Things to see in Tennessee?

[Xharryb]

It was recently decided that I might possibly be making a road trip to Tennessee during Spring Break. My fiance has family up there and was supposed to go with her parents to visit, but now the parents might not be able to make the trip. I offerred to go with her instead, but we don't know for sure yet.

Anyway, it's only about 3 weeks away so i don't have much time to plan. One day would be spent visiting family, but the rest of the time is ours to do as we please. We want to look into some possible wedding locations, but I also want to check out some of the other sites and attractions since I've never been there. Is anyone here familiar with the area? if so can you offer any suggestions for don't misses and/or avoid at all costs? two potential stops I was looking at were Gatlinburg and Dollywood, any opinions on these options?

I'm even willing to take suggestions on fun things I might find along the way between here (Florida) and there. Thanks in advance for the help!

[Whatever]

Not sure where you are going in TN, but if you are in Nashville, this is pretty cool:

http://www.nps.gov/maca/index.htm

It is in Kentucky, but I don't think it is that far. (I haven't been there for a long time...)

From the site: If you travel north from Nashville, TN, the most direct route is I-65 north to Exit 48 at Park City, KY. Another 10 minutes of driving will bring you to the park visitor center. Nashville and the park are both in the Central Time Zone. Louisville is in the Eastern Time Zone, one hour ahead of the park.

[DznyVan]

Yeah, Dollywood (Pigeon Forge) and Gatlinburg are cool places to go. Also, if you like scenery, cruise through a portion of the Smokey Mountains. Plenty of church's and "Elvis stayed here" places to check out as well.

If you are into boats, there are quite a few boat mfg's nearby to get a free tour of the factory.

[monorail_rider]

Being from Chattanooga I can recomend the following:

The Aquirum (MUST SEE)
Lookout Mountain
Rock City
Ruby Falls (MUST SEE)
IMAX

[sleepyjeff]

If you make it to the Smokey Mountains check out the WhiteHead Cabin Historical Center , it is one of the oldest buildings standing in Tennessee and was built by my Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great Grandfather........

[dsnyredhead]

Just a small note: Tennessee is very large....kinda like California, but not quite that big. It still takes several hours to get from one end of the state to the other. So if you are planning things on both ends of the state, keep that in mind.

[Xharryb]

Thanks for the input guys! I'm just trying to accumulate some ideas from people who may have already been to some of these places. I still don't have a deffinitive answer as to what the plan is yet. I'm just trying to do a bit of preplanning while I wait for my future father in law to decide if he is going or not (he does this all the time, it's impossible to plan anything with the man).

I know it's a big state, but the fact of the matter is that I'm not exactly sure where the family is located. i believe they are mostly on the eastern side of the state, but if we discover somewhere worth going, I'm pretty open to just about anything.