I hesitate to advise on clothing since I have never been to the southeast. I hear summer there means hot and humid. I would not know what to do in those conditions!

As for food, 3 days is a short trip. Cooking is optional. I always take a stove and cook because I am totally addicted to coffee. I tried cold coffee once and did not enjoy that at all!

For day-time snacks or lunch I like trail bars, jerkey, and cheese sticks (those individual 1-oz wrapped sticks), raisins and almonds. For a cooked breakfast I do oatmeal with added dried fruit and nuts and coffee. For a no-cook breakfast there are cearal bars and instant breakfast. For a cooked dinner I like the Knorr "Side dishes" with an add a packet of tuna and a cheese stick, hot tea or cocoa and a few hard candies for dessert. A good no-cook dinner would be tortillas and the dry hummus mixed with water and olive oil, tuna (packets that have no water). Crackers and peanut butter are also good if you can keep from smashing the crackers. Although it is a bit heavy there is nothing wrong with a deli sandwhich for your first lunch - just be sure it does not have mayo or anything that will spoil without refrigeration. You also may want a sport drink powder - like Cytomax. Tea bags actually can be put in a water bottle for "sun tea".

Just go to your store and get stuff you like, try to keep the total weight around 2 pounds per day if you cook, a bit more if you do not cook. As you gain more experience you will learn how to pare down the weight a bit. (Food planning becomes a bit more complicated for longer trips when every ounce counts.) Look for food that does not get ruined if squished and does not spoil without refrigeration. I would avoid a ton of candy bars because they will just spike your blood sugar and then leave you wiped out - a few for a treat is OK.

If cost is no factor you could just buy freeze-dried commercial meals - this certainly is easy. But I think most of us who backpack a lot tend to end up avoiding these over-priced options.