You have two choices in the time available: go southwest from Atlanta to Mobile, New Orleans, Cajun Louisiana, and East Texas (nothing like the Texas of the western movies), perhaps stopping at civil rights sites in Montgomery and Selma.

Or you can go from Atlanta northwest to Talladega (massive speedway and museum and a racing meeting in October, tho I don't know dates) Birmingham (civil rights sites) then across northern Mississippi to Memphis, stopping by Elvis's birthplace Tupelo, MS. South through the Mississippi Delta, if you love blues, then on to New Orleans, possibly stopping in Natchez for antebellum plantations.

Very different topography and culture on these two routes. The second will take you longer, so you might have a day less after leaving NO for Houston. You don't say if you like museums, but there are some spectacular collections in Houston.

Just curious, why you would do an RV for that part of the country and not just use a car. The price of gas is going up and up more. You may have trouble navigating in citie. You will be much more flexible in a car, and probably not saving any money on lodging.
Use hotel.com for making reservations with a possibility of a discount.

Yes, I too would lose the RV idea. I was too focussed on route. The only advantage of an RV is that you would be able to make decent tea on the road, but you can buy a cheap electric kettle and vacuum bottle at any Target store and brew up in the morning.

I just noticed your last "love". If it's NASCAR then it's Charlotte and environs for you, and particularly the end of October. We have the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and all the major racing shops are just north of Charlotte around Mooresville. There is a major race at the Speeway in late October. It also means that hotel rooms in this area will be at a premium and scarce.
There are tours available of the shops, and the week of the race there will be a lot going on in Charlotte proper--they have Speed Week.
Are you going to Atlanta for a purpose?

Well, it turns out the BIG race is earlier in October, but there is still stuff going on

http://www.charlottemotorspeedway.com/schedule/all/

Here is the NASCAR schedule: http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/ If you hustle, you can make it to Charlotte for the race on 13 Oct.

If you're going to be more leisurely, drive much of Skyline Drive in the Blue Ridge Mountains. http://www.blueridgeskyline.com/ You should get a good bit of color in the trees then.

There will be plenty of football games to see - just determine where you'll be on a Saturday. You'll be in SEC country or at least ACC country for most of your trip so buying tickets should be easy, even if at the gate or from a scalper (tout). And EVERY game in the SEC is a big event. The pro teams play on Sundays and Charlotte, Nashville, Atlanta and New Orleans all have teams that don't suck (no Wigans in the bunch). The 2012 NFL schedule is not out yet.

Considering that US gas prices are less than 1/2 the cost in the UK, the RV may seem cheap. That's your call, but multiple car switches seems troublesome and you need to look into the drop charges.

Don't know that Memphis is a must see - the city has some iconic sites but it's really pretty dumpy overall and has high crime. New Orleans is better, plus the nearby areas of Louisiana can be interesting (e.g., the River Road plantations). Nashville is a fine little city and worth a visit.

The first thing that popped into my head was to see the Corvette Factory and the Corvette museum in Kentucky (they are right across the street from each other). Mammoth Cave is close by (a national park and the largest cave in the world-no other cave even comes close to its size-it is an ugly cave though,IMOP).

I would rent a car. The RV is too much trouble. Road trips are easy nowdays with budget priced hotels dotting the Interstate Highways. I would get over on I 81 and go S through VA. Stop in Charlottesville and visit UVA and Monticello. Drive S to the SMNP S of Knoxville and then head W to Nashville for good food and music. Head W to Memphis and stay near Beales Street on the river for good music and BBQ. Take # 61 S through the Delta home of the Blues and spend the night in an authentic plantation shack at Shack Up Inn and hear some good Blues at Ground Zero Blues Club. Head S to Vicksburg, MS and visit the National Military Park then head S to Natchez and visit the antebellum homes. Head S to NOLA for good times. Stay in the FQ and then head W to Houston. Stop in Lafayette and visit cajun country.

Last month's issue of Bon Appetit featured southern food and cities: http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/toc/february-2012-toc

I have never been on bonappetit website. Pretty cool. I almost mentioned that popsicle joint. I see the picture, but I don't see that it mentions it anywhwere. The name is Pastaleto's or Paseleto's or something like that. It's a bit out of the way, but best popsicles ever. We tried 3 or 4 flavors, including the avocado that tasted a bit like a banana popsicle. They have all fruit or some with cream. They have traditional flavors and exotic flavors. All of them are like $3 each. Definately worth a stop for a cheap treat.

Sheeyoot, I'm almost ready to do Littleman's plan myself.

FYI, "SMNP" is Smoky Mountains National Park. Combine that with a trip down Skyline Drive (which roughly parallels I-81), and you'll have enough scenery for about three trips.

And considering that you're traveling in Autumn, you should definitely visit UVa. No better time to view the Grounds.

spiro- Bon Appetit has really hit its stride lately. At first when they replaced Gourmet, I hated it, but I've enjoyed the last few months, and actually wanted to cook many of the dishes. I definitely don't miss Gourmet's features on people who are much cooler than I will ever hope to be having weird rustic dinner parties next to barns.

