Writer and travel author Joe Tennis set out to find a classic must-visit and a tucked-away secret of a destination in each of our nine coverage states. His results, beginning in alabama and following the spring northward, are accompanied here by our 12-month almanac and 50 Great festivals in the states.

Get ready, get set, go – into the mountains of nine states for 18 great getaways:

Alabama Secret: Weiss Lake. Sunshine awakens the shoreline of Weiss Lake just before 5:30 a.m. in Alabama’s Cherokee County. This is the “Crappie Capital of the World.” And in Centre, at the Grid Iron sports bar, known for serving chicken with a white barbecue sauce, that fish is pronounced “croppy” (well, at least when they’re biting), just as the local mountains are called “Appa-lay-chen” (not “Appa-latch-en”).