BootsnAll Travel Community

Hi,

We are seriously considering a visit to the Tennessee area this summer after touring extensively in the western states over the years. Anybody got any suggestions for must see places for a UK family with two teenage boys ?

Well, if you're into hiking, there's plenty of fantastic sights to see in the Smokey Mountains as well as wildlife. Deer, river otters and even black bear. Several waterfalls and ancient forests as well.
A great guide book for the Smokies is Hiking Trails of the Smokies a.k.a. the little brown book by area hikers.
Here in Knoxville we've got a pretty nice zoo and, for a town it's size, a decent music scene and nightlife as well.
Gatlinburg, which is in the mountains is pretty much a tourist trap but it's neat to see at least once and there's an amazing aquarium there. There's also an aquarium in Chattanooga that's more about local/regional exhibits than salt water, but no less amazing.
If you've got any interests in any thing more specific feel free to pm me and I'll dig up whatever I can for you.
East Tennessee is a beautiful place and I'm sure you'll enjoy the visit.

Let's not forget Memphis. They have all the blues and Elvis stuff. Good food and fun nightlife as well. The drive to Nashville is a boring one, but it's a really great city with tons of stuff to do, it's also where I grew up. Of course you would have to head on to the Smokies. I also recommend Chattanooga.

Not sure about this being a family event, but if you enjoy music festivals (and lots of hippies) Bonnaroo is an amazing time. It's held in June on a farm in Tenn for 4 days. I think it's a must see for music lovers, BUT there is a fair share of open drug use (mostly pot) so it might be tricky having a couple hog wild teens with you

I also think the Jack Danial's distillery was in Tenn. which I thought was pretty neat, if you're in the neighborhood anyways and need to kill a couple hours anyway.

dave

Many thanks for taking the time to reply.

UK

quote:

Originally posted by Fluffhead:
I also think the Jack Daniel's distillery was in Tenn.

Indeed the Jack Daniel's distillery is in Tennessee. And, oddly enough, in a "dry" county! Which means you can't buy or sell alcohol! Go figure.

If they're the "how do they do that?" type of teenagers, in to figuring out how things work, then there's this cool museum in nearby Louisville, KY called the Callahan Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind. You can also tour the American Printing House for the Blind as well. Together, it's often noted as one of the most underrated/best-kept-secret kind of places to stop in. Just all kinds of cool, inspiring, thought-provoking (in a good way) & intersesting stuff on how this company makes anything & everything accessible to blind people. You learn a lot about what it must be like to be blind, how to amke something like the internet accessible to someone who can't see, etc. There's a couple of good bagel/coffee shops nearby for grabbing a bite. Not boring, and not a huge time consumer either....often touted as a "must" pitstop for people passing thru.

While in Louisville, the Louisville Slugger museum isn't too bad, (a little touristy, but if they're/you're into baseball, it's an o.k. stop).