If you click the photo of vintage jeans, a photo essay opens that mentions the popsicle place briefly.

I am trying to get my hubby to agree to drive to Nashville for spring break just to eat that Hot Chicken. I like any food where I need a warning about the heat level.

Quote from the article: " Wilson told me he once worked with a guy who ordered extra-hot on a dare. He ate it and seemed okay...then didn't show up for work for two days. You've been warned."

Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/2012/02/the-story-on-nashville-hot-chicken#ixzz1mO5VjqBq

Morley- you need to get a copy of Janet Evanovich's Metro Girl for your wife. A very fun, light vacation read about a mystery in the world of Nascar. The sequel is fun too, and set in North Carolina back at the shops (the first is set in Florida). The heroine is a spotter who grew up in the Nascar world. Lots of fun. Don't let the current lame movie version of Evanovich's One for the Money turn you off.

Also, if you can get to the states a little earlier, you could attend the annual Endless Summer Cruisin hot rod and classic car rally in Ocean City, Maryland. http://www.specialeventpro.com/endless.php

Cars are everywhere, up and down the highway, all day and night, plus filling the convention center.

Aside to spirobulldog & BlueSwimmer: The mysterious popsicle place is Las Paletas in the 12 South neighborhood in Nashville. They are fantastic. It's owned by two sisters either from Mexico or first-generation American citizens, I forget which. They never have had a real web site as far as I know, but just Google "las paletas nashville" and you'll get the info you need over on the right side. A few other places around town also sell them (Baja Burrito, Fido, Hot & Cold and Bongo Java).

Morley: Whether Chattanooga, Nashville and Memphis are worth visits depends a lot on your interests. You won't find much racing-related in any of those (though if your route takes you through Bristol, TN, there's a big speedway there). Chattanooga is a great small city and is worth an overnight if you're in the area, but personally I wouldn't go out of your way to include it. Nashville and Memphis's main attractions are mostly music-related, though both have quite a few other things to offer. If music doesn't really interest you, though, I'd focus more on the racing and whatever else tops your list.

Another vote for a college football game if you can swing it, and another vote to ditch the RV! Is the attraction just having your own space without getting hotels along the way? Some of the mountain roads aren't fun to drive in my Corolla, and I'd hate to try it in an RV.

I remember that Las Paletas didn't have a sign up either. It was a bit of a trick to find. My GPS was off by about a 1/2 block too. It was busy though, so if it is good enough people will find it.

(pondering...)

If this were ME... I think I'd first target Skyline Drive, end-to-end. (map "Front Royal, VA" to "Rockfish Gap, VA" for that...

Then I would visit Richmond, VA... Virginia Beach area... then the outer banks of North Carolina... at least to Cape Hatteras... then back along that path... toward Raleigh/Durham... and via Greensboro to Charlotte... then on through Columbia, SC... to Charleston, where I'd spend 2 or 3 days... eventually Savannah, GA, and from there, depending upon your timing, either take a long, circuitous route in GA OR drive straight to Atlanta.

But I agree with others, a car makes for much more convenience in many of those spots.

Please clarify whether THE ONLY REASON to be in Atlanta on/by October 22 is to change the rental vehicle?

You have a good amount of time, and the eastern USA is much more like England in that a whole lot is shoved into a smaller area... as contrasted with the western USA, wherein you often have to cover a lot of ground between noteworthy places.

A simple one-way rental of a car between DC and Houston, making Atlanta less prominent, would free you up considerably.


Continuing...

So, Atlanta... (depending upon the car/RV thing above, you could drift down to Florida as deep as you wanted, with all the time you seem to have)... and/or go north from Atlanta and through the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, then perhaps to Gatlinburg, TN... on the way toward Nashville for a day or two.

West to Memphis for a brief pass-through, maybe even a drive north from there along the Mississippi River for a bit.

Interstate #55 is nothing special from Memphis to New Orleans, so if you can create for yourself a different/better path then do it!

Spend a couple/three days in New Orleans... and then if there's time before your departure, maybe loop north and west to pass through Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio on your way to Houston. Even save a day at the end for a trip to Galveston (esp. since Glen Campbell has been in the news of late).

I haven't exactly matched this to your available nights, but I feel quite good about the spots on the path I laid-out here.

(of COURSE there will/would be many other people who know of BETTER spots not at all far from the path my idea would include)

Hope it stirs some thoughts within you.

spiro - the extremely minimalist web site they did have for awhile was actually wheresthesign.com. (Looks like they let that go, though. If I remember correctly, it was just a link to their Yelp page or something.)

They moved into a new retail development right next door to their old location a couple of years ago. I am happy to report that they have a real live sign now. They're also right next door to Burger Up, a newish restaurant I really like.