One of the prettiest and most interesting cities we’ve been to is Savannah, with it’s beautiful squares, lovely buildings, and great food. If you’ve read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil you’ve probably developed a longing to see Savannah, so go there! You won’t be disappointed.
As far as driving goes, our trip into the Smokey Mountains was amazing. There are dogwood trees all over the forests and the mountains are fabulous. The Blue Ridge Mountain Highway is something you must see, though because the drop offs on the side of the highway freaked me out we only experienced maybe 25 miles of it or so. It was still magnificent from the regular road.