Fun and Educational Family Travel Tips

After a visit to the Smoky Mountains, your child should have a great appreciation for nature.  That makes this the perfect time to discuss what you can do as a family in order to help protect nature. 

If you haven’t done so already, use this as an opportunity to discuss the importance of recycling.  Talk about deforestation and how animals are going extinct as their habitats are destroyed in order to make new goods that could have been made with recycled goods.  Ask your child to come up with a plan for the family for improving your recycling habits.  Not only does this help get your child thinking in a more worldly manner, it also gives him or her some ownership into the project.  By giving your child ownership, he or she will be more likely to follow through with the plan.

You can extend this concept further by asking your child to develop a plan that could be used by your entire neighborhood or community.  Who knows, you might be able to start an initiative that will get a whole group of people working toward better protecting the environment!

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While visiting the Great Smoky Mountains on a family vacation, you should definitely take an hour or two out of your visit to play miniature golf at one of the many minoi-golf courses in the area.  Many of them are quite creative and can be quite an experience.  You can also make this fun experience educational in a number of easy ways.

One of the simplest ways to  make your mini-golf adventure educational is to allow one of your children to keep track of the scores.  Or, have each of your children keep track of their own scores while you keep track of the scores on your master scorecard.  Then, when the game is over, have your children figure out the differences between the scores.

For younger children, you can still have fun with math.  For instance, each hole will have a par.  After your child finally sinks his or her ball, ask your child to figure out how much below or over par the score was.  You can also introduce golf terms such as birdie (one under par), eagle (2 under par), bogey (one over par), double bogey (two over par), and so on.

Children get excited about learning new words, particularly when they hear their parents using them.  So, after each hole, ask your child if he scored a bogey or a birdie.  They will have a great time reprting back to you!

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When you visit the Great Smoky Mountains, a visit to Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum may not be on the top of your list.  But, I guarantee, if you have children between the ages of 8 and 13, they will really want to make a stop at this museum of sorts.

 While at Ripley Believe It or Not Museum, you will see a number of strange and unusual sites.  To extend this visit further and to make it a bit more educational, encourage your child to pretend he or she is a newspaper reporter.  Then, tell your child to gather as much information as possible about a person or event that is on display at the museum.  Remind your child that a good reporter covers 6 questions:

• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
• Why?
• How?

Your child’s job as a junior reporter will be to try to answer these questions based on the information at the display.  When you get back to the hotel room, have your child make a newspaper and write one or more stories to be included in the paper. 

If you have a laptop with you and your child is computer-savvy, let him or her create the newspaper template on the computer.  Otherwise, a hand drawn newspaper will be just fine.  Tell your child to include a header like in a real newspaper.  If your hotel gives you a free paper in the morning, let your child take a look at the front page in order to see how a real newspaper should look.

When your child is done with the paper, ask him or her to read it back to as if he or she is a news anchor reporting the story on the news.

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When you visit the Smoky Mountains, a trip to the Ripley’s Aquarium is an absolute must.  Your children are certain to be thrilled with the many close encounters they will experience.  In addition, there are several great photo opportunities that will provide you with photos that will bring a smile to your face years after your trip - particularly the “aquariums” that allow your children to feel what it is like to be a fish.

When your child jumps into the “aquarium” and pretends to be a fish, this is a great opportunity to test his or her fish knowledge.  Ask your child what else he would need if he were really a fish.  Then, ask him to describe to you what the life of a fish would be like.  Based on this discussion, you can then challenge your child to come up with a non-rhyming poem created from the word “Fish.”  To create this poem, simply have your child think of four lines to the poem, with the first line starting with an F, the second starting with an I, the third starting with an S, and the last line starting with an H.  The poem can be as silly or serious as you like.  For example:

Funny swimming creatures

In and out they weave

Stop and be sure to watch them

How beautiful they are

If your child seems to enjoy this activity, challenge him or her to create similar poems based on the names of the other creatures you encounter during your visit.  Then, have your child put them together in a book and illustrate the poems - what a great momento of your trip that would be!

