Thank you all. Planning a stop in Chattanooga and may make a quick stop for a night in Gatlinburg. Is there a way to go from Chattanooga to Gatlinburg that isn’t mainly I-75? Something more scenic.
Road trip suggestions
- Thread starter runkpanole
- Start date
Take 74 to North Carolina, then 441 through the Park. It doesn’t get more scenic than that.
Honestly, if you want to hit up Gatlinburg as part of this trip, I’d probably tell you to swap out going up to Chattanooga for going up either 85 to Greenville then cutting up to the DuPont State Forest which has some of the best hikes and waterfalls east of the Mississippi; stopping off at Asheville for the beer and food (but not bbq, don’t believe the overrated bbq rankings, Asheville is #*%* for NC BBQ); stopping off in Cherokee to gamble, fish, check out the best native “play”/cultural event outside of the Polynesian Cultural Center in Oahu and go to a really great history and cultural museum; then hike out to Ocanoluftee Dome, stop off to see some wild elk (always in the big grass fields by the pioneer reconstruction) and go through the most scenic roads in the Smoky Mountain NP to get to Gatlinburg.
Plus if you go that route you can take a not that big of a sidetour to Dalhonega and Helen as I previously mentioned.
Trust me, I really enjoy Chattanooga as a city and with the best freshwater aquarium in the country, a great kayaking/canoeing river and Rock City it’s got a fair amount to do. But that pales in comparison with doing DuPont State Forest plus Asheville plus Cherokee plus Smoky Mountain NP. And if you add in Helen and Dahlonega on top of that, this is a great vacation just by itself.
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I second Helen over Stone Mountain any day. I'm with Tribe on the Stone Mountain thing. The only thing that makes it remotely interesting is the "monument". I'll keep my political leanings out of the conversation, but it's not even a good monument. It just is.
Helen, however, may be the most interesting place in Georgia and it's definitely worth at least half a day to take it in.
Helen, however, may be the most interesting place in Georgia and it's definitely worth at least half a day to take it in.
Also count me in for Helen over Stone Mountain. We had Stone Mountain passes when the kids were little for the activities, but unless you're doing the ropes courses and 3d theater and other generic kids stuff, it's not that notable.
I love Helen, have thought many times about buying a rental cabin there. $2 for a couple hours tube ride is the best value entertainment in the southeast. If you're not going to tube or fish or something, I'm not sure if there's enough to kill half a day there, but I do like it a lot. It's right in my wheelhouse of tacky and cheap but not overcrowded or over commercialized. I used to love places like Gatlinburg and Clifton Hill in Niagara falls, but I'm kind of over being pressed in a crowd or stopped in traffic surrounded by Ripley's Believe it or Not museums and Fredericks of Hollywood outlets.
LOL, if it's cheap and within a four hour drive and has the chance to mildly entertain children, I've probably found it.
I'm not sure how you would know anything about BBQ.
Huntsville is on our list for the return trip.
Underground zip-lining in Louisville is worth checking out. I did it a month or so ago and it was a lot of fun. They have harnesses that are very secure and they have guides that do everything for you as far as managing the zip line cables. Several runs are quite long - I think you get up to 40-50 mph. Look up Louisville Mega Cavern.
Isnt North Alabama home to the white bbq sauce that they put on chicken? Ive seen it in the Chattanooga area of TN as well. Not bad.
Yeah, Big Bob Gibson is the best bbq chicken I’ve had. I look forward to going through the area and stopping there or at Miss Myra’s in Birmingham. And I’m not generally a fan of bbq chicken as 99% of the time it’s dry and over cooked. But they do it right at those two places.
And honestly the chicken and sauce is very comparable at both, the reason Big Bob Gibson wins in my book is that they have better sides.
Saw’s in the Birmingham metro area is also hyped but I’ve been twice and was unimpressed both times especially with their chicken and white sauce.
Not that you really care, but the Road Trip was a success
On the way up, we stopped in Atlanta and caught a Braves game. Oldest son did Kids Run the Bases and had a blast.
Drove through the Smoky Mountains and wow, it was beautiful. I don't think I'd stay in Gatlinburg again, but the mountains themselves were great.
Did the Kentucky Horse Park and it was pretty cool. Wife and son enjoyed it.
Then it was family visit time, with a side trip to Comerica Park. Detroit is a dump, but the area around the ballpark was nice.
On the way back down, we stopped at the Air Force Museum in Dayton. I was born in Dayton and my dad worked at Wright-Patt, but I'd never done the museum as I moved to Florida early in life. Needless to say, we didn't get to finish and will make a return trip. We did get to see the Memphis Belle display which was cool as my grandfather was a gunner on a B-17 in WWII.
Then it was onto Cincinnati for a Reds game. Another nice ballpark and they have quality beer available. My oldest spent a good portion of the time playing on the kids field. We also hit up the Party Source. That was a treat. Better than Total Wine IMHO.
Onto Louisville for a stop at the LS Museum. They had a Sandlot exhibit. Got to hold Dale Murphy's bat (he should be in the Hall dadgumit).
Stopped in Nashville and stayed with a friend. Didn't get to do much, but we did have some good breakfast at the Pancake Pantry. Need to make that trip sans kids.
Final stop was Huntsville. Ate at Straight to Ale and had some beers. Did the Space Museum. Impressive. As someone said in another thread, Huntsville doesn't fit in Alabama.
On the way up, we stopped in Atlanta and caught a Braves game. Oldest son did Kids Run the Bases and had a blast.
Drove through the Smoky Mountains and wow, it was beautiful. I don't think I'd stay in Gatlinburg again, but the mountains themselves were great.
Did the Kentucky Horse Park and it was pretty cool. Wife and son enjoyed it.
Then it was family visit time, with a side trip to Comerica Park. Detroit is a dump, but the area around the ballpark was nice.
On the way back down, we stopped at the Air Force Museum in Dayton. I was born in Dayton and my dad worked at Wright-Patt, but I'd never done the museum as I moved to Florida early in life. Needless to say, we didn't get to finish and will make a return trip. We did get to see the Memphis Belle display which was cool as my grandfather was a gunner on a B-17 in WWII.
Then it was onto Cincinnati for a Reds game. Another nice ballpark and they have quality beer available. My oldest spent a good portion of the time playing on the kids field. We also hit up the Party Source. That was a treat. Better than Total Wine IMHO.
Onto Louisville for a stop at the LS Museum. They had a Sandlot exhibit. Got to hold Dale Murphy's bat (he should be in the Hall dadgumit).
Stopped in Nashville and stayed with a friend. Didn't get to do much, but we did have some good breakfast at the Pancake Pantry. Need to make that trip sans kids.
Final stop was Huntsville. Ate at Straight to Ale and had some beers. Did the Space Museum. Impressive. As someone said in another thread, Huntsville doesn't fit in Alabama.
