Vacation ' what else to see near Creation Museum and Pigeon Forge

[Momof2kids]

In a few weeks we'll me going to the Creation Museum. Then we'll head over to Pigeon Forge to go to Dollywood.

What else is there to do in these areas?

Thank you for your suggestions.

[WTMindy]

suggest heading over to the Smokey Mountains. There are some beautiful lookout points and hiking.

[AmyinPA]

but horsebacking in the smokies is awesome!

[Tutor]

suggest heading over to the Smokey Mountains. There are some beautiful lookout points and hiking.

There is a beautiful cut-through that goes from Pigeon Forge to Cherokee, NC. We enjoyed our visit to Cherokee.

[cin]

In KY there are the Mammoth Caves And Kentucky Horse Park. Right across the river from the Creation Museum, in Cincinnati is a GREAT zoo. The Aquarium in Newport is pretty good, too. That's all I can think of, off the top of my head. If you are not from the area, you probably should stop at a Skyline or Goldstar Chili Parlor, which is somewhat local, and as popular as McDonald's. That's where we get the 3-way, 4-way or 5-way; Spaghetti with chili & cheese, onions and or beans.

Have a Great Trip!

[Josie]

Definitely head over to Gatlinburg. I has a more quanit feel than Pigeon Forge.

If you want to learn about the area you can stop at the Gatlinburg Visitor's Center on the right side of the road as you leave Pigeon Forge toward Gatlinburg. I would guess it is about 4 or 5 miles after you leave Pigeon Forge...don't take this as certain, I am just guessing.

Eat at Applewood Restaurant in either Pigeon forge or Gatlinburg. They have GREAT apple fritters and apple butter. YUM!

The Old Mill Restaurant in Pigeon Forge is good, too.

If you like horses you should try to see the Dixie Stampede.

Make sure you go on at least one hike in the Smoky Mountains.

You do realize that the Creation Museum is approximatley 4 or so hours from Pigeon Forge?

If you like caves you can see Forbidden Caverns just outside of Pigeon Forge.

[Josie]

Sorry

[Momof2kids]

You do realize that the Creation Museum is approximatley 4 or so hours from Pigeon Forge?



Hi! yes I do. Thanks!!

[mcconnellboys]

Someone already mentioned the Cincy zoo and Newport aquarium. There's also Museum Center at Cincy Terminal (beautiful, art deco building). This houses an IMAX and three museums in one (children's, natural history, and Cincy/regional history). They have that human body exhibit on right now, too. There's also a nice art museum in Cincy and the newer Freedom Center, which is a museum dedicated to the story of slavery and the underground railroad, which ran through this area. It has a lot of movie shorts and interactive video learning about the subject of slavery. Of these, I think the art museum regular collection is the only one that's free.

In Gatlinburg, there's Ripley's Aquarium, which I hear is nice; I haven't gotten a chance to go yet. If the weather's nice enough, there are tons of short hikes in the Smokies, as well as a couple of short loop drives where you can visit various settlers' cabins, still intact. You can get on the Blueridge Parkway there in the park, as well, and drive over to Asheville, where Biltmore House is located, if you want to go back a different way. We used to like to go the the Native American museum in Cherokee, but I heard it had fallen into disrepair. They have gambling there now, so it might be in better shape than it was for a while. There also used to be a village set up with programming regarding those Cherokee who remained in the area after the Trail of Tears. It might only run in summer, however. I'd google Cherokee Chamber of Commerce and ask about these.....

Have fun! We always enjoy Dollywood,

Regena

[Mom2legomaniacs]

Pigeon Forge area is full of great stuff:

Wonderworks (haven't been but heard it is a LOT of fun)

Ripley's Aquarium (went a few weeks ago -- awesome-- and a homeschoolers discount with a valid proof card )

Rainforest Adventures (went about a year and a half ago and loved it!)

There are lots of places to hike around the Smokies.

A little further away, in Oak Ridge, is the American Museum of Science and Energy. It is a great place to visit!

There are lots of touristy things in and around Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge. Dollywood is there along with lots of outlet shopping as well.


You should have no trouble finding something fun to do in this area. It is a beautiful place!

[angela in ohio]

I second (third?) the Cincinnati Zoo. We really enjoyed it. The Newport Aquarium was nice, too, but so expensive. We did a boat tour of Cincinnati on the Ohio River, which was the high point for dc.

[Robin in Tx]

Okay, I've got to know... why did someone give this thread a bad rating? It's a normal, friendly thread asking about vacation ideas, for heaven's sake! Is someone so offended that the op is going to patron the Creation Museum that they decided to diss her this way?

I'm truly curious.

[mcconnellboys]

Oh, we went to a Wonderworks in Orlando and it was terrific!

Regena

[KarenNC]

If you choose to go to Asheville (as someone suggested) and are into any sort of fiber arts (spinning, weaving, dying, knitting, etc) or other handcrafts, EarthGuild is well worth a visit http://www.earthguild.com/

If you have a zoo or science museum membership, you may check and see if the Western NC Nature Center in Asheville is part of the reciprocal agreement http://www.wildwnc.org/

Also, through April 4 Biltmore House in Asheville is having a special where kids 16 and under get in free with a paying adult (and through March 14, online only, you can get adult tickets for $25) http://www.biltmore.com/visit/current_offers.asp. This may be ending before you are going, however.

[KarenNC]

Okay, I've got to know... why did someone give this thread a bad rating? It's a normal, friendly thread asking about vacation ideas, for heaven's sake! Is someone so offended that the op is going to patron the Creation Museum that they decided to diss her this way?

I'm truly curious.

Where do you see a bad rating? The only thing I see says 4 of 5 stars.......

[angela in ohio]

Where do you see a bad rating? The only thing I see says 4 of 5 stars.......

It originally had a one star rating, shortly after it was posted, when Robin posted. Several other people have chimed in to bring it up from that.

[Soph the vet]

When we went to the Creation Museum last fall we also drove down to Lexington to see the Kentucky Horse Park and then over to Louisville to go to the Slugger Museum.
We also saw a glass-blowing demo in Virginia on that same trip but I am sure you could find one in KY. The kids thought that was cool.:cool:

[Samuel'sMommy]

Cades Cove is about an hour from Pigeon Forge and is beautiful! It's a state park that has an 11 mile driving loop through the park with stops along the way at old homesteads, churches, etc. You can also usually see deer and sometimes bears during the drive.

[Momof2kids]

Thank you all for your great ideas!