We had been to Knoxville several times but never had the opportunity to visit the East Tennessee…read moreHistory Center. They have different price ranges for kids, adults and senior citizens (age 55 +) to tour the museum. It was an informative walk through on the first floor with several rooms contains various stories about the struggles for southern families, musicians and women. There were several areas to sit and listen and watch the video. I was very pleased to see they had captions turned on so my spouse and I could enjoy the videos as well. Before we left we purchased a few items from the gift store. They had lots of T-shirt's 40% off as well as books for only $1. It's definitely worth the visit.

What a GEM in Knoxville! Sundays are free admission with…read moreencouragement to donate (no complaints here). Folks up front were super friendly and gave us the rundown of the layout. Very kind and we felt welcomed right away. We fully expected this to be a small space with some cool stuff but it surprised us by being big and filled with SO MUCH history! It was such a pleasant surprise and we spent way longer looking around and reading than we planned. I learned a lot while exploring and was truly impressed with this history center. I'd definitely recommend checking it out if you're in the area!

We had some time in Downtown Knoxville and decided to check out the mansion. The staff are super…read morenice, and we enjoyed talking with them. We were given a tour with just our family which was really cool. We all really loved the tour. It was great for our son who could touch a lot of objects. They also had a table to try and write with a quill. I would recommend the mansion if you love history.

This is a very well landscaped and very well preserved mansion, that was Built-in 1792. Governor…read moreWilliam Blount and his family resided here.The mansion sits up on a Hill overlooking the Tennessee river. There are some very old antiques inside the mansion and most of the mansion is all original. All of the rooms were pretty large and had high ceilings about 10 ft. There are beautiful gardens out side and around the building. This mansion is located downtown Knoxville and the courthouse is right down the street. It was very cool to see how they lived way back then with no electric. They had candlelight chandeliers and wood burning stove. All their equipment they used to make their clothes and their food was all original as far as I know. There was 3 or 4 outside buildings as well that was used for their equipment and their work.

We had such a wonderful experience at the Museum of Appalachia! Every exhibit was fascinating, and…read moreit was a great way to learn about the rich history and culture of Appalachia. The grounds were beautiful, and there was so much to see that our whole family stayed engaged the entire visit. A special thank you to our cashier, Alicia Alvis, who was incredibly friendly, welcoming, and helpful from the moment we arrived. Her kindness made us feel right at home and started our visit off on the perfect note. This trip was even more meaningful because we were celebrating my amazing wife, Brittany, on her 27th birthday. It was the perfect place to spend such a special day together. We also loved making memories with our one-year-old son and our 6 -month-old daughter, who both had a great time exploring the museum and grounds. We highly recommend the Museum of Appalachia to anyone looking for a fun, educational, and family-friendly destination. We can't wait to come back!

Wonderful place to see God's creation. The beautiful animals are friendly and all around. The store…read morepart is great with things to buy from the past. The restaurant serves the old country food from years ago. I do wish they'd expand their menu some but it is still good. Lots of vendors on special days there as well.

Part history museum, science museum, and children's museum. There's a little something for everyone…read moreat the American Museum of Science & Energy. The museum tells the story of Oak Ridge's role in World War II and the top secret Manhattan Project. The way the museum is laid out tells the story in a chronological way where you'll begin by learning about how Oak Ridge came to be, its role in the war, and its role in nuclear research in the years since the hydrogen bomb was first dropped over Japan. Plan to spend about 2 hours here depending on how hands on you want to be. As you progress through the musuem it becomes more hands on and reminiscent of a children's museum where you can get hands on with science theories. The space has multiple exhibits, an introduction video, and gift shop. On certain days/times a bus tour is offered to the plant sites that will also include admission to the museum but I was not visiting on one of those days but would like to check it out if Im ever in the area on the right day.

