After
Finals, Why Leave Tennessee?
Planning that summer
vacation after finals are over? Why leave the state when
Tennessee has so much to offer residents and
visitors alike? Yes,
Tennessee has something for everyone: from white
water rafting to theme and
amusement parks, museums, historical sites and some
of the best state and
national parks in the country. Below are just a few
sites you may want to put on your list of places to go
this summer.
Among the best
Tennessee amusement and theme parks is Dollywood,
located in
Pigeon Forge, Tenn., offering live music, rides and
crafts and is one of the
top 50 most visited theme parks in the country
today.
Libertyland Amusement Park, located in Memphis,
Tenn., has over 20 high speed thrill rides, a gaming
area and offers carnival-style food at restaurants and
stands located throughout the park.
Libertyland is also host to Spirit!, a musical
celebration of our unity as a nation and of our diverse
population.
Ober Gatlinburg Ski Resort and Amusement Park,
located in
Gatlinburg, Tenn., is a mountaintop ski resort theme
park with fun, excitement and
great shopping for everyone.
Splash Country Water Adventure Park, located in
Pigeon Forge, Tenn. contains white water adventures,
water falls, winding streams and many rides from “wild
to mild.”
Tennessee natural and
educational attractions include
Adventure Science
Center, located in Nashville, Tenn., featuring exhibits
depicting Hollywood’s horror movies, where monsters
convey the power of the atom, learn about light from the
Prince of Darkness, energy from the Wolf Man,
conservation from the Mummy and electricity from
Frankenstein.
A Walk in the Woods,
located in
Gatlinburg, Tenn., features guided trips
through the Smoky Mountains National Park, designed to
make your stay as enjoyable as possible while teaching
natural history.
Rock City, located in Chattanooga, Tenn., high on the
top of Lookout Mountain, offers the world-famous Lover’s
Leap, 140-foot high falls and over 400 species of
flowers, plants and shrubs. Enjoy being one with nature
while walking through splendid gardens and woodland
paths.
Ruby Falls, located in
Chattanooga, Tenn., is one of the nation’s natural
wonders and one of Chattanooga’s most famous
attractions.
Ruby Falls is a 145-foot high waterfall
located inside historic Lookout Mountain and also
features caves and caverns.
The Lost Sea, located in Sweetwater, Tenn., is the
world’s largest underground lake and is part of an
extensive cave system known as
Craighead Caverns.
Tennessee also offers
many historical musical entertainment sites which
include the world-famous Beale Street, located in
Memphis, Tenn. and is the home of Blues and the
birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll and offers a carnival
atmosphere with great food and fun for all.
The Country Music Hall of Fame, located in Nashville,
Tennessee’s Music Row, is a $37 million structure
exhibiting the best performers in country music.
The Dixie Stampede,
located in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., features 32 horses and
dozens of cast members in a 35,000 square-foot arena,
proving to be one of Tennessee’s finest sites in down
home entertainment. Dolly Parton created the
Dixie
Stampede in hope of recreating the family fun of her
childhood when family and friends gathered for friendly
competitions and to enjoy great food.
Graceland, located in
Memphis, Tenn., is the world-famous home of Elvis
Presley, features little- known facts about the
entertainer, photos, exhibits and many of Presley’s gold
and platinum albums and performance costumes.
The Grand Ole Opry,
located in Nashville, Tenn., offers the best in country
music entertainment, comedy and pageantry with a
connection between artists and audience like no other in
the world.
The Nashville Symphony, located in Nashville, Tenn.,
features more than 200 performances annually in
Classical, Pops, Pied Piper and Summer series concerts
and has long since been considered on of Tennessee’s
“cornerstone of performing arts.”
Tennessee also offers
many National and State Parks including the
Great Smoky
Mountains National Park. Located in
Gatlinburg, Tenn.,
it is the largest national park in the East, featuring
over one-half million acres, auto tours of the park and
over 270 miles of scenic
Smoky Mountain roads.
Fort Donelson National
Battlefield, located in Dover, Tenn., features
Fort Donelson National Cemetery, the final resting place of
many Union soldiers killed in the Civil War and many
other American veterans representing over seven wars.
Fort Donelson and the Dover Hotel, where Confederate
General Simon B. Buckner surrendered to Ulysses S.
Grant, can also be found there.
Tennessee also offers
many locations for whitewater rafting including the
Appalachian Outdoors Whitewater Rafting, located in
Hartford, Tenn., where visitors can raft the Upper
Pigeon River, some of the best white water in Tennessee.
The longest trip on the river is 6.4 miles of white
water fun, containing classes of II through IV level
rapids. However, for the more conservative rafter, the
park also offers a four mile trip on the Lower Pigeon
River with class I and II level rapids.
Rafting in the
Smokies, located in Gatlinburg, Hartford and Benton,
Tenn., offers many whitewater rafting trips while
monitoring and keeping in contact between the Big
Pigeon, Ocoee and Nantahala River Outposts, creating a
safe whitewater rafting experience.
Another whitewater
rafting company is 5 Rivers Adventures-Whitewater
Rafting, located in Cosby, Tenn.. It is family owned and
operated in the heart of the Smoky Mountains along the
Pigeon River and is the closest whitewater rafting
adventure to
Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.
So whether you like
entertainment and adventure parks, music or whitewater
rafting, Tennessee has something to offer for everyone.
Theresa A. Oliver -
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