For fans of The Hunger Games films, this is a must-see!…read more We stopped in on a beautiful spring day. We were given an informative tour by Donavan, who was hilarious and full of knowledge. After the tour, we were free to explore the 78 acres. It's a beautiful place and we had a great time looking at the mill homes and the surrounding terrain. They also offer a military discount which is always appreciated! Great place!

Excellent self guided tour, was very cool to see........however.......there are NO SIGNS stating…read moreit's "more of a museum" and that you have to pay to walk thru. That being said the guy that runs the place was very rude to me and my elderly mother!

So they give tours about every hour or so. I think it was about 45 minutes. They had 2 tour guides…read morewhile we were there . But our tour guide complained alot about his life. We did joke around about some things, but at least pretend you enjoy your job. They had a couple cute doggos that greet you while you are there. They also have a little store with a lot of different kinds of rocks if that is your thing.

Had great time at this cavern. We were greeted warmly by the staff.. walk inside building and…read moredecent sized gift shop with lots of gemstones and different things to see. We were only ones there at time and we had great conversations with staff before we started our journey into cave. I think we paid 13-15 a person fairly cheap for cave. So our guide took us thru a door down a ramp and into the start of cave tour. Even saw a salamander under some of rocks at start of cave. Lots of walkways and formations to see.. lot of history too. On way back our guide have us each a flashlight and let us see cave our way with lights off. It was so cool! There is different types of tours where you can crawl thru holes in caves and thru water but I just wanted easy walking tour lol.. definitely a must see.. glad we came!

While visiting in the area we stopped at the Fort Watauga replica at the Sycamore Shoals State Park…read morein Elizabethton, TN near Johnson City, TN. It is located along the Watauga River. Fort Watauga, more properly Fort Caswell, was an American Revolutionary War fort that once stood at the Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River in what is now Elizabethton, Tennessee. The fort was originally built in 1775-1776 by the area's frontier government, the Watauga Association, to help defend Watauga settlers from Native American (primarily Cherokee) attacks, which were in part instigated by the British. Fort Watauga was originally named Fort Caswell after North Carolina Governor Richard Caswell Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Watauga Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park 1651 W. Elk Avenue Elizabethton, Tennessee FREE Park. Free to view and tour the Fort Watauga, and FREE to tour the Visitors Center. The visitors center was not open when we stopped there but we did walk around the Fort.

The Unicoi County Library. Beautiful location. Used to be the train station for Erwin, TN, a town…read morebuilt around the railroad, so this is a historical landmark. The building was bought and donated to the county. Excellent staff. Not the largest library around, though the computers here can be used to access the collections of the Johnson City and the Bristol libraries, and books quickly delivered here, no charge, for you to check out. Also have DVDs and audio books. Friendly staff. They just added an aquarium with very large frogs in it. Pretty good selection of thrillers, including some surprises (excellent selection of Elmore Leonard) lots of classic novels, and local history. A library often visited by Appalachian trail through hikers, as Erwin is a well known trail town.

Very nice historical landmark in a quaint, beautiful town. On our way from NC to Knoxville we…read moredecided to stop and are glad we did. Like others, I didn't know much about President Johnson. I knew he had some difficulties, but his life is interesting. He went from being a tailor to the President. Life was hard back then, and he made the most of it. Very tumultuous time in our country. Nice gift shop and a lot of interesing things to see. We were there on a Sunday so most of the town was closed up. Great place to walk and enjoy the natural beauty.

As presidents go, the one who took over for Abraham Lincoln is generally held in low regard…read more History is interesting regardless of whether it's good or bad, so a diversion to this Eastern Tennessee town to catch this museum turned out to be a worthwhile effort. There is a museum and a couple of historic sites, as well as a statue. A charming stream traverses the site, and while not free of trash, it did have some nice greenery and a crayfish. Free tours were offered of the family home. I noted with some amusement that Andrew Johnson opposed the expansion of the federal government and thus probably would not have approved of his house becoming part of a large national park system. The content about the role and constraints of government is historically interesting but certainly is relevant contemporaneously. A variety of interesting health information also popped up; apparently his family was wracked by tuberculosis, which was incurable at the time. One might argue that the diseases afflicting the country during Reconstruction were likewise impossible to cure at the time, but we'll never know. Even his own museum doesn't think that President Johnson was successful in that effort. I doubt anyone will find a lovelier spring day than I did to visit, but the history won't change, and I've visited several presidential sites for presidents who are either obscure or not well regarded, and they have all been interesting.

