The FRIENDLIEST Places in the South 2024
Southern Living|June - July 2024
Hospitality is a hallmark of our region, but people define it in different ways. Is it a conversation in the checkout line? A bartender who knows your order before you sit down? The way a community welcomes people who are just passing through? So we asked you, our readers, to share the places that make you feel right at home on every level. Narrowing down thousands of nominations for hotels, restaurants, stores, nonprofits, and more was no small feat, but it was very uplifting. As these 20 standouts show, Southerners go above and beyond to take care of one another.
CAROLANNE ROBERTS
The FRIENDLIEST Places in the South 2024

Paducah

Kentucky

A GREETING LIKE NO OTHER

Where the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers meet, historic steamboats dock and visitors stroll the Riverwalk and the Greenway Trail. Expect a warm welcome from a band of volunteer ambassadors known as the Red Coats. Easy to spot thanks to their crimson jackets, these helpers are on hand throughout the city to direct you to destinations like the Wall to Wall mural project, the Inland Waterways Museum, the National Quilt Museum, and Barrel & Bond (for sips of Kentucky bourbon). Composed largely of retirees, the Red Coats - more than 100 strong - also anchor events like the annual Barbecue on the River and are ready with an answer to any question you may have. paducah.travel

Publix 

Lakeland, Florida

WHERE SHOPPING REALLY IS A PLEASURE

You probably know that there's no tipping at Publix markets (headquartered in Lakeland, Florida) and that staffers will escort you to any product. But how about these facts? The grocery chain's seafood department will steam and season your shrimp or crabs at no extra charge; fruits and veggies are stacked to create eye-pleasing presentations; kids under 12 can ask for a complimentary cookie; and an employee who is commended by a customer may receive a free sub from the deli. Best of all, Publix teams up with Feeding America food banks to contribute just-pastdate produce, rotisserie chickens, and other items to neighbors in need. publix.com

Bed & Breakfast on Tiffany

Hill Mills River, North Carolina

BREAKFASTS TO WRITE HOME ABOUT

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June - July 2024 من Southern Living.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June - July 2024 من Southern Living.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من SOUTHERN LIVING مشاهدة الكل
Forging a Legacy - A Fredericksburg, Texas, couple is creating a new class of heirloom cast-iron cookware
Southern Living

Forging a Legacy - A Fredericksburg, Texas, couple is creating a new class of heirloom cast-iron cookware

When Jay Mallinckrodt pitched the idea of crafting cast-iron cookware to his wife and business partner, Heather, in 2020, she was hesitant. I immediately said no, she recalls with a laugh. But I finally agreed as long as we made something that we would actually want to use ourselves. Like many others during the initial throes of the pandemic, their multigenerational family operation, Heartland Enterprises (which specializes in machining parts for jet engines and gas and oil equipment), was seeing a lull. “No one was flying; no one was drilling, says Jay. So we had time to try something different.

time-read
2 mins  |
October 2024
A Butterfly Haven - In the Texas Hill Country, a conservationist is helping monarchs adjust to the changing world
Southern Living

A Butterfly Haven - In the Texas Hill Country, a conservationist is helping monarchs adjust to the changing world

Twenty-four years ago, Monika Maeckle bought a small property on the Llano River in Central Texas as an escape from fast-paced San Antonio. A journalist and marketing professional by trade, she didn't at first realize the value of the location on which she and her husband would later build their ranch. She also had no idea how this decision would eventually transform her life.One October evening a few years later, a friend invited Maeckle to their nearby house, which sat on a watershed with several large cypresses. All these butterflies dropped from the sky and started to gravitate toward the trees, she recalls. Stronger people who could swing a big 12-foot-long pole began trying to capture them, and we waited. By the end of the evening, we'd tagged a couple hundred butterflies, and I left there enchanted.

time-read
3 mins  |
October 2024
Oktober Feast!
Southern Living

Oktober Feast!

While I respect your right to serve spooky food in October, you won't find any gory grub at my house this month. Instead, I'm hosting a gathering that's inspired by biergartens across the pond. The focus of the menu is a fondue made with Gruyère cheese and crisp Riesling-like beer-cheese dip but more elevated. It's served with a smorgasbord of dippers such as smoked sausage, grapes, apples, and a few amped-up store-bought snacks, like Mustard-Glazed Pretzel Bites and Smoked Paprika Potato Chips. (Just one taste, and you'll want to add this spice to every bag you open.) Pour yourself a Cider Shandy, and get ready for a good time. Prost, y'all!

time-read
2 mins  |
October 2024
The Roast With the Most
Southern Living

The Roast With the Most

Embrace the changing seasons with a cozy pork supper

time-read
2 mins  |
October 2024
Roll With It
Southern Living

Roll With It

Company's coming? Bake a batch of these apple-stuffed delights

time-read
2 mins  |
October 2024
VIRGINIA PASTORAL
Southern Living

VIRGINIA PASTORAL

IN MIDDLEBURG, THE COMMONWEALTH'S MOST STORIED SMALL TOWN, OCTOBER WELCOMES A HOST OF TREASURED TRADITIONS

time-read
7 mins  |
October 2024
TAKING ROOT
Southern Living

TAKING ROOT

Turn the season's freshest veggies-beets, parsnips, sweet potatoes, carrots-into colorful fall sides

time-read
6 mins  |
October 2024
THE FAMILY PLACE
Southern Living

THE FAMILY PLACE

When it came time for a young Georgia couple to make an 1800s farmhouse their own, they took it apart piece by piece-then rebuilt it into a home ready to welcome the next generation

time-read
3 mins  |
October 2024
Loving Life in Fayetteville
Southern Living

Loving Life in Fayetteville

This Northwest Arkansas college town is easy to love and hard to leave

time-read
5 mins  |
October 2024
The Road That Raised Me
Southern Living

The Road That Raised Me

This lesser-known drive offers the most breathtaking views in the Smoky Mountains

time-read
2 mins  |
October 2024