Seen the sign off the interstate and had to stop. Really nice museum, gift shop and outdoor area…read more An important part of the history of America, the tragic story of settler colonialism. Nice ladies that worked the front, I think it was $5 admission and free parking. Worth the visit.

Important piece of history here and well worth the nominal admission price. Timewise, it's about…read morean hour well spent.

Let me just start by saying that I love the preserved natural state of the depot. The floors are so…read morecreaky and the wood is so wood-y and the interior is so dimly lit. I love that you can see just a few old furnishings and chairs. The original layout on the wall is great. Oh! and my favorite is the photograph of railroad workers..what a gorgeous photo! I'm telling you, that picture belongs in textbooks and in iconic images of turn-of-the century railroading. Okay, besides that I found that the layout was hard to follow. I'm not knocking it. But if I could I'd suggest a few things to enhance the experience here. Since I haven't taken a train ride or stopped by during one of the festivals, all I can do is comment on the museum part of the depot experience. Mostly, there are just anecdotes and archives and pictures adorning the walls. And that's great. But there was no flow or sequence to the visit. I found myself reading something on one wall and then running to the other end of the building because it finally explained more about the topic over there. Where am I again? Also, I wish there was an info-graphic to inform you of the supplies and labor that went into building the structure. I wish that the stage was set historically a little bit better too. I wonder if they flipped the exhibits around perhaps that would help. The displays in the back room give you more up-front information. If they brought this signage to the front where you enter your museum visit would make more sense from start to finish. A nice place but, honestly, only if you are in the area.

This is where we celebrate the 4th of July every year. The whole town seems to close down and we…read morehave food booths, and craft booths, and games for the kids and activities for the kids as well as music all day long and fireworks at night right after we read the Declaration of Independence on stage. There is also a museum inside talking about and showing the history of trains and the Depot when trains ran out of there. It is also where people meet to catch a train for scenic train rides. We also put on Dinner Theater plays upstairs with the dinner downstairs through the Gem Theater. (263-3270) It is the center and heart of our town of Etowah, Tennessee.

Nostalgia and double features!…read more Welcome to the past, present, and future. In a time when we're losing these magical places every year, SMDIT carries the tradition and experience that is pure Americana. Don't sleep on this snack bar, it's amazing! Chilly Dillys, nachos, perfect popcorn, all the candy plus posters and current movie swag. It's a summer tradition and brings to mind all of the great drive-ins that I remember, many of which have since been abandoned or fallen into disrepair. Park in the dark and make out, catch a current show you really want to see, come for one or the other, but don't miss this experience. I can confidently say that you'll want to come back too.

Everything went smooth great food great movie options as always highly recommend trying this place…read moreout plus everyones supper friendly.

This is a great small town museum, located towards downtown Cleveland. I came here on a Saturday…read moremorning with a friend, neither of us ever having visited before. Once inside, we met Dale, who gave us the layout of the museum, with information about the current exhibits and what to look out for. She was very knowledge and all around just a fun person. In fact, everyone who works at the museum was very friendly and more than willing to help with anything visitors might need. I enjoyed seeing the exhibit that showed the old kitchen equipment of years past, as well as the stuffed and mounted animals as part of the taxidermy exhibit, many of which were wild species not found in the USA. I enjoyed my visit to the Cleveland Museum and would suggest it to visitors and life-long Cleveland residents alike.

The Five Points Museum is focused on Cleveland history, heritage, Cherokee and business…read more They have a large banquet room that is great for large events, receptions, etc. I have been to many events here and the class and location is great, right downtown.

"The fastest show on Dirt"! And this is the first race of the season this Memorial Day Weekend…read moresince last November. Hope folks still remember how to drive. When your weekend is looking like another stay at home ordinance, thus was a fun little unplanned diversion on our 520 mile trek to Atlanta. Big Mike coming over the broken PA and loud cars speeding around the dirt. Heck who knew anything like this would happen. I guess this is phase 1 or 2 of the patchwork-reopening. People are still practicing social distancing but just barely. However, I did notice that you could serve your own condiments at the concession stand. We arrived 2 hours early at 5pm but things didn't get started until after 7pm. We had a couple of cheese burgers and chicken tenders with two waters for $14. Not bad. $10pp to park and entrance fee to the speedway. This is 3/8 oval dirt track. They have bleachers but many folks brought their own chairs. We travel with ours everywhere so we did the same. Next to the wooden bleachers is grass and people were perched there as well. The track is watered down to prevent dustbowls. You should bring ear protection. We didn't this time although we could have purchased earplugs for $1 each. There were 8 different divisions with 4 cylinder to 8 cylinder and AWD and FWD cars. After sitting on a lawnmower for 3 hours I probably was half deaf anyway so the noise really didn't bother me as much, but Nicole and the little one didn't make it past the "hot laps", the introductory practice laps, which was fine by me since we'd been waiting for more than 2 hours and still had another 2.5 hours to drive to Atlanta.

Formerly Murphy Speedway, this is now a 3/8 oval track instead of a 5/8 oval. Yes, it's been…read moreredone. It's a lot nicer since the first time I came which was about 10 years ago. It has been improved but still needs more improvements. Location; take exit 60 off Interstate 75 and go west for about 4 miles and you will see a sign on the left. You will come up on a V where you decide to either go to the right for the grand stands or go to the left for the pits or tail gate parking. I of course chose to go to the left. The concession stand in the tier parking area was fast and friendly. I used my pick up and parked in the tier parking area. Just back your truck up and pull down the tail gate to watch the race. You can see most of the track from the so called "tier parking" which is what I call pick up truck or tail gate parking. One thing they need is a bathroom facility complete with water and a sink to wash your hands and etc. I saw only one portable stall to go to the bath room on the tier parking area. The dirt track racing was very entertaining and I would come back again. John Ownbey won the late model race on a Friday night while a Chevroltet Performance sponsored event. So this was a big race with lots of cars here tonight.

