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IN TENNESSEE, THE STAGE IS SET FOR YOU!

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The Best of Tennessee

From the Mississippi River to the Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee is a place to discover the best of great musical styles, America’s riveting history, exciting outdoor adventure, Southern hospitality and mouthwatering food. With cities such as Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga and thousands of acres of great outdoors, Tennessee is more than a vacation – it is an experience.

From Beale Street blues and Elvis’ rock ‘n’ roll in Memphis, to Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry and the bluegrass of Appalachia, Tennessee has endless opportunities for blockbuster entertainment. On any given night of the year, more than 1,200 venues across the state offer live music. World-famous events, like Bonnaroo, America’s no. 1 music festival, and the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, take place in Tennessee each year. More than 800 festivals highlight Tennessee’s rich culture and unique flair, like South Pittsburg’s Cornbread Festival, Bell Buckle’s Moon Pie Festival and Jonesborough’s International Storytelling Festival.

Hear homegrown music at festivals and attractions like the Smithville Fiddler’s Jamboree where famous musicians are discovered. The Brownsville Blues Festival is rooted in talent that began in the cotton fields. Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge is jam-packed with musical shows, and the Cumberland Playhouse in Crossville offers performances of popular musicals each year. The Dixie Carter Performing Arts Center, in Carter’s hometown of Huntingdon, offers some of Tennessee’s finest theatrical events. Nashville’s Bluebird Café, founded in 1982, is one of the country’s premiere listening rooms where up-and-comers have a chance to give the history behind their songs and lyrics.

Tennessee has some of the finest collections of art museums in the country, offering a world of visual pleasures. Enjoy Tennessee’s fine arts galleries like the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville and Knoxville’s Museum of Art. The permanent collection in the Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga is regarded as one of the most important gatherings of American art in the Southeast.

History is everywhere with more than 700 monuments, battlefields, legends and other impressions of America’s past. The homes of U.S. presidents Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk and Andrew Johnson are all in Tennessee. The state’s Civil War battlefields include Shiloh, Stones River, Franklin and Chickamauga. Tour the self-guided Antebellum Trail through Davidson, Williamson and Maury counties, and ride along the Natchez Trace Parkway in Middle Tennessee. Cruise the water on a paddlewheel boat in Clarksville and Savannah, and explore English ancestry in Elizabethton and Rugby. Follow the origins of country music from Bristol to Knoxville and Nashville. Northeast Tennessee, known as “America’s First Frontier” and one of the most beautiful areas of Tennessee, is anchored by the tri-cities of Kingsport, Johnson City and Bristol, and is home to Tennessee’s oldest city, Jonesborough.

There are museums that help preserve all of Tennessee’s history. The Sequoyah Birthplace Museum in Vonore details Cherokee heritage, and the American Museum of Science & Energy in Oak Ridge chronicles America’s transition into the Atomic Age with the Manhattan Project of World War II. The Stax Museum of American Soul Music, Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum and Sun Studio, all in Memphis, reveal the impact Tennesseans had on American music over the last 50 years. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville showcases country music’s roots. The Casey Jones Village in Jackson illustrates one man’s deeds in legend and song, and the children’s Discovery Museums in Chattanooga and Memphis capture the imagination of Tennessee’s youngest visitors.

Outdoor enthusiasts can take a hike through the deep forests of Big South Fork, kayak through the roaring rapids of the Ocoee River in the Tennessee Overhill, follow pioneers’ footsteps through the Cumberland Gap and the Great Smoky Mountains, or catch a glimpse of the nesting American bald eagles in the cypress trees of Reelfoot Lake. Experience the adrenaline rush of hang gliding off Lookout Mountain with a pristine valley hundreds of feet below. Hike a portion of the Appalachian Trail, canoe the Hiwassee River or ride along its scenic shores in a vintage railroad coach. Tennessee’s lakes offer the largest variety of freshwater fish in America. For the golfers, Tennessee has more than 150 courses, including five Bear Trace courses designed by the legendary Jack Nicklaus.

Tennessee has four distinct seasons. In the splendor of winter, there is cross-country skiing at Roan Mountain State Park and the spectacular lights of Gaylord Opryland Resort’s “A Country Christmas.” Winterfest, in Pigeon Forge, celebrates the holiday season with over 5 million lights, and Christmas at Graceland has become a holiday highlight in Memphis. In spring, Tennessee wakes up to a landscape of living color. In East Tennessee, massive clouds of white dogwood blooms fill the forests and are celebrated each year at Knoxville’s Dogwood Festival. In summer, cool off in Sweetwater’s underground Lost Sea, or take a pontoon boat ride at Birdsong Resort in Camden to see divers harvest freshwater pearls. In the beauty of fall, pause under a tree of brilliant autumn colors at one of our 54 state parks, or take a ride along the Cherohala scenic drive in the Cherokee National Forest.

The Grand Region of West Tennessee
The land between the Tennessee and Mississippi River is a stage rich with natural, historical and cultural drama. West Tennessee is Memphis, home of the blues, Graceland and the Peabody ducks, but it is also Reelfoot Lake, Kentucky Lake and Shiloh, the scene of the first major battle in the western theater of the Civil War. In West Tennessee, Davy Crockett lost a Congressional election and left for the Alamo in Texas, and B.B. King wandered in from Mississippi and forever changed the sound of Beale Street and the blues.

