Tennessee Family Travel

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Fifty Nifty Unites States from 13 original colonies….we are at it again and racking in some states on our most recent family trip. We jumped in the old family truckster and battled pouring rain and early hours to make it to the airport late for this one. So late that we missed the next two flights since they were full so we decided to camp it out in the airport for awhile and enjoy ourselves.

I have been making family travel a priority and we are working on all fifty states before our girl leaves our nest. I have been using Southwest deals to get us to some fun places so if you’d love to make this happen for you family then sign up for the emails. They run deals I would say every three months and for this one Nashville came up and I snagged it.

Tennessee has a ton to offer families traveling so come along with us and see a snapshot of our trip. I will be doing follow up posts with more details on each attraction. How do I plan these trips? Honestly it takes time…and I heavily rely on fellow bloggers who have gone places. Bloggers are such a great resource. They give honest opinions and find things trip advisor just can’t.

Our trip lasted 4 nights and 5 days and we started off in Nashville!

Nashville-Day 1-well we missed our flight so yay-I had to scrap our plans pretty much for the whole day but….I was able to make our planned dinner at The Oprayland Gaylord.

This hotel is amazing!!! It’s basically a complex. You have to pay a hefty price to park and basically get lost doing it but once you’re in the parking lot head on over through the conservatory doors. You will enter right into the hotels amazing conservatory with plants and waterfalls, streaming lights and several restaurants. We chose American Cafe because it was right by the jumping water and it also had the most kid friendly menu. You can also order sushi if you like. The meals are amazing and a complete splurge-so bring the money. Or you can pay to park and walk through several areas,the lobby-not to be missed and ride the glass elevator up and down-oh yes we did. Don’t drive by this one-go in.

 

Chattanooga Day 2-We made the trek from Nashville to Chattanooga. Our destination was the Historic Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel but we had plans to stop at Ruby Falls, The Incline Railway, and Rock City which technically is in Georgia so number 8 check!. We stopped at the Falls first since it was actually on the way to the hotel. After walking our feet off we headed to our hotel.

Oh MY Word-you must stay here! It’s amazing. We opted for the train car room-you can also get a regular room and it was worth it!

Tons of posh eating all around the area-seems to becoming hipsterish. It was quite nice to have a variety of dining in walking distance.

 

Pigeon Forge-Day 3-We started our day with breakfast and a car ride to Pigeon Forge. Our hotel was the Christmas Inn and it did not disappoint. As you can see I like to do all the things. We got out of our car and walked into Christmas music!

Our day was spent at the Titanic Museum-yes it was awesome.

 

And the Old Mill for dinner-so good. I had no idea Pigeon Forge was so awesome and we will be adding this for another trip in the teen years-so much to do!

Great Smoky Mountains-Day 4 We stayed two nights at the Christmas Inn due to the fact that there is no lodging inside the national park. We drove through the entire park-as quick as we could and headed over to the Great Smoky Mountain National Railroad in North Carolina-number 9 if you’re counting. We did a four hour train ride through the Smokys and while it was a bit pricey this was a once in a lifetime thing! We also drove through the Cherokee Nation which was really interesting.

 

Back to Nashville and Home Day 5-I made a late flight ressie since it’s a 3.5 drive back to Nashville but you can do it! I was actually able to squeeze in one more thing that we missed on our initial day. Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage-yes I am a history geek. It was pouring and we were so wet but we went and did it and it was so worth it.

 

 

This was one of our best trips yet and I never realized how much fun was in Nashville!!! More posts in details to come. Come on-fill up your book-make your memories-they’re not too young or too old. All we will have left is love and memories so get out there!

Ruby Falls/Rock City/Incline Railway Tennessee

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Chattanooga,TN

Our family travel took us to Tennessee recently and among our adventures there we stopped at several amazing attractions that are not to be missed. We landed in Nashville and made our way around the western part of the state. On our second day we drove from Nashville to Chattanooga and on our drive stopped first at Ruby Falls.

