Best kid stop on road trip-W TN to E TN (Kingsport: movies, restaurant)

[Geneyus]

In the next few weeks, we're DRIVING from West TN to the Eastern edge of TN for a few days, and we have an active toddler. Movies and car entertainment only go so far, so we'd like to stop and maybe even spend the night somewhere else to do some kid stuff (not Nashville).
What cities have toddler activities and might even have enough to do to spend the night? Brownie points if the city/activities are somewhat near I-40.

[GWoodle]

Originally Posted by Geneyus

In the next few weeks, we're DRIVING from West TN to the Eastern edge of TN for a few days, and we have an active toddler. Movies and car entertainment only go so far, so we'd like to stop and maybe even spend the night somewhere else to do some kid stuff (not Nashville).
What cities have toddler activities and might even have enough to do to spend the night? Brownie points if the city/activities are somewhat near I-40.

Tough to find any McDonalds with any play area that is open. May be time to wean the toddler away from having so much movies & entertainment. Time to start playing car bingo games & watch the scenery go by.

Maybe in Bellevue Nashville get off I-40 onto US70S. Make a stop at Bellevue/Red Caboose Park. Plenty of swings & other play equipment. Maybe continue to Centennial Park. Most like Bicentennial State Park near downtown. All these parks are FREE.

[Geneyus]

Originally Posted by GWoodle

Tough to find any McDonalds with any play area that is open. May be time to wean the toddler away from having so much movies & entertainment. Time to start playing car bingo games & watch the scenery go by.

Maybe in Bellevue Nashville get off I-40 onto US70S. Make a stop at Bellevue/Red Caboose Park. Plenty of swings & other play equipment. Maybe continue to Centennial Park. Most like Bicentennial State Park near downtown. All these parks are FREE.

Bingo and watching scenery for a 7+ hr drive with someone in diapers? Lol. He's very active at home, and we play outside every day. We aren't those parents who have devices as babysitters, so it's ok to have some device entertainment on a trip or at a nice restaurant to keep the peace sometimes.

I was thinking of places like Discovery Park that's in West TN. Some cities have attractions worth stopping for and spending half a day. We've done the Nashville thing too many times.

[DubbleT]

I don't know if these are age appropriate but here is a handful of children's museums
https://explorethedc.org/
https://www.adventuresci.org/
https://visithandson.org/
https://www.themuseknoxville.org/
https://amse.org/
https://explorethedc.org/
There is also a corvette (?) museum near knoxville if cars interest the little one.
As mentioned earlier many cities have kid friendly parks if you just want a quick stop to run off some energy. The one near me (bordering VA) has a nature center and playground https://www.bristoltn.org/166/Steele-Creek-Park

[Geneyus]

Originally Posted by DubbleT

I don't know if these are age appropriate but here is a handful of children's museums
https://explorethedc.org/
https://www.adventuresci.org/
https://visithandson.org/
https://www.themuseknoxville.org/
https://amse.org/
https://explorethedc.org/
There is also a corvette (?) museum near knoxville if cars interest the little one.
As mentioned earlier many cities have kid friendly parks if you just want a quick stop to run off some energy. The one near me (bordering VA) has a nature center and playground https://www.bristoltn.org/166/Steele-Creek-Park

Thanks!

[GWoodle]

Originally Posted by DubbleT

I don't know if these are age appropriate but here is a handful of children's museums
https://explorethedc.org/
https://www.adventuresci.org/
https://visithandson.org/
https://www.themuseknoxville.org/
https://amse.org/
https://explorethedc.org/
There is also a corvette (?) museum near knoxville if cars interest the little one.
As mentioned earlier many cities have kid friendly parks if you just want a quick stop to run off some energy. The one near me (bordering VA) has a nature center and playground https://www.bristoltn.org/166/Steele-Creek-Park

The Corvette Museum is located near the Corvette factory in Bowling Green KY. That said another neat place is Cumberland Falls KY State park. Also the Cumberland Gap historic site on TN KY & VA border. They build a tunnel for the highway to go under the Gap.

[Geneyus]

Originally Posted by GWoodle

The Corvette Museum is located near the Corvette factory in Bowling Green KY. That said another neat place is Cumberland Falls KY State park. Also the Cumberland Gap historic site on TN KY & VA border. They build a tunnel for the highway to go under the Gap.

Correct. I've driven by it a few times, and it's visible from I-65. Mammoth Cave is around there also and worth a visit. We've done that twice.

I follow an Instagram account that features waterfalls all over TN. I think Burgess Falls has to be one of the prettiest in the state. Cumberland Falls looks nice too.


Here's Burgess Falls:

[JMT]

Originally Posted by Geneyus

Correct. I've driven by it a few times, and it's visible from I-65. Mammoth Cave is around there also and worth a visit. We've done that twice.

I follow an Instagram account that features waterfalls all over TN. I think Burgess Falls has to be one of the prettiest in the state. Cumberland Falls looks nice too.


Here's Burgess Falls:

I was going to recommend Burgess Falls. It's just a few miles off of I-40, and the hike is only 1.5 miles round-trip from the parking lot. It's only mildly strenuous. There are actually three waterfalls along the path, the largest (the one you pictured) is at the end of the trail.

While in Cookeville, you can check out the Depot museum downtown which has model trains on the inside and a 1913 steam locomotive and other train cars on the outside. Unfortunately, they're not allowing people to climb on or go in the train cars anymore. There's a wonderful ice cream shop across the street and a doughnut shop voted to have Tennessee's best doughnuts around the corner. Down the street from the depot is a nice park with a fun playground designed for kids of all different kinds of mobilities. Also at the park is the main library which includes a nice children's library. You can check their schedule to see when they have storytelling shows for the kids.

[Rabflmom]

If you haven't made your trip yet...what about Pigeon Forge? Is your toddler 1. 2 or almost 3? It will make a difference but here are my thoughts:

https://pigeonforgesnow.com/ My guys would have loved it.

Another place that has a great kids area, shows, and rides is Dolly Wood but may not be open everyday right now. They do a super Christmas in the Park. https://www.dollywood.com/ When my son was 4 he liked going to Dollywood more than going down the road to Disney World.

If you are going as far as the Churchill/Kingsport area my kids loved the park at Laurel Run Park. On that thought just any city park with playground along the interstate would be a break where your toddler could run, swing, etc.

[Geneyus]

Thank you all for the recommendations. We just returned from our trip, and here are some things we did:

• On our way East, we stopped by Burgess Falls, hiked the trail, and played at the playground. Beautiful area.
• Gatlinburg: The aquarium was great. I loved the walk-through tunnel and shark tanks. Anakeesta was amazing... We went first thing in the morning on a weekday, and there was barely anyone there. We stayed for hours and ate lunch at Cliff Top restaurant, and the area started getting busy right when we were leaving after lunch. The local IPA beer at Cliff Top was one of the best I've had in a while. The Gondola ride up and the truck ride down were fun. We shopped and drove through the mountains. We wasted some money at the arcades so my young son could win $2 worth of prizes lol.
• Pigeon Forge: We went to the Pirate Voyage dinner show, and we loved it. We walked the Margaritaville area where the ferris wheel is and visited the shops. I thought the puzzle store was neat because they had puzzles that would take up an entire wall (30k pieces?).
• On our way back West, we stopped by Cookeville and walked around the train depot, checked out some murals, and grabbed a bite at Ralph's Donuts. Ralph's had a neat small-town feel, and the staff were polite.

Of course that's not everything, but it was a great trip and we got lots of beautiful pictures in Gatlinburg.