Located in Main Street in Oak Ridge at the end of the shopping strip. Much larger inside than…read moreanticipated and many interactive exhibits, movies, and teaching sessions. An affordable option ($10 per adult and $5 per child) in comparison to other local museums, too. I would say the best ages for this spot would be 8 and up. There is quite a bit of reading and many of the hands-on displays are complex. It is great for adults, too, and I learned so much about our city and nation's history...and science tidbits I had forgotten in the (longgg) time since high school. There is quite a bit of information on the Manhattan Project and the formation of Oak Ridge as a whole, including videos in the auditorium and in that specific section of the museum. We loved learning more! Did you know that when FDR died, his VP had no clue that M. Project was even underway? Or that Oak Ridge had over 75,000 people but did not show on a map? We loved the staff interaction, including the sessions that they lead throughout the afternoon in the auditorium. The one about static electricity was really cool and informative. My squirmy 10 yo was captivated! There were so many STEM exhibits and one of the lab rooms was open with many stations to build circuits, look into microscopes, etc. My kiddo enjoyed what he referred to as "practice for the claw machine," as well. Side notes: The gift shop had some really neat items (typical gift shop pricing) and the water fountains had the bottle filling spout. There are benches everywhere you look and it is all one level, making this a highly-accessible spot to visit. You will likely spend at least 1.5-2 hours here. Definitely worth the money!

The Sunsphere is an amazing architectural wonder and remnant from the 1982 World's Fair in…read moreKnoxville. My visit to the Sunsphere made my day. The 342' steel structure was designed by Don Shell and completed in 1982. The glass on the 75' sphere is coated with gold dust. During the World's Fair, a small restaurant operated at the top and visitors could visit the observation deck for $2. We were passing through Knoxville and my daughter wanted to visit. Today, visitors can pay to go up to the observation deck of the giant structure. ($10 for adults). You can buy tickets on line or at the Sunsphere. When we arrived, the Sphere was closed until 1:30, so we did not go up in it. But we enjoyed walking around and taking photos. There is parking a block south and the walk through the park is lovely. There is a drop off circle near the Sunshpere as well. Let's are not allowed in the structure.

Knoxville wanted to do something truly special for the 1982 World's Fair. The result was the…read moreSunsphere. The theme for the fair was "Energy turns the world" and Knoxville showcased solar energy by creating a replica of the Sun. I was fortunate enough to visit the Sunsphere during their "free local days" and all you need to show is your license to prove you're local to Knoxville. More free local days will be announced throughout the coming year, so stay tuned. Definitely recommend elevating your view of our little city by visiting the Sunsphere. Know Before You Go: ~ $10 tickets per adult and also annual passes can be bought in person. $40 for an individual annual pass or $120 for a family pass. Both passes are good for a calendar year. ~24 kt. gold panels are actually glass layered with gold dust. ~The Sunsphere observation deck was re-opened on February 22, 2022. The floor offers a 360-degree view of the Great Smoky Mountains, World's Fair Park, the Tennessee River, and the UT Campus. ~There is a small gift shop offering everything from Sunsphere Christmas ornaments, tee shirts, Sunsphere coffee tumblers, stickers, postcards, and more.

Castle of chaos is a 7d motion movie theatre ride located in a popular tourist strip of pigeon…read moreforge Tennessee. Castle of chaos can be purchased as its own separate event but is usually bundled up with a 4 way attraction event with Hollywood wax museum, Hannah' mirror maze and the haunted house called "outbreak". The wax museum is in its own exterior building and at the rear of the parking lot is a second exterior building that is a castle. Inside the castle you will find the other 3 attractions. After visiting the Gatlinburg/Sevierville/pigeon forge areas I do feel this 4 attraction pass is the best bundled tourist attraction in all 3 towns. The castle of chaos has two theatre rooms along with two adventure or show types. On our visit we chose between carnival which is a creepy clown attraction or Los banditios which is a robot attraction. We had actually done the carnival attraction at a Destin Florida tourist spot so we all chose Los banditos. Like most 7d attractions you wear 3d goggles, have a hand held gun for shooting the "enemies" to see who scores the highest (I won!). Your stationary seat will move up and down and sideways as you go through the adventure. Overall while most 7d tourists traps are pricey but fun this one the blow is a little lessen since you can get it with that 4 ticket attraction. The whole experience takes probably 5-10 minutes. Between the two rides offered they both have there advantages and disadvantages. I prefer carnival but I enjoy creep and scare factors. So younger or more frightened folks would probably prefer Los banditos.