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If you take a drive to Townsend, Tennessee, you will be able to visit Tuckaleechee caverns.  Children really find caverns to be quite intriguing as it opens up a whole new world to them.  Exploring these underground tunnels is not only exciting, it also offers a number of opportunities for learning.

Before visiting the Great Smoky Mountains, let your children know that you will be visiting caverns during your visit.  Explain the differences between stalactites and stalagmites.  An easy way to remember is that stalactites hang on “tight” to the ceiling and stalagmites “might” reach the ceiling.  In other words, stalactites are the formations that hang down from the ceiling and stalagmites are those that grow toward the ceiling.  When these two formations meet together, they form a column.

To have fun with this concept, you might want to consider making some rock candy with your child.   The process of making rock candy is similar to the process of forming stalactites in that water and the minerals the water has gathered along the way drop from the ceiling.  Very tiny amounts of the minerals are left behind when the water drips and, over time, this forms the stalactite that hangs from the ceiling.

You can also explore mold with your child before visiting Tuckaleechee Caverns.  Mold does not naturally occur in caverns, but the light that is placed in the caverns in order to light the paths of visitors creates a great environment for mold to grow.  Discuss the properties and the life cycle of mold before you go to the caverns.  Then, when you encounter some during your visit, see if your child can explain to you all of the mold you see seems to be growing near to the lights.

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Although there are a number of educational activities that are quite obvious when you visit the Great Smoky Mountains, there are others that you might not have thought of.  These educational ideas are those that you can do while at the park itself.

• Play with mental math -  There are many variations of topography within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Ask your youngster to determine how high you are traveling by subtracting the elevation of your starting point from the elevation of your endpoint.
• Pretend to be a ranger - One of the duties of the rangers is to take a regular census of the animals living within the park.  Have your child keep track of the type and number of animals you spot while on your family vacation to the Smokies.  Stop off at the Sugarlands Visitor Center first so you can learn more about the animals that make their home in the Great Smoky Mountains.
• Explore fauna - Before you set out to hiking within the park, get a field guide to plants that are found in the Great Smoky Mountains region.  Then, encourage your child to identify as many plants as possible.  You can extend this further by having your child make his or her own field guide by taking pictures of the plants you see or by drawing the pictures.
• Roleplay - Since the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is just as rich in history as it is in natural beauty, you have a great opportunity for role-playing.  When you visit the churches, farms, and homesteads within the park, have your child pretend to be living years ago.  Join in the role playing to deepen the learning and to have some fun yourself!

With these activities, your family vacation to the Smokies will be even more memorable for the entire family. If you have any other ideas or if you want clarification on any of these activities, feel free to drop me a comment!

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A family vacation to the Great Smoky Mountains wouldn’t be complete without a trip down Little River Road.  If you plan to drive from Townsend to Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge, this is the route to take as it will take you past some magnificent scenery.  In addition, you can take advantage of numerous pull offs and see some beautiful waterfalls that are only a few steps away from the road.

We hiked to Laurel Falls, which is accessed from Little River Road, on our second trip to the Smokies.  My 7 and 9 year old boys had no problem with the trail, despite the fact that it is listed as being “moderate.”  My twins didn’t have as easy of a time, however, and my husband and I  each ended up having to carry a twin pretty much the entire way.  I am not the most physically fit of people, so it isn’t like this was a simpl task for me.  Nonetheless, I made it and the trip was worth it.  The falls are quite breathtaking and the twins loved them once we got there!

The Sinks are also found along the road and are easily accessble.  Each time I have visited the Sinks, I have found other tourists taking a dip in the waters.  Personally, I don’t encourage swimming in the Sinks because of the many rocks in the area that could potentially lead to getting hurt.  Since there are plenty of designated areas for enjoying the water at the Smokies, I don’t think it is worth the risk.  Nonetheless, climbing on the rocks and enjoying the natural beauty is definitely worth a stop.

From Little River Road, you can also access the Little Greenbrier School.  Your kids will be amazed when they see this 19th century schoolhouse, which is certainly a far cry from the massive, highly technological schools most kids attend today.  The drive to the schoolhouse is a bet trecherous, so be prepared to pull off to the side or to even back up a bit for oncoming traffic to pass you by.

