Ideas for a late summer road trip through the south?

So I live in LA and am making a short movie on film and my friends and I are thinking about driving down to the south in August. I’m not quite sure where to go, but I’m sort of leaning towards Louisiana. I’m very fascinated by southern gothic beauty- the weeping willows, old chapels, fields, rivers etc. Where is a good place to go to that has a lot of these things? We want to swim in rivers, maybe explore some manors, spend the night in beautiful historical places. I spent some time in Louisiana when I was really young and I remember the weeping willows with purple flowers hanging down, the chirping of the birds and bugs, the frogs ribbeting, the classic southern food, the lemonade, etc. It would also be great to see a rodeo or go to some sort of festival. Any ideas :)?? Thanks so much!