Our amazing vacation started with a long car drive from Missouri to Tennessee. Upon arriving in Gatlinburg, we were fascinated by the brightly-lit shopping strip in the middle of town. However, we were slightly confused because none of the streets were named! Instead, the streetlights are numbered. To know where you are, you need to look for the number near the stoplight!
We then settled in to the Bluegreen Resort.. We enjoyed the cozy half-cabin, with its full kitchen, master bedroom, and living room. We got to see the fog over the mountains every morning!
Quarter Finalist 2011 Teen Travel Writing Scholarship
After a restful night, we geared up for white-water rafting! We took a short bus ride to the starting point of the river. We got soaked on our hour-long tour on the Pigeon River! The trip was so fun. We ordered a disc of pictures from our rafting adventure, which we will enjoy for many years to come!
The next day, we headed to C.L.I.M.B Works Canopy Tours, a zipline resort just outside of Gatlinburg. At C.L.I.M.B. Works, there are 13 short expeditions including ziplines, rappelling stations, and wooden bridges. (www.climbworkscanopy.com) We were horrified when we first arrived, but by the time our guide drove us up the mountain in a four-wheeler, we were excited!! We had a great time soaring above the Smoky Mountains. The views were incredible!!! Our 2 ½ hour long trip through the mountains was worthwhile. It was fun for everyone in my family! The guides were awesome and helped us overcome the initial fear! Check out this video to see what it was like!
Later on, we went on a hike through Smoky Mountain National Park.There was a cleared dirt trail that led us up into the mountains. We got to see the beautiful forest, as well as a rushing waterfall! The scenery of Tennessee was one of the highlights of our trip!
While in Gatlinburg, we took full advantage of the unique restaurants, eating only at places we couldn’t eat at home. I would highly recommend this method. It allowed us to fully experience the Gatlinburg area. We ate at Hard Rock Café, where we enjoyed looking at the memorabilia on the walls. Ben & Jerry’s was also fun!! We liked tasting their interesting flavors. Finally, we had a great time at Dick’s Last Resort, where the waiters are supposed to be rude to the customers. It was a hilarious experience!! The waiters even made us hats that had insults about us written on them!!
We soon headed out of Gatlinburg to drive back to Nashville. We stopped at the Loveless Café, which is a small cafe where many celebrities eat! The biscuits were incredible, and we were glad we made the stop.
In Nashville, our first stop was the Country Music Hall of Fame. We spent hours there, and the fee was worth it. We took a break from the Hall of Fame to go check out the Historic RCA Studio B, where Elvis recorded most of his songs. It was the highlight of our stay in Nashville!! After touring the building, we were able to play the piano that Elvis played while recording!!
In Nashville, we held to the principle that we would only eat at unique places. We found a few unique places on Music Row, including some awesome Nashville Barbeque!
After a few days in Tennessee, we started the long trek home. On the journey, we laughed and recalled all the great things we got to experience. We would recommend the trip to any other adventurous families!!!
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5 Replies to “Nashville and Gatlinburg: A Great Family Adventure”
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Grt place to visit.. This place is located after entering the Ranthambore National Park.. However, to visit this place u can evn get your own vehicle…
John, glad you liked the story. This park is in Ohio where the weather can be unpredictable! It’s warmest between late April and November, but even April has the risk of some snow. If you’re camping with kids, the safest bet is June to August, because it’s warmer and there’s little rain. Enjoy your trip.
Hey Maggie, I really appreciate your innovative traveling ideas. You have covered so many adventurous places. Waiting for some new destinations. Please keep posting.
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Game Lover
It’s truly magical being there. I love the art this country offers. Their wall arts and crafts are just lovely.
Hi Maggie,
You always share to the world with something new and different destinations. Thank you so much for sharing.
The history of Cuhahoga valley national park seems interesting and must be a new experience when we observe scenes of National park from their scenic campgrounds.
which season do you think is the best time to visit this national park?
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Wow, what a nice article. Makes you feel like you should pack up and go immediately. It seems Linblad runs a good operation and trips are kid friendly. Is there a list of particular dates that are family friendly or are there kid activities year round on board the boats. Any other advice on travling with kids to Ecuador and Galapagos would be really welcome.
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Hello Michael, glad to hear your family is interested in a dude ranch holiday.