Those blues may not have been born in Tennessee, but the minute they learned to walk, they found their way to Beale Street in Memphis. West Tennessee was the stage for black and white musicians who, together, produced some of the world’s most memorable and significant tunes. The Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum chronicles this amazing story. Graceland offers an insider’s look at the life of Elvis Presley and celebrates with Elvis Week each August. The Stax Museum of Soul Music celebrates Stax Records and soul music, and pays tribute to the greats like Sam & Dave, Isaac Hayes and Otis Redding. Stand in the exact spot where greats like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis recorded their biggest hits at the legendary Sun Studio.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, but his dream lives on every day at the National Civil Rights Museum. The museum shows the realities of the Civil Rights Movement through video, audio and interpretive exhibits. Author Alex Haley’s home is in Henning, where his Pulitzer Prize-winning book “Roots” began.

Birdsong Resort and Pickwick Landing State Park give anglers a chance to reel in a monster catfish. Make a whistle-stop at Casey Jones Village in Jackson before viewing the beautiful antebellum homes of La Grange.

The Grand Region of Middle Tennessee
Rolling green hills, beautiful horse farms, world-renowned distilleries and a mecca for music make up the region of middle Tennessee. Capital city Nashville, known as “Music City,” is rich with history and talent in musical genres including country, rock, pop, gospel, blues and bluegrass. The Country Music Association, Gospel Music Association, as well as countless studios, record labels and musicians all reside in Nashville.

When the sun goes down, the notes flow from Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry and the Ryman Auditorium, as well as the more than 100 live music venues throughout the city, including Exit/In, Bluebird Café, City Hall, Mercy Lounge, the Cannery and B.B. King’s Blues Club.

In Tennessee, there is so much more to hear when you take the time to listen. Hear the creak of floorboards in Civil War era mansions along the Antebellum Trail or an anvil ringing at Mansker’s Station in Goodlettsville. Amid the murmurs of antique shoppers in downtown Franklin, the faint echo of Civil War gunfire still haunts the breeze. Franklin’s Carter House and the Carnton Plantation, the setting for “Widow of the South,” or quaint towns like Pulaski and Murfreesboro bring history to life. Clopping hooves and braying mules punctuate Columbia’s Mule Day Festival, while impromptu proclamations of love for chocolate and marshmallows keep the beat of Bell Buckle’s Moon Pie Festival. Head down the road to Lynchburg, where the trickle of a natural spring yields some of Mr. Jack Daniel’s world-famous sour mash whiskey.

The natural music of Tennessee is the sound of a world-record bass jumping in the placid waters of Dale Hollow Lake. Listen to the wind skim the water on Center Hill Lake, named by USA Today as one of the “Top Ten Best Places to Float Your Houseboat.”

Autumn brings the whirling lights and the screams of delight from children and adults at more than 50 county fairs, including Wilson, Williamson and the Tennessee State Fair.

The Grand Region of East Tennessee
There is no doubt about it. East Tennessee is calling you from the 6,000-foot ridges in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the country’s most visited national park. In East Tennessee, settlers worked hard and created ballads from the heart. Today, visitors are welcome to tour restored homesteads and listen for the echoes of fiddles and dulcimers ringing through the hills. Listen to Appalachian, rock, gospel, country and bluegrass music in over 20 different shows at Dollywood, Tennessee’s premier amusement park in Pigeon Forge.

In towns like Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, the official “Honeymoon Capital of the South,” mountain cabins, dinner and musical theaters, and scenic beauty offer the perfect setting for romantic getaways or family fun. Families will enjoy Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies and fabulous outlet shopping at the Tanger Outlets. “Mom and Pop” shops offer quality mountain crafts and homemade goods such as smooth apple butter and sweet blueberry jam.

East Tennessee’s urban areas are diverse. Knoxville features a vibrant waterfront district on the banks of the Tennessee River and is home to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. In the fall, feel the energy of Tennessee football as the University of Tennessee fans chant and cheer to support our state’s favorite college pastime.

Chattanooga is ripe with attractions and adventure, from the Tennessee Aquarium, featuring both freshwater and saltwater buildings, to the legendary natural wonders of Ruby Falls and Rock City Gardens, celebrating 75 years as a premiere Tennessee destination. In 2004, the banks of the Tennessee River were transformed into the 21st Century Waterfront. The $120 million revitalization
of downtown Chattanooga brought improvements such as additional green space and a $19 million expansion of the Hunter Museum of American Art.

Oak Ridge is known as the “Secret City” of the Manhattan Project and today is Tennessee’s “City of Energy.” The bustling Tri-Cities area – Bristol, Johnson City and Kingsport – is known as “America’s First Frontier” and is one of the most beautiful spots in the state. Park your car at a quaint bed and breakfast in Jonesborough and listen to tall tales from our colonial past at the International Storytelling Center. Celebrate NASCAR at the Bristol Motor Speedway & Dragway where fans can even take a cruising tour down Thunder Valley, the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile Track.” Or visit Johnson City’s Rocky Mount and experience Tennessee’s living history.

The three grand regions of Tennessee offer distinct opportunities that are all uniquely Southern and exclusively Tennessee.

For more information on the entire state of Tennessee, visit tnvacation.com/press

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