Road trips are as popular as ever, and we've partnered with world-renowned travel publisher Lonely Planet to bring you some of the best driving trips in the United States. Each trip focuses around a specific theme, locale or passion.

This week's trip takes you along the shores of the mighty Mississippi River in search of its most noteworthy attractions.

Few other tributaries have captured our imagination the way the Big Muddy has. From "Old Man River" to "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," the Mississippi River has been immortalized in song, on stage and in literature.

The Mississippi River isn't our country's longest; that distinction goes to the Missouri River. But it is our most important waterway, ferrying fuel, goods and people to the Midwest and back again, just as it has for hundreds of years.

Head downstream and discover this vital part of America's heartland, from Hannibal, Mo., all the way to New Orleans, La.

Your journey begins in Hannibal, where the great Mark Twain grew up at river's edge. Here, you'll enjoy all the scenes of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn's greatest adventures — including the fence he didn't paint and the cave where he and Becky Thatcher got lost. Visit the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum or cruise the river, not on a driftwood raft, but on a dinner cruise aboard the Mark Twain Riverboat.

Follow the river, and U.S. Highway 61, farther south and you'll reach the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. You've probably seen it on TV, but its sheer size and gentle arc against the (hopefully) blue sky are more impressive than the small screen lets on. In the basement you'll find the Museum of Westward Expansion, chronicling the Lewis & Clark expedition. Lewis famously left St. Louis on horseback and connected with Clark in Illinois before they rafted wild rivers and paved the way for countless western pioneers.

If you're traveling with kids, be sure to stop at the amazing City Museum in downtown St. Louis. The former shoe factory has been converted into a colorful mishmash of a museum that's geared toward little ones, but has plenty to delight the grownups, as well.

From St. Louis, follow Interstate 55 south to Memphis, one of the river's most soulful cities. There's blues and barbecue almost everywhere you turn, and music lovers can get their fill of musical landmarks, including Graceland, Sun Studio, Stax Records and Beale Street.

There are also some great museums here. The Smithsonian's Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum examines the social and cultural history that produced the blues in the Mississippi Delta. The Mississippi River Museum is the place to learn more about the history of the Big Muddy. And at the Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum, set in a modest clapboard house laced with tunnels fed by trapdoors, you'll learn how the Mississippi helped shepherd slaves to freedom.

Spend the night at the famous Peabody Hotel, where a flock of ducks march each morning to the marble lobby fountain. And, when your stomach growls, seek spicy, saucy salvation at Cozy Corner. This family-run spot is famous for its barbecued Cornish hen, and it also serves a mean rack of ribs.

Pick up the Blues Highway in Memphis and drive through the Mississippi Delta, where the blues were born. Clarksdale, Miss., is where live music and blues history are most accessible. Don't miss the Delta Blues Museum, with the best collection of memorabilia in the delta, including Muddy Waters' reconstructed Mississippi cabin.

There's live music in Clarksdale at least four nights a week. Morgan Freeman's Ground Zero lures the tour buses and has the most professional venue and sound system, but if you land here on a weekend head to Red's, a ragged downtown juke joint run with in-your-face charm by its namesake.

Hungry? That smoky sweetness in the air is coming from Abe's, a local barbecue joint that's been in business since 1924. According to the menu, when Robert Johnson was mingling with Satan, old Abe was getting a barbecue sauce recipe from Jesus.

Stay at the Shack Up Inn, an old plantation where a cotton gin and sharecroppers' cabins have been converted into guestrooms stuffed with kitsch antiques. The owners are warm and fun, and are tuned in to the local live-music scene.

Farther south off Highway 61, the Vicksburg National Military Park honors one of the turning points of the Civil War. In June 1863, the Union launched a major siege and eventually took the Confederacy's fortress. Robert E. Lee surrendered on July 4, and gave the North undisputed control of the Mississippi. Winding along the 16-mile Battlefield Drive past 1,330 monuments and markers makes for a fascinating afternoon. It's also a fabulous bike ride if you're traveling with bicycles.

In Natchez, Miss., you'll be greeted with an impressive collection of historic antebellum mansions, which are still open to visitors during the twice annual pilgrimage seasons held in the spring and fall. Care to taste mansion life? Dine at The Castle, a restaurant set at the Dunleith, a gorgeous mansion ringed with Corinthian columns. The night scene, when the house is illuminated, is unforgettable, and it's widely considered the best kitchen in town.

Cross the Louisiana state line and head toward Donaldsonville, where you'll learn about the region's seldom told African-American history at the River Road African American Museum. You'll learn about slave revolts, the Underground Railroad, reconstruction and Jim Crow from displays crafted from antiques, artifacts, photographs and video interviews.

From Donaldsonville, make your way toward New Orleans. Don't miss the French Market, where New Orleanians have been trading goods for over 200 years. In addition to the famous Café Du Monde, where you can snack on beignets, there's a flea market, gift stalls and a produce market. If you haven't yet floated down the river, board the Steamboat Natchez at Canal Street. It offers historic dinner and day cruises that are great for families.

Head to Crabby Jacks and order a smoked duck po'boy and a salad to go, then take them to one of dozens of riverside benches for a picnic. While you eat, you can sit and ponder that sweet, brown, sinuous river that has formed, flooded, and nourished the continental United States for centuries.

Bio: Greg Benchwick has rumbled in the jungles of South America, walked across Spain and challenged the peaks of Alaska. He specializes in adventure and sustainable travel, and has written more than a dozen guidebooks.

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