When we visit the Smokies, a trip down Little River Road is a must and we usually take the trip more than once - and not just because we are trying to get from point A to point B.  It is just a wonderfully scenic trip that allows you to feel completed enveloped by the beauty of the park - even when you aren’t actually inside of it.

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Pigeon Forge is also near to the Great Smoky Mountains and is worth a trip to.  Again, if you stay in Townsend, Tennessee, getting to Pigeon Forge will only take you about 20-30 minutes and the drive there is magnificent.  If you are a shopaholic, Pigeon Forge is defintely a must.  Since shopping isn’t an integral part of my ideal family vacation, I personally have not spent much time checking out the shops.

If you have an adventurous spirit, there are also a number of attractions at Pigeon Forge that you might enjoy.  Whitewater Rafting is available, but I haven’t been able to take advantage of this attraction yet.  The first time I visited the Smokies, it was with a 4 and 6 year old, which meant the youngest was too young.  The next time we went, we had the twins and they were 2 at the time.  On our upcoming trip in October, the kids will be old enough, but I am not certain October will be a good time for being in the water at the Smokies.  Alas….this is one attraction that has remained elusive for my family.  One day, I hope to be able to do this one!

If you like driving go-karts, Pigeon Forge is definitely worth a visit.  We enjoyed a visit to the NASCAR Speedpark, where you can not only race go-karts but take a look at some great NASCAR memorabilia as well.  If you enjoy racing, you might also want to check out the Hwy 411 Motor Speedway.  I personally haven’t been to one of these races, but I have heard great things about what it has to offer.

Scenic helicopter rides are also available in Pigeon Forge.  I hope to take advantage of one of these trips when we visit the Smokies again in October.  I think a view from a copter flying over the Fall colors will be magnificent.  One of my boys is deathly afraid of heights, though, and another is not too fond of them either.  So, I am not sure if that adventure will happen.  If does, I will be sure to post my experience here in a blog!

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Gatlinburg, Tennesse is perhaps the biggest “tourist draw” in the Great Smoky Mountains area.  If you are looking to explore interesting museums and activities, this is the place to go.  During a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains, it is definitely worthwhile to pop into Gatlinburg for a day.  Or, you might find that it is better to spend a couple of partial days in Gatlinburg, as the trip to Gatlinburg from Townsend is gorgeous and also offers places to pull off, to hike trails, and to see some magnificent natural sites.

It is my belief that the best family vacations involve spending some time getting closer to nature as well as exploring fun and interesting attractions.  Gatlinburg provides the opportunity to see some really cool museums.  Perhaps or favorite site to see in Gatlinburg is Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies.  Here, you get the opportunity to go through a tunnel that surrounds you with an aquarium filled with sharks and other sea life.  There are also plenty of cute photo opportunities that are a must for any family travel experience.

Gatlinburg is also home to one of the Ripley’s Believe It or Not museums.  My experience as both a teacher and a mother of four boys has shown that kids are enthralled with the sites of this museum.  Similarly, the Guinness World of Records Museum is worth a visit, unless time and money is short.  In that case, this is a stop that can be saved for another visit.

Gatlinburg also offers a number of fun mini-golf courses that can be quite an adventure.  My oldest boys (then ages 4 and 6) had their first mini-golf experience at the Hillybill Golf course.   After that, they were hooked and begged us to go mini-golfing every time we passed a course.

Gatlinburg is also home to a number of unique shopping experiences.  I am personally not much of a shopper and my husband absolutely despises it, so I have not spent much time in the stores.  I do know, however, tha there are many people who come to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge just for the shopping opportunities. 

 Gatlinburg is considered a walking community.  This means you will need to find a place to park, which can be costly and difficult to find, if you plan to visit any of the shops.  Since there are large crowds and a high amount of traffic, this isn’t necessarily the best scenario for a family vacation - particularly if your kids are still quite young.  Be sure to bring a stroller or wagon if you plan to walk the stretch.  Driving through the town can also be quite frustrating as it can take quite a bit of time to go just a short distance.  So, go to Gatlinburg with these things in mind and be prepared to spend a good portion of your day trying to get through and past other tourists.

