This deal should appeal to the Dennis Hopper in all of us: The Peabody Hotel in Memphis is celebrating "The Art of the Motorcycle" exhibit with its Easy Rider Package through Oct. 30.

The package — $207 for single occupancy; $242 double — includes one night's accommodations, a welcome cocktail at the hotel's Corner Bar, breakfast in Capriccio Grill and admission to the exhibit presented by Wonders, the Memphis International Cultural Series, at the Pyramid. Also, for bikers, there's parking in the hotel's adjoining garage and a self bike wash.

David Heald (ENLARGE)
This 1948 Indian Chief motorcycle is among those on display in 'The Art of the Motorcycle,' through Oct. 30 in Memphis.
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Based on the exhibition presented by the Guggenheim Museum in New York, "The Art of the Motorcycle" examines the motorcycle as an icon of our times. Narrated by Jay Leno, the exhibition features nearly 100 of history's most significant motorcycles, from the 1885 Daimler Einspur to the 2005 Honda Rune.

The AAA four-diamond Peabody is known for its twice daily march of the Peabody ducks in the hotel lobby — a 76-year-old tradition.

Information: 1-800-732-2639, http://www.peabodymemphis.com.

On the run

You have to hand it to the folks at Loews New Orleans hotel. They know a good promotion hook when they see it.

The Big Easy hotel is offering cold-footed brides-to-be a place to retreat with the new Runaway Bride package. Rates start at $485 per night through Sept. 30.

Here's the pitch: "From a private palm reader predicting their uncertain future and foot massages for fleeing fiancées to rock re-setting recommendations from the Recovery Concierge, Loews New Orleans Hotel provides runaway brides the perfect hideout."

Also in the deal, 24-hour call screening to avoid "please come back to me" pleas, a Mardi Gras mask to hide behind and an in-room "Runaway Bride" DVD.

The hotel's Recovery Concierge, famous for relieving Big Easy indulgences, concentrates on remedies for a broken heart, including great places for retail therapy and beauty salons that can provide a look-changing haircut.

Information: 1-800-235-6397.

Escape to Asheville

Chill out in the western North Carolina mountains this Memorial Day weekend with a package offered by the Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa.

The package includes two nights' resort lodging, breakfast for two each day, May 28 prime rib buffet and a May 29 buffet with entertainment by Grammy award-winning musician and storyteller David Holt and the Lightning Bolts. Rates for the May 28-30 stay start at $659 per couple. Three-night packages are also available for arrival on May 27.

The May 29 concert is a combination of a family-style buffet and an Americana cabaret-style show featuring mountain melodies, down-home music and regional dancers.

Holt is dedicated to performing and preserving traditional American music and storytelling. He plays 10 acoustic instruments and has recorded traditional mountain music and Southern folk tales.

Individual family-style buffet and Holt concert tickets are $55 per person. Children's tickets are $25.

Information: 1-800-438-5800, http://www.groveparkinn.com.

Southern comfort

The Marriott-operated Stone Mountain Inn celebrates its 40th birthday with the Stone Mountain Family Escape package through Sept. 5.

Nightly rates from $229 per room include a double/double guest room, breakfast buffet for four, and Play Another Day All-Attraction passes for four (second day is free). Stay two nights and receive a $50 Marriott Bonus Buck to be used toward a future two-night paid stay at any Marriott hotel.

The 92-room hotel — a replica of a 19th-century plantation — recently completed $630,000 in room renovations and enhancements to the outdoor walkways.

Guests can relax in rocking chairs on the inn's front porch and view the world's largest high relief carving on the side of Stone Mountain.

The 3,200-acre Stone Mountain Park features the Mountaintop Skylift; Crossroads, an 1870s replica of a Southern town; the Treehouse Challenge; the Great Barn; cruises on the Scarlett O'Hara riverboat; and four waterslides.

Information: 770-469-3311 or 1-888-670-2250, http://www.stonemountain-inn.com.

Hotels with a past

The Old Edwards Inn and Spa in Highlands, N.C., is one of six new members of the National Trust Historic Hotels of America.

Other inductees include the Omni Parker House Hotel, Boston; the Algonquin Hotel, New York; Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Harrodsburg, Ky.; Madden's on Gull Lake, Brainerd, Minn.; and the Eldridge Hotel, Lawrence, Kan.

Historic Hotels of America has 219 member hotels representing more than 38,000 rooms.

Reservations: 1-800-678-8946, http://www.historichotels.org.

Manatee encounter

The nonprofit Manatee Observation and Education Center in Fort Pierce, Fla., has to be one of the best deals going: admission is only $1 (and it's free for children under age 6).

Education coordinator Janet Winikoff says the center offers visitors the chance to view manatees and other wildlife native to the Indian River Lagoon.

Tours on the 42-passenger pontoon the Gator are offered six days a week for $19 per adult and $12 per child. Learn about birds and marine mammals such as dolphins and manatees, as well as the ecology and habitats of the lagoon.

Tours depart at 10:30 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays and 1 and 3 p.m. Sundays. Purchase tickets at the Manatee Center's Vanishing Mermaid gift shop.

Information: 772-460-6445, http://www.manateecenter.com.

Summer by the sea

The TradeWinds Island Resorts in St. Pete Beach are offering a Florida Beach Escape Rate beginning at $125 per night. The rate is available Sundays through Thursdays through Dec. 24.

Special family activities include Glow-in-the-Dark Volleyball on the beach on Tuesdays, the Redbeard the Pirate Show on Wednesdays and Saturday nights and the Luau Island Cookout Party followed by "Aloha From the TradeWinds — Memories of Elvis" on Friday nights.

There's also a three-story High Tide Slide on the beach and a nine-hole miniature golf course.

TradeWinds includes the Sandpiper Hotel and Suites, Island Grand Resort and Body Works Salon and Spa.

Information: 1-866-587-8538, http://www.justletgo.com.

More summer specials

If you're heading to the Daytona Beach area, three hotels are offering some good deals.

The Atlantic Plaza in New Smyrna Beach is lopping 25 percent off weekly rentals during June, July and August. 386-427-4636, www.atlanticplaza.net.

At Cabana Colony Cottages in Daytona Beach Shores, rent a cottage on the beach with kitchen from $89 per night, including continental breakfast. The Shoreline All Suites Inn, its sister property also in Daytona Beach Shores, has one-bedroom suites with kitchens from $89 a night. Continental breakfast included. 1-800-293-0653, http://www.daytonashoreline.com.