Nashville/Knoxville

[lostman]

Headed up there next week for some softball games and some real vacation time! After 2 days in Nashville we head to Knoxville. Rented a house in Sevierville for 6 days. Our travel crew includes two 15 year old boys (youngest and a friend) my 14 year old niece, and my 10 year old nephew, and 4-5 adults . I have been researching some of the stuff to do while there. Anyone have any suggestions? Zipline? Dollywood? Hiking? Unique "sights to see" like the worlds largest rubber band ball? Any restaurants that are a must visit? Any good golf courses there?

 

[swTXSU]

I enjoyed this place
The Link

Stocked up on several pocket knives and brought some back for friends.

We stayed in Pidgeon Forge so our restaraunts were a little more crowded and pricey, Alamo Steakhouse was good, Old Mill Restaraunt was good, I recommend trying to get in during off hours so less crowded. I know this sounds strange but my favorite was Huck Finn's Catfish, prices were reasonable and food was good.

Plenty of things to do for the kids, I think it is the go-kart track capitol of the world. Plenty of shopping, there is a boot outlet on Parkway down by Dollywood, buy one pair get two free, if you like boots. Gatlinburg on down the road is also pretty nice, I believe that is where the National Park starts, you can ride the lift up to the mountains and check it out.

We were there during christmas break so we skied instead of touring Dollywood, but the kids were a little ticked they didn't have time to go.

 

[UTEng]

We, too, are making a trip to Nashville then over to Gatlinburg in mid-July. I have been to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge 20+ years ago. There are go-kart and mini-golf places on just about every corner at both places. I hear the zipline tours are awesome. My boys are a bit too young to enjoy the zipline, so we'll be skipping that. However, Gatlinburg has an alpine slide that I would highly recommend. It's essentially a one-man sled w/ wheels that rolls down a concrete track on the side of a mountain. They have parallel runs so you can race someone. Very cool...we're not going to miss this one. I looked on their tourist sites and the river rafting is pretty good and hiking the Smokey Mountains is great, too, if you like that kind of stuff.

 

[lostman]

UTEng - if you are there anytime between July 7-11, take in a game and possibly see Osterman and Willis together in action again!

Pride Schedule

I will definitely check out the rafting and the mountain slide recs. Thanks!

 

[brntorng]

NashTrash is hilarious and highly recommended.

The Bluebird Cafe is an institution in Nashville and a great place to hear some of Nashville's finest singer-songwriters. Reservations are mandatory.

Depending on your musical taste and who's playing, The Grand Ole Opry could be a great time or a complete waste of time.

The General Jackson Showboat can be a good time, again depending on your musical taste.

Don't miss Arnold's Country Kitchen for a great cheap meal. Home cookin' at its finest.

Hog Heaven may be one of the best BBQ joints not in Texas.

There's also the Country Music Hall of Fame, etc., but that may not interest all ages.

 

[SunBurntOrange]

While in Knoxville.....this place for Shrimp and Grits. Trust me.
Puleo's

 

[UTEng]

Would be nice to relive the college days with Cat...I think she pitched when I was attending...but we won't be there until the 17th.

 

[lostman]

Plans changed, and then changed again, but it was a great week. We did not do Nashville since our softball player was not playing. We drove up through Memphis and went to Rendevous for ribs and Graceland the next day. Touristy, I know, but we were only there for the night and the next morning, then on to Knoxville.

Here is what we ended up doing:
Hiking to Abram's Falls A 3.5 to 4 hour hike, moderate in difficulty level. A great time!

OberGatlinburg The kids did the alpine slide twice, the adults took the tram to the top. Nice view, but just meh. Would not have missed this if we did not do it.

Cherokee Smokies We were going to the Indian reservation, but it started to rain. We went to the Museum and the Smoky Mountain Gold and Ruby Mine. The kids had a blast panning for gems and gold!

Rafting in the Smokies The high point of the trip for the kids and adults!

Pigeon River Canopy Tour This was just down the street from Rafting in the Smokies and so Lostboy#2, his friend and I decided to try this as well. Glad we did!

We really did not get to do much that was suggested on this list, but it was still helpful to have it. When you have a party of 8-10 people, not all ideas get the nod.

Thanks alll, for the suggestions. UTEng, I would highly recomnmend the rafting (if your kids are old enough). They also have tubing in the lower river, but it looked like a lot of tube toting rather than tube floating. I would also rec the hike for sure. (Free!)

 

[UTEng]

Glad your trip turned out well, lostman. Our was good, too. We got in to Gatlinburg Wednesday night (forgot about the time change to EDT!). Ended up doing OberGatlinburg that morning. The kids really enjoyed it. If anyone goes there for more than 2-3 hours, I would highly suggest getting the all-day bracelets. The tickets for the activities will eat your lunch if that's all you buy and are there for a while. We were only there for 2 hrs, bought 2 books of tickets, went through all of them, and just about broke even versus the arm bands. 2nd half of the day, we DID do a rafting trip on the lower pigeon. Was a great time and was the highlight of our trip, too. Very good intro trip for 3 people who had never been rafting before (wife, 7 yr old, and 5 yr old). Besides, they don't let people under the age of 8 on the upper, more difficult section. Day 3 we spent entirely at Dollywood. Very expensive admission tickets (think Disney-type prices), but they were offering a free meal if purchased online. That worked out well because we closed the park. Kids did not want to leave at all. Needless to say, we all slept well that night and started our 2-day trip back to H-town the next morning. Rolled into Houston about 3pm on Sunday, so I had a whopping 4 hours or so to "relax" and get ready for work on Monday.

I needed a vacation from my vacation. Good times, though.