Help me w/ a four-day weekend vacation (Knoxville, Chattanooga: live in, beach)

[amyevansmom]

I live in the Knoxville area and know nothing about "getaway" vacations for the family. I'd like to go somewhere w/in 3-4 hours from Knox. I have an almost 6-year old and almost 2-year old.

Where is fun for the kids and family oriented to visit?

P.S. We've been to Chattanooga and Nashville. We don't mind traveling to another state.

[KC38506]

Go to Asheville and see the Biltmore House. On I-40, it's about 2 hours. My kids were saying, "We're going to see a huge house? Big deal!" But AFTER, they were quite impressed!

Lexington, KY is also a beautiful area to see the horse farms. It's right up I-75, and it's a gorgeous drive through the mountains.

[hiknapster]

You've probably been to Dollywood, right? We like to take a weekend and just stay in the area. We just love Dollywood!

I'd love to know what is the closest beach to Knoxville. I still haven't figure that out, yet.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by amyevansmom

I live in the Knoxville area and know nothing about "getaway" vacations for the family. I'd like to go somewhere w/in 3-4 hours from Knox. I have an almost 6-year old and almost 2-year old.

Where is fun for the kids and family oriented to visit?

P.S. We've been to Chattanooga and Nashville. We don't mind traveling to another state.

As hiknapster said, Dollywood is hard to beat. My nieces and nephews in NC go to Gatlinburg / Pigeon Forge quite a bit and love it.

Also, Atlanta has lots of kid-friendly places, particularly the Georgia Aquarium, the largest aquarium in the world.

In SW NC you can take your kids on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. They have a special train ride for kids. I guess that's probably for warmer weather.

Maybe your kids are too young for this, but the space museum in Huntsville AL is also a lot of fun.

Good luck!

[mbmouse]

I agree with hikn & JMT, Dollywood is Awesome! My kids LOVE it. There is also Rock City by Chat. There is "The lost sea" in Sweetwater and lots of other caves around too,in Townsend, Sevierville, Dandridge, Bristol, VA. My kids love doing those tours and so do I, not bad for $7or $8 per Adult for 3 or 4 hours of interesting tours. I hear the aquarium in Chat is great too, we like the one in Gatlinburg. There is also a neat park in the corner of KY/TN and VA. It is the Cumberland Gap State Park. You travel up 25E and go though a huge tunnel with big fans in it, my boys loved that. There are trails and things to do and see, and you can stand in 3 states at one time, kinda cool.
Go on TN state web site, there are all kinds of thing listed there under the visitor section. If you do go to any neat place in TN, please don't forget to give us a trip report when you get back!

[Ridgerunner]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

You've probably been to Dollywood, right? We like to take a weekend and just stay in the area. We just love Dollywood!

I'd love to know what is the closest beach to Knoxville. I still haven't figure that out, yet.

Hipnapster, the closest beaches are those in the Wilmington, NC area. Stay on I-40 East until it ends.

[Ridgerunner]

If you visit the Lexington, KY area don't miss Kentucky Horse Park. And in Louisville a ride on the Louisville Belle steamboat is a must.

[Milo Bloom]

Originally Posted by Ridgerunner

Hipnapster, the closest beaches are those in the Wilmington, NC area. Stay on I-40 East until it ends.

Lord, NO! North Carolina is VERY long.

The closest beaches distance-wise are probably the barrier islands around Charleston. Edisto Beach, Hunting Island, Isle of Palms, Kiawah, Folly Beach are all 6-6.5 hours.

Wilmington is 7.5.