I have a friend that likes sweet wine so we stopped by this place to purchase a bottle of wine…read more It is a beautiful view but since we were on our way to our friend's place with the bottle of wine as a hostess gift, we didn't purchase the tasting package. To be honest, we told the bartender we had never been there before & we wanted to purchase a bottle of sweet wine for a friend. If the bartender would have said, I'll just give you a free taste of this wine (the one I was purchasing), then they might have had a sale of 2 or 3 bottles rather than just one for our friend. My friend was very excited to receive the wine but she didn't open it so we never got a taste of it at our friend's house either. Again - the view is beautiful.

Loved this so much! Worth it just for the view. We did the tasting- all were good and the sparkling…read morewine, hard cider, and semi-sweet were fabulous. Got habanero cheese and crackers, dill pickle jerky and toffee. Had read reviews but didn't know what food offerings they had. This was enough to nibble while sipping wine. Both the cheese and toffee were from Sweetwater- both delicious. Such a picturesque setting. The restored buildings are amazing and each of the restrooms were handsomely done. Bought a bottle to enjoy at home. The two ladies were helpful and friendly. So glad we stopped, highly recommend.

This is an absolute must-see! Two museums and gift shops side-by-side with the best and oldest…read moreantiques you've ever seen in glass displays. Admission is free!

This is a 2 building museum to Charles Hall, the mayor for life and who built a private telephone…read moreexchange for Tellico long before AT&T was interested. When we built our weekend get-away (now my home) in 1970, the wires still ran on glass insulators and we were on a party line. The private system operated for years with no access to long distance. Charles finally reached a deal and brought in long distance in the early 70s if my memory serves. Telephone service is still very expensive (60/month with no features such as unlimited long distance) No cell service up here in Green Cove (20 miles up the Tellico River) so land-line it is. There is something that most people under 30 have never seen - a working pay phone. Back to the museum. The larger building houses Charles' gun collection. Thousands of guns. He had a huge bank-quality vault built underground and built a house on top of it. He took me in there once. As a gun enthusiast, I was blown away. Guns for as far as I could see. When he died, his wife had the museum built and put a small fraction of his collection in it, along with some of his antique telephone exchange. The second building was built to house his telephony memorability. An interesting thing is how he brought telephone service to Green Cove. He built an A-frame cabin a few over from mine. The foundation and the small base was form-cast concrete. In the basement was the Green Cove telephone switch. He ran a 25 mile long multiplexed line from town. The switch demuxed the conversations and distributed the lines to the various buildings and RVs in the area. Back then there was no need to lock the door. With Charles' permission, I'd sometimes stand for hours watching the stepper relays do their thing. As I learned the system, Charles had me do minor maintenance such as cleaning contacts and lubing the stepper relay shafts. Saved having to run a truck on a 50 mile round trip. They welcome donations. I donated Dad's Swiss Army 41 caliber rimfire rifle. That's right, a fairly powerful rifle that uses rim-fire just like a .22. And the single cartridge I had for it. They especially want old telephone memorability. As they upgraded the system, the old stuff went to the scrapper so the telephone museum has room for many more pieces. Highly recommended.

Absolutely Unforgettable - The Hiwassee River Rail Adventure is Pure Magic!…read more I hadn't been on a real train in years, so when I spotted an Instagram video of the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum's Hiwassee River excursion, I knew it was the perfect way to celebrate my mom's birthday. We made the 3-hour drive from home, and let me tell you - it was 100% worth every mile! We timed our trip for a Friday in mid-November, after hearing the fall colors were peaking a bit late this year. With just enough leaves fallen, the views of the majestic Hiwassee River opened up dramatically through the trees. Riding midday was key: the sunlight danced across the water, creating that breathtaking "jewel effect" John Muir raved about over 150 years ago when he walked these very banks: "My path all to-day led me along the leafy banks of the Hiwassee, a most impressive mountain river... Such a river is the Hiwassee, with its surface broken to a thousand sparkling gems, and its forest walls vine-draped and flowery as Eden." He wasn't exaggerating - the river truly sparkled like a thousand gems under the autumn sun, framed by the rugged gorge and Cherokee National Forest. It felt like stepping into a living postcard (or Eden itself!). This was the very last Hiwassee Loop trip of the season, and tickets were down to the final four when I booked - we ended up in coach class, but it was perfectly comfortable. The roughly 4-hour round-trip journey (50 miles through the stunning lower Hiwassee Gorge) flew by. We wandered freely between cars, snapped incredible photos and videos from the open-air vestibules (fresh mountain air + epic vistas = perfection), and soaked in the engineering marvel of the historic Hiwassee Loop where the tracks spiral over themselves. The staff were fantastic - friendly, hilarious, and full of fascinating stories about the railroad's history, the local area, and the wildlife along the route. This isn't just a train ride; it's a one-of-a-kind adventure that blends nostalgia, nature, and pure joy. If you're debating it... book it now! You won't regret experiencing one of the most scenic rail journeys in the Southeast. Highly recommend for families, nature lovers, history buffs, or anyone needing a memorable escape. We'll be back!