This year, my son’s 8th grade class took a retreat to San Antonio for Memorial Day, so the rest of us decided it might be a fun time to get out of town. We love New Orleans, but we also love getting away from it, so when we found cheap flights, we jumped at the opportunity.
We found affordable, well timed flights into Nashville and out of Atlanta, and there are several things on my list of must-see places in the area, so it seemed liked the right fit. We flew into Nashville on Friday evening, grabbed a rental car and drove to Cookeville, TN. For the purposes of this blog, I’ll break things down into the three main areas that we stayed.
Stop 1
Our first stop was really to visit only one place, Cummins Falls. This is a really impressive waterfall at a state park of the same name about 20 minutes north of Cookeville (about 1.5 hours east of Nashville). There are a few things to keep in mind before you go. First, you’ll need a reservation for each person in your party, at $6/head. We booked online in advance (although no one ever checked).
The website says that the hike to the base of falls can be treacherous, and suggests durable water shoes. A life jacket, which they will provide, is also required for kids under 12. Lastly, they hike to the base of the falls is often closed due to weather conditions in fear of a flash flood. Unfortunately, this was the case when we visited.
The good news is that there is a shorter hike to an overlook that still offers great views of a really impressive waterfall. I will admit that we were disappointed in not being able to visit the base, but it was actively raining, so we weren’t surprised.
Stop 2
Our next stop took us another two hours east (and into a new time zone) to Chattanooga. If you’ve never been, this is definitely one that should go on your list. Stuck right into a set of mountains, it has a wonderful small town feel with all the amenities of a well developed metro.
Our first stop was a really unique tourist attraction called Rock City. We booked reservations in advance, with a specific arrival time, but arrived almost two hours early. The people who work there were more than happy to help us adjust our tickets so as to not have to wait.
Situated on top of a mountain, Rock City has take several great natural formations and incorporated several family friendly activities. Admittedly, they have added a lot of artificial fun, but it was still fun. There are several caves, slot canyons and waterfalls. There are also great views, a storybook land and little gnomes hidden throughout.
There’s a nice set of restaurants at the top, so you can make a solid day of it. We probably spent less then three hours here, but we could have stayed for more if we didn’t have other plans.
Chattanooga also offers several great hikes. There’s a NPS site, the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park. It’s Civil War site but has been well-developed and has some great trails. We hiked the Glen Falls Trail, which is about 2 miles round trip, with the back half being entirely along a great river in which you can swim. It’s a great trail, but parking is really limited, and the trail itself is treacherous, especially when wet (Alyson, Clara and I all fell).
From there, we made our way to Ruby Falls, which was at the top of my list for must-visit places in Tennessee. Again, this is a heavily tourist-ed attraction, but it is worth your time. Buy timed tickets in advance but get there a few minutes early. The let us take a tour about 30 minutes before our allotted time, and we had a nice local beer while we waited.
The cave is well developed, the tour takes just over an hour, and there is an amazing underground waterfall at the end. If I were to critique Ruby Falls at all, it would be that they let way too many people into the cave at a time. There was a lot of standing to the side to let a group pass, and getting out on the one elevator at the end took almost half an hour. They let in groups of 40 at a time, but really should limit it to more like 20, but I suppose that’s how business works.
That evening, we ate at Tailgate Beer, a brewery that also offers great pizzas. It is in a really cool area of downtown Chattanooga and has a great two story outdoor space. If we lived there, I feel like we’d spend a ton of time in this area.
The next morning, before we left, we hit the last major tourist attraction in Chattanooga, the Incline Railway. If you’ve taken an incline before, then you’ll know what this is, as they all seem to be more or less the same. This one gets really steep, and reportedly offers great views at the top. It was very overcast during our visit, so I can’t say for sure, but the experience is fun, albeit kind of kitschy.
Stop 3
Our final destination took us about two hours south to Helen, an adorable little Bavarian town hidden in the north Georgia foothills. The city has done a really nice job of maintaining its German identity while still offering modern amenities. It has definitely gotten very touristy, but is a lot more manageable than a place say, Gatlinburg.
We got there at around noon and immediately headed for Cool River Tubing. We had booked in advance, so were quickly able to get on the bus to tube the Chattahoochie. A nice thing about Cool River is that they offer regular, 1 hour tube rides, so it is very convenient. For those of you that tube a lot, you know it can become a bit monotonous, but on such a short ride, that wasn’t a problem. The river also moves quite briskly, so it is a really enjoyable ride.
After that, we hopped on board the Georgia Mountain Coaster. If you’ve ridden more than one alpine coaster in your life, you’ll realize that they are more or less all the same, which was confirmed by the one in Helen. It did include a ride up on the coaster, which is somewhat unique, but the line was over an hour, so only debatably worth it.
That night, we had a very authentic German meal at The Heidelberg, and Alyson and I grabbed an after-dinner drink at Big Daddy’s and Paul’s Margarita Deck. There are several interesting places to eat and drink in town; if only we’d had more time.
One more thing to keep in mind is that the are has ample great hiking trails. Our first stop was Anna Ruby Falls, which I would say was my favorite part of the whole trip. This a very well developed, short trail in a National Forest. The hike isn’t long, but it is pretty steep all the way up. It is certainly worth it though. The payoff is two towering waterfalls that come together to form a roiling river.
Before we left, we also hit the Dukes Creek Trail, which is about two miles, but downhill to start (boo). It is actually similar to Anna Ruby in that it ends in the confluence of two impressive waterfalls. I preferred the former, but both trails are totally worth your time.
We had a really great Tennessee/Georgia experience, and I was able to cross three things off of my list. Next up for us is a short trip to Omaha for some baseball (and to get Alyson, Eileen and Clara their 49th and 50th states).