you can get bit by a rattlesnake, drive around looking for roadkill for dinner, swat mosquitos all dayl ong, chase possums, look for armadillos, weave a couple of baskets, apply calamine lotion to your poison ivy, run from black bears, wrestle Gators, hide from cougers, get swimmers itch from swimming with the ducks and geese-
My goodness, there’s tons to do in Tennessee
Cool thread.
Best advice so far in the thread: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3261694/posts?page=23#23
Tennessee is wide. If you’re smart, you won’t plan on an Elvis tour in the morning, followed by Memphis BBQ for lunch, and then on to the Jack Daniels tour in the afternoon. Not happening...follow the advice in the linked thread.
Get off the blue highway and follow some back-road out into the hollow. Might find some shine, could get interesting! Good luck.
Go here, rent a room and a horse, and ride the trails of the 2,000 acres my Virginia great x4 granfather received as a grant for serving in the Revolutionary War that motivated him to move from Hanover County, VA to Macon County, TN.....after hearing Patrick Henry give his speech in St. John Church and guarding prisoners for Lafayette.....
longctrails.com
Oh, and hang out with my great kin who still live on this land, and go see my great x4 grandfathers’s gravesite..........
Bump
Natchaz Trace parkway. Many historical sites. It starts in Natchaz MS and ends in Nashville, TN
And you get to listen for the price of a cold beer.
Dixie Stampede in Pigeon Forge. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Visitor Center is a great place to start!
One of the hidden gems is Pigeon Forge. Very low key tourist places. Ignore the Titanic Museum shaped like a ship, 16 mini golf places, the monster truck ride and 12 helicopter ride emporiums.
But, if you’re into knives, the Smoky Mountain Knife Works is for you. Their inventory is over 1,000,000 knives and the staff is very knowledgeable.
Smoky Mountains are great too. Excellent backpacking.
If you are in Chattanooga, and a model railroader visit the train museum. Also, the lakes of the TVA...
I got stuck in my East Tennessee driveway this morning.....4 “ of snow on top of 1” of ice
If you go to Cocke County, go off the main road and ask a farmer if he can direct you to a working still and some real moonshiners. Thea might get pretty exciting
There is nothing to do in Tennessee, don’t bother.
Are they giving tours of Algore’s mansion?
Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg - Side-by-side towns with too much to do to list. I rank it as the best vacation-destination in TN, bar none, hands-down.
Pigeon Forge: It’s by far the most family friendly place I’ve ever found and I travel a lot. Pigeon Forge can almost be described as a city-wide theme park and is the putt-putt, go-cart, theme-show, roadside-museum, music-hall etc, etc capital of TN. Plus, there’s an actual theme-park there (Dollywood) which I like more than six-flags type parks.
Gatlinburg: More for shopping, but has the aquarium, Ober Gatlinburg, restaurants, Smokey Mtn Moonshine distillery (free tastings).
I’ll head to Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg at the drop of a hat. I can not recommend the area enough.
If it’s Nature you’re after, take the drive from Gatlinburg through the Smokey Mountain via Newfound gap to Cherokee, NC. If you have all day, detour over to Cade’s Cove as a bonus for truly memorable, beautiful scenery.
Nashville is Music City USA. I’ve had the public experience and the behind-the-scenes recording industry experience. There’s some great music history there. You can see the bulk of it on music-row.
Memphis - Great “Over-21” scene on Beale St. If it’s BBQ you’re after, I can confidently recommend Central-BBQ and Interstate-BBQ. Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous is good, but does not meet the hype or the price. And if you are in Memphis, you might as well go ahead and make your pilgrimage to Graceland. To me, it was more eye-opening as to what it isn’t, rather than what it is.
Don’t know where you are going or how much leisure time you’ll have, but there’s a ton to do in TN and if you don’t have a good time, you just ain’t trying. Good Luck and have a great trip!