivals and concerts and the right radio stations to tune into along the way.
Anyone who's still recovering from Phish's epic show last night in Camden should head east on State Route 70 to the Jersey shore for a few relaxing hours on the beach. After you're done tanning, hit up the Seaside Heights Boardwalk to load up on junk food and have some cold ones on the boardwalk. Just don't get anything pierced, and check ID if anyone offers to sleep with you.
Got your fill of sea air? Good. Jump in the car and take I-95 south to Washington, DC for the 5th Annual Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, held from June 5th through 15th. Taking place at venues across the city, this festival celebrates the work of native Washingtonian Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington and features local, national and world-renowned jazz musicians. Free concerts take place at the famous National Mall all day and proceeds from other events support jazz education programs in DC public schools. If you can get there by 7 p.m., we recommend the New Orleans on the Potomac series — tonight's event showcases a free show by the Revivalists.
Spend the night in a cheap two-star motel like the Red Roof Inn in Alexandria, VA (rooms for $75 a night!) before hitting the road again. When you wake up, jump on I-66 west to I-81 south. You'll be heading through the gorgeous but sometimes scarily foggy Allegheny Mountains. Take pictures, and keep an eye out for wild boar crossing the roads.
Once you get to the southern tip of West Virginia, tune your radio to 88.7 WMMT - Mountain Public Radio. This station, beaming from just outside Daniel Boone National Forest in Whitesburg, Kentucky, is considered the "voice of the mountains," but their music collection varies from folk rock to hip-hop to punk and ska. We're big fans of their radio training program, which has led many teens and young adults to careers in radio and production. Show some support and boogie down at the same time.
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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.