We only came here because it was bundled into a discount package with the tickets we purchased for…read morethe Hollywood Wax Museum (we loved that place). The maze was just ok. If you've ever been to one of these before (and we have) you've been to them all. It's about 5 minutes of giggling while you bump into mirrors trying to find your way out, with colorful archways and black lights guiding your way. Not very big at all, and not very challenging. As we had young children with us, we skipped the zombie area (? Can't speak on it) and instead hit up both of the little 3-D shoot-em-up video game/films. (If you do the zombie walk, you only choose one of these) The first one we went on was scary clown themed, and had I known just how scary, I would have skipped it. (My 4 year-old was a bit traumatized). The other one, where you shoot at evil robots in the Wild West(!) was much better, not only because it wasn't too scary for little ones, but because it was smoother and less headache inducing than the other. It was probably my favorite experience of the three, but not worth the price of admission unless you got the discount pass for the wax museum and you've got time to kill.

I will be first to say this place when we pulled in I doubted we would enjoy it. I saw a lot of…read morelittle kids and we had a 2nd grader with us. I guess I am spoiled with a hometown children's museum of play.. I am so glad we went in to give it a chance, the employees here are wonderful. Very welcoming. The exhibits are diverse and many hands on touch this or that ability. There were some dated videos of the Appalachian culture but honestly it gave it an appeal and definitely a time gone by. The exhibits and explanation of the Manhattan project were very interesting. All of us walked away learning a lot about oak ridge and that era around world war 2. We spent a good two hours in the museum and didn't read it all, we happened to be walking in right before a school group of 30 little kids and parents. Initially it was loud but there was enough space that we didn't have to be around all the chaos real little kids bring. Some of the exhibits were geared for smaller kids but our 2nd grader had no problem enjoying the experience. I mean who doesn't love a "doll house" that has two levels, For the price and exhibits I would suggest it to anyone especially if you have a history buff in your family.

Pulling in, it's an old school and it doesn't look very big. You walk inside and are greeted by an…read moreattendant and a big bear off to the left. They have a small gift shop with stuffed animals, patches and small things. If your disabled, don't worry about steps..they have ya covered with ramps throughout the museum. As you walk through it's very well put together. The farm room where the children can grab a basket and grab the plastic apples out of the tree on the wall and make their own dinner plate out if magnetized pictures of foods. They have a pretty big life-sized doll house, which was very cool along with old relics of dolls etc from different eras. They have a water room where the kids can send floating boats down a make believe lock at the dam. At the end, they have a train room that is pretty cool with towns all lit up and a train going throughout them.. very cool place. Very neat place. $8.00 for adults $7.00 for seniors aged 62+ and children under 3 are free.

The visitor center is located in the Childen's Museum of Oak Ridge. To be honest, I was expecting…read moremore out of the visitor's center since a lot of the time there's a small associated museum or exhibits, but it was quite bare with only a small looping video. I liked the concept of the park in that you get to explore the community, but since the bus tour wasn't running with no plan or date when it would come back, it was hard to make a cohesive plan. I would say plan on visiting the K-25 history center + overlook and the American Museum of Science and Energy for sure, and then just wandering around the community looking at the placards. If you're into the stamps, there's a three part stamp (the rest of the parts are in Hanford, Washington and Los Alamos, New Mexico).

An off the beaten tract for typical visitors. Department of…read moreEnergy sponsors a bus tour. Make reservations on line and early. We went in a rainy day and it was still fabulous. Seeing up close the impact of the Atomic era was eye opening. So much More to the history besides the actual bombing. Take a day to do this historical site.