Touring Tennessee: from city lights to country sights, vacation options abound

Travel America, Sept-Oct, 2004 by Angela Fox

AT NEARLY 500 MILES LONG and just 115 miles wide, Tennessee is the longest, leanest state in the South. That doesn't mean the Volunteer State is skimpy on things to do and places to see, though. With Nashville as our home base for nearly 20 years, we've traveled the state from the mighty Mississippi in the west to the Smoky Mountains in the east--and we haven't come close to seeing it all yet.

Chattanooga, in the southeast corner of the state, is one destination we love to revisit year after year. The city's most famous attraction is the Tennessee Aquarium, which sits on the banks of the Tennessee River in a beautifully landscaped urban park. Inside are dozens of exhibits featuring diving ducks, playful river otters, fascinating turtles, and slithering snakes, plus enormous glass tanks filled with every sort of freshwater fish imaginable. Sharks, stingrays, and other saltwater creatures inhabit the Gulf of Mexico exhibit.

Lookout Mountain, another Chattanooga landmark, is home to Rock City Gardens. The 14-acre attraction features winding pathways lined with unusual rock formations like the Fat Man's Squeeze and the 1,000-Ton Balanced Rock that lead to a lookout point from which you can see seven states.

For a real thrill in Chattanooga, take the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway, a one-mile trip almost straight up--and down. The specially built trolley-style cars have both side and ceiling windows so you can really appreciate the view as you travel on a track that has a breathtaking grade of nearly 73 percent at the top. The railway has the distinction of being the world's steepest passenger train.

North of Chattanooga and a stone's throw from Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Knoxville is our favorite base for exploring the natural beauty of eastern Tennessee while enjoying all the amenities a modern city has to offer. New developments include Volunteer Lauding, a scenic one-mile riverwalk with a visitor center, attractions, marina, restaurants, waterfalls, and fountains. Be sure to tour the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, the only museum of its kind in the world, and spend time in Old City, a quaint part of downtown filled with unique shops, restaurants, and nightlife. Kids will enjoy the East Tennessee Discovery Center's hands-on science exhibits and the Knoxville Zoo. You can tame your sweet tooth and hunt down an art souvenir at the Historic Candy Factory and Victorian Houses, where delectable chocolates are made daily and original art and fine crafts by local artists are displayed in buildings and homes dating from the early 20th century.

The Museum of Appalachia, in nearby Norris, is an outdoor living history site that is a must-do for anyone visiting the state. It hosts Tennessee Fall Homecoming October 7-10, an annual event that is the most extensive and authentic gathering of old-time musicians and pioneer-type craftspeople in the country.

Just east of Knoxville, you can lose yourself in the beauty of the Smoky Mountains, ablaze with fail colors in September and October. You'll also want to shop the outlet malls and enjoy the commercial attractions of Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, and Gatlinburg. Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, a kingdom of homespun fun operated by country singer Dolly Parton, spotlights mountain culture through music and crafts, offering more than 30 rides and the new Splash Country water park.

A statue of Dolly graces the court-house lawn in her hometown of Sevierville. Other visitor magnets there include NASCAR SpeedPark, Floyd Garrett's Muscle Car Museum, Tennessee Museum of Aviation, Forbidden Caverns, and Tanger Five Oaks Outlet Center, not to mention state-of-the-art music theaters.

The Townsend-Cades Cove area, promoted as the "Peaceful Side of the Smokies," offers plenty of places to absorb mountain heritage and lose yourself in nature. Seven miles inside the national park's Townsend entrance is an 11-mile driving loop that circles Cades Cove, the site of a once-thriving community and now a museum piece known for its picturesque log cabins, barns, churches, and working gristmill.

Greeneville, in the less-visited north-eastern corner of Tennessee, is best known for its association with our 17th President, Andrew Johnson. You can visit his tailor shop, burial site, and two homes. Stay at the General Morgan Inn, a complex of four interconnected railroad hotels restored to their original splendor.

The next stop on your tour of Tennessee is centrally situated Nashville, the state capital. The home of country music and the NFL Titans, the city offers a wide range of cultural attractions. You'll want to visit the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, with changing exhibitions of masterpieces from the world's great museums, and the Country Music Hall of Fame, where state-of-the-art exhibits trace the history of country music. Next, take a self-guided tour of the Ryman Auditorium, the restored former home of the Grand Ole Opry where big-name music acts appear regularly.

Round out your Nashville cultural tour by visiting Fisk University to enjoy the Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Modern Art at the Carl Van Vechten Gallery. Housed in a restored 19th century building, the collection was personally donated to Fisk by Georgia O'Keeffe in 1949 and includes works by her and Stieglitz (her famed photographer husband) as well as Picasso, Renoir, Cezanne, and others. Next, head to Opry Mills (which replaced Opryland theme park several years ago) to shop its 200 stores, take in the latest film, and dine at theme eateries. Finally, settle into your seats at the Opry House adjacent to Opryland Hotel and Opry Mills for the greatest continuing live music show on earth--the Grand Ole Opry.