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To make things a bit easier, I am going to divide these posts into the different towns and sites that you can enjoy while visiting the Great Smoky Mountains.  As I said before, I recommend staying in Townsend, Tennessee while visiting this park.  The people of Townsend are friendly and the town is easy to navigate through.  On the other hand, when you visit Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge, you will find that the streets are crammed and it can take over half an hour to get down the street. 

At the same time, staying inTownsend doesn’t mean giving up a great vacation or missing out on anything.  In fact, Townsend is the gateway to Cades Cove.  Cades cove is a wonderful family travel destination as it is rich in natural beauty and history.  As you cruise down the 11 mile road, you will be enchanted by the mountains that surround you.  In addition, wildlife abounds.  On my first family vacation to the Smoky Mountains, we spotted over a dozen deer while driving through Cades Cove.  On our second family vacation to the Smokies, we actually saw a mama black bear and her cubs.  Some unwise travelers were getting out of there vehicles to try to get a closer look.  While it should go without saying, be sure to never approach a bear - particularly a mama and her babies as they can be quite violent as they try to protect their cubs.

Cades Cove also has several trailheads.  One of my favorites is Abrams Falls.  The trail is listed as being moderately difficult, but my husband and I walked it with little problem with our 6 and 4 year old boys.  When we returned three years later with our two year old twins, my husband ended up walking the trail with the two older boys (who were 9 and 7 at the time) because the twins were getting a bit cranky.  At any rate, this trail offers a magnificent waterfall at the end that is well worth the trek.

In addition to the many scenic overlooks and the Abram Falls trail, there are several historical excursions you can take in Cades Cove as well.   Many of the homes and buildings that were built in the 1800s still exist in the area.   You will find several old churches that are still standing at Cades Cove, each of which has its own graveyard.  If you look at the tombstones, you will find that some of the graves are relatively new as the decendents of those that once lived in the Cove are still permitted to be buried there.  Your children will marvel at the Cable Mill Barn, which has an overhanging loft that looks like it will fall off at any time.  The Cantilever barn is also a site to behold with its oversized top.  You will even have the opportunity to see an old Cable Mill and Mill Flume.  Take the time to discuss the mill with your children and explain how it helped supply energy to the mill.

 If you find yourself entering Cades Cove and realize that you are not ready to start the 11 mile trip, which can take around an hour even if you don’t stop off to view the sites because of the traffic in front of you, you can take a quick exit on Sparks Lane.  Sparks Lane is very near to the beginning of the loop and it allows you to cut straight through to the end of the loop.  Just be sure to return later so you can enjoy this magnificent site.

In Townsend, you will also find Tuckaleechee Caverns.  This cavern system offers stalagmites, stalactites, draperies, and more.  The tour is a pleasant one that only takes about an hour to complete.   The Big Room inside Tuckalechee Caverns is amazing and is the largest cavern room open to visitors in the Eastern United States.  In addition, you will get to see a 200 foot waterfall in the caverns, a site that is not very common in cavern tours.  We took this tour both times we went to the Smokies for a family vacation and we easily completed the tour, even when we had the twin two-year-olds in tow.

Foothills Parkway can also be accessed just outside of Townsend, Tennessee.  Although the views are not as magnificent as what you will find in Cades Cove, it does offer some great overlooks that are made even more spectacular by the towns nestled in the valleys.  In addition, this is not as popular of a tourist attraction, which means you won’t have to fight the traffic as much as you might in other areas of the park.

If you do decide to get a cabin or other accommodations in Townsend, you will find that there are several restaurants to select from.  You will, however, find more choices in nearby Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge.  Nonetheless, you can actually park at the restaurant of your choosing in Townsend and won’t have to pay for the luxury or walk a great distance just to get to the door.  The town also offers a grocery store with prices that are not bloated, so you can stock up on cereal, snacks, or even steaks to cook on the grill if you get a cabin.

We’ll be staying in Townsend again when we visit the Smokies this October.  If the town has lost its charm, I will be sure to let you know.  But, somehow I doubt that it has!

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