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Imagine a vacation where a 5-star hotel travels to meet you at the end of every day's touring. Where you eat like a king (or queen) and don't feel the least bit guilty because you're cycling enough to burn off all the calories. Where you can soak up the musical history of the region that spawned the blues, rock and roll, gospel, dixieland, Cajun and country -- with live performances twice a day. Santana Tandems made this dream vacation a reality, and for us it was the trip of a lifetime.

With 75 other couples, we boarded the Delta Queen in Memphis and traveled down the Mississippi to New Orleans. Each day we cycled 30-70 miles, then re-boarded the boat downriver.

We toured beautiful plantation homes and charming Southern towns; and, for contrast, we were the only bicycle group ever allowed through the 18,000-acre grounds of Angola State Penitentary. Our final day was spent on an eye-opening tour of the devastation and rebuilding in New Orleans. We were the FIRST large tour group to visit the city since Katrina. New Orleans needs tourists to survive, so if you have a chance to go there, please do! The musicians are playing; they'd like an audience again.

We enjoyed our 2006 tour so much that we did it again in 2007! The Santana Tandems website has full details on this tour and the many other wonderful cycling vacations they conduct.

For lots more photographs of our trip taken by a pro, visit Pam Mauch's website.

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