Ruby Falls is an amazing underground waterfall. Upon arrival make sure you have shoes that don’t slip due to the underground water the walkways can become slippery. You should also bring a sweatshirt or jacket since it can be a little chilly. If you have an infant you should definitely baby wear but the tour is doable.

You can purchase a ticket for Ruby Falls at the gate-ask about AAA discounts and many of the local gas stations also had coupons. You can also buy a group discounted ticket which includes Ruby Falls, Rock City and the Incline Railway-it’s a great deal but…..it’s all day and a ton of walking so make sure you’re up for it. Make sure you also use the restroom since the tour is about an hour underground and no bathrooms are available.

You then wait for your tour and are whisked down and elevator into the cave and wait for your tour guide. They also take a professional picture for purchase later. You can take pictures during the tour though. It’s about an hour of guided walking-both ways. They have all kinds of fun lighting and an area where you can touch the stalagmites. Only touch the one in the specific area so no damage comes to others. It was so much fun.

The crowning glory at the end was the actual falls which is pretty amazing!

 

The end has a playground quick serve food in case you’re hungry oh and that picture they took. I’m actually a sucker for these-but bring your money they are super expensive!

 

Once we were done at Ruby Falls we headed over to the Incline Railway-to give us a little sit down break. We started at the top of Lookout Mountain instead of the bottom. This was by far my favorite part of the day. The railway goes directly down the mountain and is the steepest railway in the world. It can be a little scary for the littles. There’s a fun pizza place and ice cream shop at the bottom.

 

We then made our way to Rock City-I was exhausted so I took a sitter and let the two of them run amuck. We didn’t start early enough in the day and only made it to Rock City an hour before they closed. It was so beautiful.

Rock City has every kind of plant you can think of and a trail which leads to Lookout Mountain where you can see several states at a time.

 

If you’re in the Nashville/Chattanooga area these are not to be missed! #Takethetrip

Chattanooga Choo Choo Historic Hotel

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Chattanooga,TN

Our recent family trip to Tennessee took us to some amazing places including Chattanooga and what better place to stay than the historic Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel!

I have a thing for historic hotels but we rarely stay at any because ya know we have a preschooler and they’re expensive and we are big budgeters. While mapping out our Tennessee travels I happened upon this little gem of a hotel-which is cool in an of itself but then….then….I saw the option for sleeping in an antique Pullman train car and I was in.

Chattanooga is located on the Eastern side of Tennessee. If driving from Nashville it’s about a 2 hour drive and you go through Georgia for about three minutes (state number 7-check-it counts!). We stopped at Ruby Falls and wanted to spend a whole day there so I looked into staying the night in Chattanooga.

The Choo Choo hotel is located about thirty minutes from Ruby Falls. The Choo Choo Hotel was converted from an actual train station in the 70’s and was at risk of being lost forever. One look at the outside and you can see the bustling lost train station.

One look at the lobby and it’s just wow! Original swinging doors and look at that ceiling.

We promptly checked in and received a parking pass-there is a fee to park but it was only $7. You have the choice between a traditional room or a Pullman Car-which is an actual converted train car. Honestly there wasn’t that big of a price difference in upgrading to the car so I went for it. Cars are limited so I booked about 6 months in advance just to be safe. Pullman cars are heated/air conditioned and have a queen bed and a day bed as well as seating and a full bathroom with a sink, toilet and shower.

It was so neat to walk up to our train car and drag in our bags.

There are plenty of places to eat within walking distance of the hotel and there are two restaurants in the hotel. One is in a train car-that’s right and another is off the lobby which is a hipster restaurant. In fact, the whole area had that upscale hipster vibe. We ate at a Brewery across the street and there was also an adorable chocolate shop which I was so wanting to go to but my little was exhausted-which of course meant two more hours of bouncing around once we got to our train car.

I highly recommend stopping and staying the night on your Tennessee trip-it’s completely worth it, so unique and will not disappoint. #Takethetrip