We happened to be in town on a weekend when the museum was closed, which was a small letdown…read morebecause the building has that inviting, lived‑in look that makes you want to step inside and wander for a bit, but even from the sidewalk you can feel the weight of its long history and the marker out front fills in enough of the story to make the stop worthwhile in that quiet Jonesborough way where the past is always just under the surface. It reads, "Built in 1797 by Dr. William P. Chester of Lancaster, Pa., it has been continuously occupied as an Inn, a hotel and an apartment house. Among the guests here have been three presidents of the United States, Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk and Andrew Johnson, as well as John Sevier, Governor of Franklin and first Governor of Tennessee. President Andrew Jackson held a reception for his friends on the porch of the Inn in the summer of 1832." It is marker number 1A-90 and it was erected by the Tennessee Historical Commission. The Museum is a reminder that Jonesborough has always been a crossroads for travelers, politicians, and everyday residents, and even though we couldn't go inside this time, the marker gives you enough context to appreciate the building's long life and to look forward to a return visit when the doors are open again. [Review 99 of 2026 - 598 in Tennessee - 25289 overall]

Standing in front of the Parthenon in Nashville didn't feel real at first it's massive, beautiful,…read moreand unexpectedly powerful. Walking inside and seeing the towering statue of Athena was a true wow moment and made the visit feel special, not just touristy. It's impressive, and one of those places that sticks with you after you leave. Easily a five star experience and a must see in Nashville. We will be back for sure next time to see again

There's a very helpful brochure at the entrance and if they're out of stock, I've added a picture…read more The brochure tells the story of this cemetery that dates back to 1785 when the oldest church in the county was organized by Scots-Irish in a log building that stood at the north side of the graveyard called Francis Dean's or Robert Henderson's Lower Meeting House. Dean owned the land and Henderson was the first pastor of the church. The brochure continues, "When the church was founded in 1785, Dandridge was just a small western outpost nestled along the French Broad River in Caswell County, State of Franklin, where most people were living in scattered log cabins. The ace of cession by North Carolina paved the way for the formation of the State of Franklin which almost became the nation's 14th state and survived for four years under its own government even though North Carolina would never officially recognize the Franklinites." It was peaceful and interesting and quite historic. If you're heading to Dandridge, stop in and visit the final resting place of these pioneers. [Review 20105 overall - 461 in Tennessee - 1081 of 2023.]

So old. Yeah, this is pretty neat. Dating back to around 1785, interred here are the graves of…read moreRevolutionary War veterans and early citizens of Dandridge. The are only a handful of headstones and they are all unmarked and weathered - in a really cool historic way. There are several stone benches and the grounds are well maintained. The local attendant at the visitor center told me much more oral history; apparently you may never guess it by the size of this little hill mound but approximately 200 unknown graves lie underneath. Oh my.

Worth the drive to see and walk through the tunnel…read more Read the history, it's really a sad story. They call it the stolen highway

If you didn't know the history of this spot, you might not think it's a big deal but if you do know…read morethe history, it becomes more relevant. Yes, it literally is a road that ends in a very long, dark and wet tunnel. There are also several walking trails nearby. We drove back on the road a little bit and did one of the shorter hikes that leads to a section of the lake. There are other trails that are more strenuous. This is more of an oddity than anything else, but still an interesting place to visit.

Toured the Carter Mansion today ($7 per person) Tours are not everyday. Call Sycamore Shoals, or…read morecheck their Facebook site for tour days, and time. We got to see every room in the house, except the basement, which has wood floors. A painting over the fireplace was pretty cool. It was painted over with white paint years ago, and while the restoration group was taking paint "samples", they realized something was under the white paint, which turned out to be a painting. Only one piece of furniture was original to the house, which was a chair. We checked out the family cemetery, and walked down to the Watauga river which is actually in front of the house. This is the oldest framed house in Tennessee. Interesting piece of history.