Since your kids are older and, hopefully, everyone in the family rides, you have lots of options. The Dude Ranchers Association is a really helpful resource in sorting through the many types of ranch vacations. For example, you can go here: https://duderanch.org/by-activity-amenity and search for ‘Advanced Rides’ and “Cattle Drives’ and that would get you some real working ranches that would have more of the lifestyle you seem to be looking for. One of our authors recommends the Hideout in Shell, Wyoming for this type of trip.
Looking for a real ranch experience with horseback riding (lots of it) and time in the open air with my son (15) and daughter (12) and my wife (49). I am 62. We live in NJ, my children have been sheltered but I grew up in a small coal mining town in Pennsylvania. I want my children to see another side of life.
very informative post i just checked your blog its very interesting and full of information we are tour operators in Indian Kashmir we provide Kashmir Holiday packages where you can live with local Muslim communities see their lifestyle and get a chance to taste authentic Kashmiri Halal food our Kashmir Tour Packages are customized and very cheap at pocket.
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Great destinations for First Night and New Year’s Eve! Check out our favourite ones in Europe: https://tapsy.blog/?s=new+year%27s+eve
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Of course, you can do travel freely and easily through these two countries yourself, but I enjoyed having the trip curated for me, including well-chosen local guides, comfortable transportation on call and some superb private tours, such as a Khmer cooking class or historic walking tour of Saigon, with flexibility in the itinerary for our group of five to follow their own paths, such as making an emotional detour to the moving Genocide Museum housed in the old S-21 jail in Phnom Penh.
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I enjoyed reading your Italian family vacation story, and thank you so much for these tips. This surely gonna help us achieve a stress-free vacation in Italy. Great blog!
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For Richard re: dual citizenship US-Nicaragua… can I use the same to travel back to Nicaragua with the same Power of Attorney (Specific to Minors) since wife is staying back in Nicaragua to keep eyes on the house.
Hi Richard, In our travel experience, this type of document should work well for your travels, but if your wife is available, it can’t hurt to download the sample forms we have online and also have her fill out and notarize one for your trip with your child. The agency responsible in your case will be the carrier — we assume an airline — and if they can make a note in your travel record that they have approved the Nicaraguan documents you should be fine on both departing and entering.
Safe Travels!
Wow, great!!! it could be a great fun out there.
very informative article Travel forums provide first hand experience and advice to travelers and are a great source of information and travel tips.
As a signal parent, your life, world, actions are based on your childs well fair. Not your happiness or anything that has to do with you.
It should list where they are going, the dates that they are allowed to go and grant your permission for that trip. You want to include your address and phone number and probably the contact info for the adult traveling as well.
The grand archways and the paintings of Lord Krishna and his cows are a visual treat. Wander through areas opened for tourists and you shall witness the impressive aura and architecture of the Royal state of Rajasthan.
Thanks for Sharing
Hello guys my wife and I have dual citizenship US-Nicaragua, I’m planning to travel to the US with our son also dual citizenship for 3 weeks, with a Power of Attorney (Specific to Minors) from Nicaragua, can I use the same to travel back to Nicaragua with the same Power of Attorney (Specific to Minors) since wife is staying back in Nicaragua to keep eyes on the house.
Congratulations to the winners! A question to all the professional travelers here, how are you planning the route ant the places to see while visiting a new country? As for me I just google the most touristic and popular places. It works mostly, but there were a few times when I realized that I have seen only some the places this country or city is famous for, and that’s sad. On my last trip to Armenia, I decided to take a tour and it was quite productive. It’s much more informative when somebody is telling you history and some interesting facts. If someone wants to save their time – make sure to ask them to help if you’ll ever be there.
Curitiba é uma lugar lindo, além de ser considerada uma das melhores cidades para se morar em Brasil.
Realmente a muito o que conhecer por lá, como também diversas outras belezas do nosso brasil.
Principalmente as praias do Brasil que são muito procurada por inúmeros turistas internacionais e nacionais.
As Praias do Litoral Paulista, divididos entre Praias do Litoral Norte e Litoral Sul.
As mais conhecidas são as Praias de Ubatuba com mais de 100 belas praias no litoral norte paulista.
Já no litoral sul, a região mais procurada são as Praias de Guarujá, a região conta com 23 praias de pura beleza e preservação ambiental.
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I would like to add my baby equipment company, Nana’s Baby Equipment. I serve the entire island of Kauai with aloha!
Mahalo,
Sharon Hackleman
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Was an honour and pleasure to host you both in the Maori Whakata/Welcome to Wanaka. Welcome back anytime to this wonderful part of the world.
Kia Kaha/Stay strong
[http://www.wanahaka.co.nz]