Pumpkin

I dunno about East TN, I'm near Jackson. I don't think I'll be much help sorry.

what part? I'm from southeastern TN...

Not sure exactly yet, but it will be the eastern side of the state so we don't have to drive for too long

Yeah but is it Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge in the North? Knoxville or Chattanooga in the South?

IDK what you're exact price range is, or what you're willing to spend, but this is the best of East TN:

Gatlinburg & Pigeon Forge- huge tourist/entertainment areas. There's tons to do in both places, but Pigeon Forge is more go-kart tracks, the Titanic Museum (I haven't been, last time I went up there, they were still building it), things like that. You can walk around, but it's much better to drive. Dollywood is also in Pigeon Forge, but it's not a good deal. Tickets are almost $60 and they only have a small handful of roller coasters, and not a ton of rides in general otherwise.

Gatlinburg is more for walking around- they have Ripley's Aquarium, the wax museum, the car museum with cars from different iconic movies (some are replicas- sharks would dig that maybe), there's ice skating in Ober Gatlinburg and the Sky Tram that takes you up there, and a bunch of other stuff.

Most of the attractions there are overpriced, though. Along with the food. It's fun to walk around and look at things, but I just don't think it's fun if you can't do them.

That area is also home to a large national park, so there's lots of hiking and things that can be done.

Up in Asheville, NC, right on the corner of NC/TN, there's the Biltmore Estate. It's very cool. I've only been once, when I was littler. It's not far off of Interstate 40.

Knoxville- has the Knoxville Zoo, and it's pretty impressive. There's also the World's Fair Park with the Sun Sphere that just re-opened in 2007 with an observation deck and restaurant. Just watch out. UT Knoxville is there- tons of Orange.

Chattanooga- There's the the Chattanooga Aquarium, and it's been rated the #1 aquarium 3 years in a row. They have over 10,000 different animals, an IMAX movie theater with a screen that's -6- stories tall, and they have a riverboat cruise you can take.

There's also Ruby Falls, the nation's largest & deepest waterfall. It's actually inside of Lookout Mountain. You can get an Aquarium/I-MAX combo ticket for about $35

Just 6 miles south of Chattanooga, down in Georgia, there's Rock City. I haven't been there in many years, but it's -really- freaking cool. There's a lookout at one point where you can see 7 different states.

You can get a Rock City/Ruby Falls combo ticket for about $40/person. It's only a $3 savings, but still. Savings are savings.

Closer to my hometown, Etowah, there's the Ocoee and Hiwassee rivers- both of which offer white water rafting. The 1996 Summer Olympics Kayaking was held on the Ocoee (my 5th grade class got to go watch the qualifying)- You're looking at $40/person, though, and they only do it on the weekends.

And then there's Starr Mountain/Gee Creek- the absolute go-to place for people from my part of the state.

There's tons of hiking trails with swimming holes along the way. My brother and I used to go up there all the time on his motorcycle and go swimming and stuff when I was little.

Also somewhat close to my hometown, over in Sweetwater, is The Lost Sea. It's recorded by the Guinness World Records as the largest underground lake. It's a 1.5 hour tour, and at one point, you get to ride in a glass-bottomed boat. It's only $20/person

Etowah, my hometown is about halfway between Chattanooga and Knoxville, to give you some idea, and it's only a 2 hr drive from Gatlinburg to Chattanooga, so you could swing pretty much whatever.

Here's links to everything:

https://www.biltmore.com/

http://www.cityofpigeonforge.com/

http://www.gatlinburg.com/things-to-do/attractions.aspx

http://www.tnaqua.org/Home.aspx

http://www.seerockcity.com/

http://www.rubyfalls.com/

http://www.knoxville-zoo.org/

http://worldsfairpark.org/

http://www.thelostsea.com

http://tnstateparks.com/parks/about/hiwassee-ocoee

Thanks for the suggestions! We decided on Knoxville and we found a few interesting thing there, but the suggestions certainly help! Now we can have even more fun! I really appreciate it

If you're going to Knoxville, definitely head on down to Chattanooga- The stuff that's more down in that area are way worth it.

Chattanooga is supercool. Also are you driving near me to get there?!

I have no idea, Megan!

Why Tennessee?

Things to do? How about...leave Tennessee?

J/K, hope you have fun.